Video Suggestions for Speech Delays

Hi K.,
I know this might not be a popular view- and although I do not have an autistic child myself, two of my husbands nephews have pretty severe autism. I would research carefully the scientific studies that have been done about TV and children under 2 years of age. All research I have read points to the conclusion of NO tv or videos at this age! I believe the studies have shown that watching tv, rather than direct interaction with objects and people actually wires the brain permanently differently before the age of two. Since eye contact and communication is such a huge issue with autism, I have taken this very seriously because I know we probably have the genetic predisposition toward this issue. I would also remind you that some really brilliant, high functioning people did not start speaking until very late. I think you have gotten some great advice. Consider the possibility of educating yourself with some sign language books/videos and then working with your son directly during the day. The very best to you,
S.

Try asking your question at this site -- social networking for those affected by autism (parents, teachers, professionals, etc)

http://autismspeaksnetwork.ning.com/

I'm special ed teacher and have a lot of kids on the spectrum. I have never heard of either of those videos. I have heard a lot of good things about "Baby Bumble Bee". I've never seen it but some moms swear by it and from what I have heard about it, it sounds good.

Hi K.,

My son has Asperger's Syndrome. Are you getting services through Regional Center? My belief is our kids really need human to human therapy to teach them these skills. He should qualify for ABA (applied behavior analysis) the sooner you begin the better he will do! I also am a firm believer in biomedical treatment! Have you read Jenny McCarthy's book "Louder Then Words" or "Mother Warriors" also available on CD they are a great way to get an idea of how it works. You can order right off Amazon and have it delivered to your doorstep. Also www.tacanow.org a great resource and you can watch some recovery videos. TACA stands for Talk About Curing Autism and it is a group of parents sharing with each other. I would love to help you more or anyone else if you would like ###-###-#### or ____@____.com are the only one who can get your son the help he needs to recover and get well. Do not submit to anyone who tells you otherwise!!! He needs you to learn everything that is out there and be strong and diligent in doing so! I know how overwhelming it all is. You can do this! There is hope:)

Blessings and Smiles,
S. Bueno

My cousin, Michelle Mintz, is a Speech Therapist and specializes with babies and children and does a lot of work with Autism. She holds classes at the Pump Station in Santa Monica and has private clients. You can email her at ____@____.com has helped soooo many people and is amazing at her job. I've seen her work and she is fabulous. Good luck, I'll be thinking of you!!!!

http://www.babybumblebee.com/autism.htm

seems to have many good recommendations.

Also you might want to find out more about autism from sites such as http://www.autismteachingtools.com/
You need to be informed and know how to help your son. That he says a few words is encouraging. Spend time with him in books with good pictures if he shows interest. One on one is still the best way to teach vocabulary.
I hope this helps.
H.

You don't mention whether your son has been referred to your regional center for early intervention services. If this hasn't been done already, then please do that first thing Monday morning. They should provide you with in-home speech therapy, occupational therapy and ABA services. The more hours your child is actively engaged during the day and taught in a manner that works for his learning style (for kids on the spectrum, this means 1-on-1, systematic, skills broken down into the smallest unit and built upon), the better your child's chances are of recovering from autism.

To learn more about what autism is, what you can do to help your child right here and now, and the various treatment options, go to www.talkaboutcuringautism.org. There's a lot of information there so look for the link that has to do with information for parents that are new to the diagnosis.

As you are going through this, please always remember that children with autism can be recovered but it takes early and intensive intervention and a lot of work. Also, if anyone tries to tell you at this point in time what your son can't or will never do, just dismiss it because they really don't know what they are talking about and are pre-judging. There is no way of knowing right now what your son's future will be like unless, of course, you opt to do nothing for him, in which case, the odds are definitely not going to be in his favor.

Be tough, get educated, and love and interact with your child as much as possible.

My son is also mildly autistic, and things just viewed didn't help him much. Our miracle was ABA therapy we got through Regional center of Orange County. He just turned 3 yesterday, and in the last 7 months has gone from under 20 wordes to about 300. It seems to be a great program, and the earlier it gets started, the better.
T. T

Our son has developmental speech delay for an unidentified reason. At 3, when he was first diagnosed, it was for autistic-like symptoms, but as he grew it was agreed that it wasn't autism. We showed him the Brainy Baby series when he was young, and while it didn't seem to help him talk, once he did start talking we found out that academically he was way ahead. We also read to him every night since he was 1, and I think this helps too.

As for videos, I agree with the post about teaching your son sign language. If the speech issues are due to auditory processing disorder or expressive language disorder, your son may just be challenged to generate speech, not communicate. In this case sign language would be very helpful. Our son picked up on sign language very quickly, which told us he did not have a communication issue but rather a speech issue.

"Signing Time" are excellent videos to teach your son sign language. You might be able to find them at your local library to try them before investing in them. The woman who created them has a daughter who is deaf and her second daughter is disabled (I think cerebral palsy but not sure). The videos are interactive and fun. They use children to teach the signs in the video and they choose themes that help the children learn what is needed to communicate at an early age. They do talk in the videos and correlate the words to pictures, so they may also assist with speech. Here's the Web site: http://www.signingtime.com/

Early intervention is the most critical step, but even with that your son may not begin talking for quite some time. Our son began speech therapy at 2 years 10 months, but did not speak somewhat fluently until he was almost 5. And now at 6, he still is delayed with the language abilities of a 4-1/2 year old. By teaching your son sign language (and of course you need to learn it too) you may give your son the ability to communicate before he is able to formulate speech.

Best of luck! It's a long but rewarding journey to help a child that is unique.
Take care,
B.

I would recommend looking at the website

Latetalking.org.

It is a shame to start labeling kids at such a young age! Some kids just talk late it doesn't mean they have autism or delayed. My oldest son was a late talker and when he did talk there were letters he just didn't get right until he was older (5 or 6). I didn't have him tested or get interventions, our pediatrician advised me to relax and let him grow and develop at his own pace. He's now 17 and in honors classes in high school.

Now lest you get the idea I have no clue what I am talking about my oldest daughter (7) has had speech delay, and some other developmental delays, she has been tested in the school districts, had early intervention, and made it all the way through kindergarten with huge struggle. She just had an EEG done in October and she has a form of epilepsy called Absence Seizures. She has been labeled as Autistic, ADD/ADHD, and with the results of the EEG we now know that she is none of those things.

You might also want to read the book written by Jenny McCarthy about her son's experience with Autism and what she has done to help him, it was very enlightening.

Baby Bumble Bee videos are pretty good. We have been using them for awhile.

Hi K., research shows that videos actually hinder language development! Children who watch videos-even educational ones, talk later. Things that help develop language skills are books and teaching some basic sign language. Read to your son as much as you can and teach him some simple signs so he can communicate with you and ease his frustration.
Good Luck,
K.

Hi K., the Regional Center in your area may have a library of videos that you can look at and evaluate. Before you buy a bunch, also a support group may have some that you can borrow from other families. All good baby videos that use vocabulary and good explanations or rather pictures would work. You will find also the public library may have a good variety to try before you buy them.
you will be compelled to buy ANYTHING that will be helpful.
There is so much info out there, and you have to sift through and figure out what is the best for your son. I have a 17 yr. son, with autism and mild mental retardation.
He's my gentle giant and is doing as well as he can. Good luck, insist on major hours of interactive therapy now!!!
and love the heck out of your son!!! D.

Some families like the Teach to Talk and some don't. If you haven't done so yet please go to www.tacanow.org

Very important and useful information and support from parents who have been there and have paved a road for you to help your child. You will find lots of information about speech delay, who to contact, different types of therapy, what has worked and and hasn't worked.

Know you are not alone and recovery is very possible.

My suggestion is that you visit an NAET certified practitioner as I believe they have had success with autism. NAET stands for Nambudripad Allergy Elimination Techniques in case you want to do some research on it.

Best wishes,
M.

I'm so sorry about your son's diagnosis. I am sure that you are searching every avenue to help your son. I hope that you can get him started in a good therapy program very soon (it should be free of charge for you because he is under 3 years old.)Much success has been observed in autistic kids who start therapy very early.

You may also want to research sign language. I did sign language with both of my babies before they learned to talk and it was easy to do and both kids responded well. My nephew is autistic and non-verbal and he communicates with his family using sign language, too. Check out babysigns.com for lots of resources and products.

Good luck to you and God Bless you and your family.

I don't know about videos but suggest you check out the HANDLE Institute www.handle.org and read the book The Fabric of Autism. Autism can be reversed.
D. Merlin
Mother/author
www.victoryoveradhd.com

I'm a speech/language pathologist. I just looked at the "Teach 2 Talk Website." It does look like they have products that would be helpful. Look at Modelmekids.com as well. They have videos that help with pragmatics.

Good luck.

S.

My daughter has developmental delay and charactoristics of autism, although we haven't gone for the actual testing yet, but she learned language first with sign. We had to get her to understand language through visual means first. I am sure that there are times that you don't know what your child wants and there is a melt down that ensues so this will help you. Autistic kids are very visual. I used Signing Time Videos and we watched it together as a family so we could learn all the basic signs. Once our daughter learned the signs we said the word with the sign over and over and after a couple of years she got it. The key is patience and consistancy, and I know it is very challenging, trust me I understand!!! Good luck to you and your family.
Sincerely,
K.

EARLY INTERVENTION!
yes, contact regional center asap. get as many services as they offer, free! ABA therapy, speech, respite, parent training, advocacy.
WELCOME to the world of autism. JUMP ON IT! you now must teach yourself in methodologies, strategies, interventions, law, biomedicals, etc. Get into the autism work shops and parent meetings. My daughter recieved a lot of support from experts and indeed, it made a difference. She now speaks, interacts and is a loving soul.
It wasn't easy... Not easy... Actually frustrating, painful. But, the bottom line is that my baby was moving ahead, growing, etc.
It never stops. Once we accept that fact, it becomes our focus to help her. Then school...OMG school! It's a huge world: psychology, social, speech, behaviorisms, food intoxication, academics, etc.
Don't wait...Many audies had parents who didn't seek professional intervention and they never learned to do many. things and it got worse, not better or the same...Your best step is to seek other oppinions from women who've been there, done that. You've done very well to post this.
Now, get to work on more of it and you will see your kid just blossom to her potential...

My 6 year-old son is autistic. I couldn't agree more about the Early Intervention services. They really help -- especially since your son is diagnosed so early.

We found the Baby Bumble Bee series and Signing Time series to be very helpful. He still asks for thme and they have helped him learn to read. Cox On Demand has the Baby Bumble Bee series in the in free zone under kids and babies. Some PBS stations carry Signing Time TV series. Both series have flash card, which can also be helpful. (Sometimes you can find these products on e-bay, too.)

I agree that videos are not a substitute for good 1:1 interaction in developing speech and much more. But there is evidence that kids on the spectrum do learn well from videos (Bellini is the main researcher on this, I believe.) There are productive videos like Signing Time and baby Bumble Bee that can help your child, and help you find time to cook dinner!

Good luck and good for you for getting an early diagnosis.

HI K.-
I'm not sure about any good videos to help teach your child to talk but if your son is having a hard time communicating, I recommend teaching him sign language. He will be less frustrated if he has some way to communicate if he can't use his voice. Go to signingtime.com to buy the videos. They also give the times it shows on TV. There are a lot of resources there. Studies have shown that signing helps children with disabilities as well. Check it out! Good luck!

not sure if you'v considered Sign Language or not. I have a few friends whose children are also autisitc and all of the have bridged the commnication gap with Sign Lanuage which in time led to more verbal communication. The ke being communication, rather than speech. They all used "Signing Time" and I have used it as well with both of my children, though not due to speech delays, more just to give them a way to communicate prior to speech and then we've kept it up s a second language. Signing Time is a phenomenal program, which outstandinf resources for parents of special needs children besides. Check it out at signingtime.com