One of the hallmark traits of autism is difficulties with speech. Some autistic children are non-verbal, others have a delay and problems with speech and language, and still others speak normally. When it comes to speech delay, many children have difficulties overall. Yet, how can a parent know if a speech delay is signaling that their child may have autism?
What are speech delays?
Toddlers develop speech at their own rate, but there are several typical milestones they tend to hit with speech. They include:
- Within the first year, they can say single words such as “no” and also point to an object they want or mean.
- By age 2, most children can talk in two to three sentences and usually know about 50 words.
- By age 3, a typical child can speak in three to four sentences, and their vocabulary has grown to around 1,000 words.
A speech delay is a development lag in the mechanisms of speech that occur with the mouth, tongue, vocal cords and other elements that go into being able to speak. You shouldn’t confuse this with a language delay, in which there is a lag in understanding of knowledge.
We were fortunate that our son J didn’t have a speech delay. In fact, he was the exact opposite. He started speaking early and profusely. It was hard to keep him from talking. In fact, we had him evaluated by our First Steps program in our state, and his communication skills were very high. It was one reason that his diagnosis of autism was delayed. He had other communications difficulties such as not fully understanding facial expressions and body language, but he was highly verbal as a young child.
What can cause speech delays?
There are many causes of speech delays, and most are not related to autism. The potential causes of a speech delay can include:
- Hearing loss
- Mouth problems (e.g., mouth, tongue or palate)
- Premature birth
- Childhood apraxia (a disorder in which it is difficult for a child to form the sounds for speech)
- Neurological disorders
- Intellectual disabilities such as autism
How are speech delays associated with autism different?
If your child experiences a speech delay, what are some signs that it may be due to autism and not another cause? Most of these are overall communications challenges unrelated to speech. They can include:
- Cooing and babbling when they are an infant but then stop after their first year
- Failing to respond to their name or other attempts to get their attention with words
- Lacking the ability to use gestures or to point to or show objects to others
- Experiencing a delay in language development
- Learning to communicate using pictures or their own type of sign language
- Repeating words or phrases over and over (referred to as echolalia)
- Having difficulty speaking in sentences; instead, they speak in repeated single words and have a hard time using multiple words to make up a sentence
- Saying words or phrases that seem odd in context and have only personal meaning to the child
- Using a voice that sounds robotic.
How to find help for your child with a speech delay
If your child is experiencing a speech delay, talk to your child’s doctor. A medical exam and hearing test may be able to identify the reason for the speech delay if it is a physical problem.
Your child’s doctor can also refer your child to a speech-language pathologist, also called speech therapist, who can create a treatment plan and help your child with speech difficulties. The therapist can help with both speech and language delays.
Our son J had speech therapy beginning in kindergarten and all through elementary school to help him with some speech and language issues as well as social skills training. It made a huge difference for him.
What to do if you think your child may have autism
If you believe your child is experiencing a speech delay and also has some of the communications challenges listed above, talk to your child’s doctor about having your child tested for autism or other intellectual disabilities. A local psychologist through a medical system or even the school system can conduct testing to determine if your child may be autistic.
We had our son J tested at the same time through both – a psychologist at a local behavioral health clinic that our pediatrician referred us to (paid for by our health insurance) and also through a school psychologist with our school system. It ended up being advantageous because the school psychologist went to our son’s preschool and observed him for several hours. She shared her notes with the psychologist at the medical system. By doing so, they both came to the same conclusion that J had Asperger’s Syndrome (now part of the autism spectrum disorder). I wouldn’t recommend all parents have their child tested through both. We just happened to have been referred through the school system by J’s preschool director at the same time our pediatrician referred him to a psychologist for testing.
Did your child experience speech delay and was that the reason you sought testing for autism? What has your experience been working with a speech therapist for your child? Leave a comment below so that we can share and encourage one another on this journey!
