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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

"I" never said they were unrelated. There is more than one person on this thread. And anyway, those gene studies are so speculative that they are very far from being useful for the issues we all face. Psychiatric diagnoses are based on clusters of symptoms, not on underlying causes, which are still far from being understood. In some cases the symptoms might cross-cut diagnoses, of course. But we are far from being able to throw out the diagnostic categories in use. And even if we were we are so far from anything like gene therapy (assuming that the conditions share a genetic cause) that treatment would still be based on the symptoms for a long, long time. [/quote]

Not the PP here.  Yes but there is considerable evidence that ASD and language disorders are related (though not the same thing), and where symptoms do overlap, then the same treatments are indicated.  There seems to be some resistance to or misunderstanding of this issue by some on this thread.[/quote]

Do you have a MERLD child? Because this has not been our experience at all. In my experience, the behaviors can look the same, but what my MERLD child needs and what the SLPs who are focused on autism language disorders were very different. I had to go in often and instruct the SLPs how to do their job, even the allegedly very talented ones.

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Good lord, I am not sure why you bothered. I mean, after all, your child will age out of MERLD with no lingering deficits, so why bother with speech therapy?  Even if you think your child could use some help, why bother with speech therapist since you know more than all of the professionals and researchers put together?  You could just do it yourself because you're the one who knows your child best![/quote]

Not every kid easily grows out of MERLD. Mine has severe MERLD along with other challenges. He certainly needs speech therapy, but the therapy for him is really more about  learning to work with new people (he has a lot of anxiety about his language deficits).Speech therapy doesn't "fix" his core deficit at all - lack of receptive speech. Instead, it offers him tools to make the most of what he has. It may be that time will not totally close the receptive gap for him. But that's unusual in my dealings with MERLD parents from all over the globe.

I know many other parents who did not do speech therapy or even preschools with their MERLD kids -- they used therapy like the Hannen Method, which is very child led. By the time kindergarten rolled around, many entered without even an IEP. One of my best friends did this with her child, and while it was a rough few years without extra support, now in middle school he's doing great. When we have them over, though, we typically don't even say how we met. She keeps his early language delay a total secret from everyone.

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+1, MERLD looks different for every child.  Speech therapy gives them the tools, it is not seen as a cure.  It supports the child so when they are ready, they can use those tools to continue to progress.  Either the receptive language comes or it doesn't.  Its not something that can be fixed or cured.

I know a lot of families who avoid preschool as often the school does not understand MERLD and assumes the child is being difficult when they are not cooperating, following directions or sitting when in reality, the receptive language presents a huge challenge and they, in reality do not understand what is being told.  Often those who do not do speech therapy are those without the resources - either financial and/or insurance or they believe they know best (and some may).  I have told some MERLD families to pull the child from the particular school as its clearly doing more harm than good.  People "understand" ASD as it is more common.  People do not understand receptive issues and just assume the worst about the child.

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Great post! And SO TRUE![/quote]

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