Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are 4 and 7. My 4 year old has been described as advanced linguistically by her teachers and pediatrician. She speaks in complex sentences and has a strong expressive and receptive language skills. She and her brother are asking point blank questions about why their niece can not/will not communicate (their words, not mine). They’ve tried signs, gestures, simplifying questions, etc. they want to know what’s up. None of that is to say they and we aren’t modeling playing and including their cousin. They will even say to new kids who they meet at the park “m is working her words” when kids ask why she doesn’t speak. We aren’t rude and unkind, of course we include her and play with her, we let her be independent while offering support as we would to any 3 year old. Fairly certain my kids aren’t the issue here, I want to know how to answer their questions.


I do wonder if I have the entire story. And I have no way of finding out if I do or not. I’m not sure it would matter significantly here. I’ve seen the diagnosis paper that my mom was shown. My husband has extensive experience working with nonverbal children with autism. It’s not the first time we, or our kids, have been around children who don’t speak. We have tried to help my mom understand how important it is for my niece to have some kind of expressive language which is what led to her learning and teaching the signs. My mom has taken over managing the weekly speech sessions bc my brother and his wife are in denial. We are trying to get more speech sessions weekly, whether at home or at a center/office. It also sounds like my mom is running into Medicaid limiting how much she can get right now it seems.

Our nephew has similar challenges. The diagnosis really doesn’t matter, so you can say something like “Larlo is still working on their words, this is how they communicate yes/ no” You may need to provide guidance on how to ask questions to get a response. Or it may be a word-free engagement. I like to make sure to use the word “yet” if I have to say something like “Larlo can’t answer that yet” to hold space for their learning and growth.

For my kids, waiting for a response was the hardest part. They aren’t patient, but once they realized their cousin would answer in some way if given the space to do so, their waiting improved a lot.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’re doing her a disservice if she has no signs and no PECS. Where is she age wise with receptive language?

Wholeheartedly AGREE. my brother and his wife are in denial. We are trying reallllly hard to help them understand she needs early intervention and intensive speech therapy. Right now she only has speech once a week for 30 mins.

She’s about 9 -12 months delayed in receptive language from what my mom remembers but seems to be doing a bit better. She’s responding to yes/no questions and sometimes can guide my mom to what she wants. My mom is trying to teach her signs and sees her 3-4 times a week.

I am surprised that someone seeing a 2 year old for 30 minutes a week would make a definite diagnosis of CAS, especially in a kid with receptive delays. Is it possible you don’t have the whole story?

Anonymous wrote:My kids are 4 and 7. My 4 year old has been described as advanced linguistically by her teachers and pediatrician. She speaks in complex sentences and has a strong expressive and receptive language skills. She and her brother are asking point blank questions about why their niece can not/will not communicate (their words, not mine). They’ve tried signs, gestures, simplifying questions, etc. they want to know what’s up. None of that is to say they and we aren’t modeling playing and including their cousin. They will even say to new kids who they meet at the park “m is working her words” when kids ask why she doesn’t speak. We aren’t rude and unkind, of course we include her and play with her, we let her be independent while offering support as we would to any 3 year old. Fairly certain my kids aren’t the issue here, I want to know how to answer their questions.


I do wonder if I have the entire story. And I have no way of finding out if I do or not. I’m not sure it would matter significantly here. I’ve seen the diagnosis paper that my mom was shown. My husband has extensive experience working with nonverbal children with autism. It’s not the first time we, or our kids, have been around children who don’t speak. We have tried to help my mom understand how important it is for my niece to have some kind of expressive language which is what led to her learning and teaching the signs. My mom has taken over managing the weekly speech sessions bc my brother and his wife are in denial. We are trying to get more speech sessions weekly, whether at home or at a center/office. It also sounds like my mom is running into Medicaid limiting how much she can get right now it seems.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’re doing her a disservice if she has no signs and no PECS. Where is she age wise with receptive language?

Wholeheartedly AGREE. my brother and his wife are in denial. We are trying reallllly hard to help them understand she needs early intervention and intensive speech therapy. Right now she only has speech once a week for 30 mins.

She’s about 9 -12 months delayed in receptive language from what my mom remembers but seems to be doing a bit better. She’s responding to yes/no questions and sometimes can guide my mom to what she wants. My mom is trying to teach her signs and sees her 3-4 times a week.

If she has receptive language delays, there's something else going on in addition to apraxia of speech.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like YOU need to understand it better.

What resources would you recommend? I don’t just randomly google disabilities. I’ve read several peer reviewed studies. I was a teacher and went back to my textbooks on disabilities and read the relevant sections. I’ve talked to friends who are SLPs. But I won’t just google random stuff to read and take it at face value.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’re doing her a disservice if she has no signs and no PECS. Where is she age wise with receptive language?

PECS is wildly inappropriate for this diagnosis. High tech which it sounds like they are pursuing is the answer but it takes time.

I disagree, I’ve used it for many kids. It’s not a long term solution, but short term until other avenues are better. Usually apraxia resolves itself and speech picks up after age 3. Often the fine motor skills aren’t there for sign language. Maybe some modified signs. I can utilize PECS easily prior to age 3 bc you can utilize pics that are taught in other ways. Many ways to get from point A to B, for some kids that’s PECS. Not all of course, but if there’s nothing else this is a great bridge.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’re doing her a disservice if she has no signs and no PECS. Where is she age wise with receptive language?

Wholeheartedly AGREE. my brother and his wife are in denial. We are trying reallllly hard to help them understand she needs early intervention and intensive speech therapy. Right now she only has speech once a week for 30 mins.

She’s about 9 -12 months delayed in receptive language from what my mom remembers but seems to be doing a bit better. She’s responding to yes/no questions and sometimes can guide my mom to what she wants. My mom is trying to teach her signs and sees her 3-4 times a week.