Anonymous wrote:

22:48 here:

The roots of the language disorders with MERLD and autism are different. Autism language therapy typically focuses on compliance and teaching social communication skills along with language, while MERLD children do best with back and forth matched responsive play-based therapies designed for a child with a speech disorder.

Once a MERLD child's language has come in, they become fairly typical kids with only residual language weaknesses that they learn to cope with. Once a child with autism has language, it becomes more and more apparent they are autistic, and they then have to cope with the other issues that autism brings.

That's not true PP. I have a non-ASD kid with MERLD and APD too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

22:48 here:

The roots of the language disorders with MERLD and autism are different. Autism language therapy typically focuses on compliance and teaching social communication skills along with language, while MERLD children do best with back and forth matched responsive play-based therapies designed for a child with a speech disorder.

Once a MERLD child's language has come in, they become fairly typical kids with only residual language weaknesses that they learn to cope with. Once a child with autism has language, it becomes more and more apparent they are autistic, and they then have to cope with the other issues that autism brings.

This hasn't been my experience with speech therapy. At all. Speech therapy should be targeted to specific deficits that each child faces. Every child, regardless of DX, should get a specific ST work-up and therapy should be targeted to those deficits.

I think you're under-estimating the "residual" language difference of MERLD kids. They have long term problems which are comparable to kids with Aspergers.

Some do. But I know many, many personally who don't. It's a fact. I just spoke with a half-dozen moms of MERLD kids this week whose children were misdiagnosed with autism and whose kids now show no trace of ANY disabilty.

As with anything, it depends on the severity of the issue. But MERLD children won't have the core problems that will remain with autistic children all their lives -- the inability to socially connect with people.

More stigma. You're just wrong. Kids with autism spectrum disorders aren't unable to connect with people. They have impairment in that area, but they do connect with people. Their social connections are odd, but they are functional.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^Now you've done it. MERLD mom will now say that when the kid's speech comes in, the a MERLD kid will be NT.

The catch is that not all MERLD kid's speech "comes in" then it's a good bet that there is something more going on than just MERLD.

If your kid is 10+ yrs old and still has MERLD, it's probably a good idea to see exactly what is going on.

My kid is 12 and still has severe MERLD -- as well as other additional diagnosis that complicates things for him academically.

He's still not autistic, though.

Why do you so desperately want MERLD children to be autistic? Is it because it makes your situation not appear so hopeless?

Why do you stigmatize kids with ASDs as hopeless?

Kids with MERLD don't have good outcomes. Most kids with MERLD have worse outcomes than kids with HFA or Asperger's.

http://www.medmerits.com/index.php/article/developmental_language_disorder/P10

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

22:48 here:

The roots of the language disorders with MERLD and autism are different. Autism language therapy typically focuses on compliance and teaching social communication skills along with language, while MERLD children do best with back and forth matched responsive play-based therapies designed for a child with a speech disorder.

Once a MERLD child's language has come in, they become fairly typical kids with only residual language weaknesses that they learn to cope with. Once a child with autism has language, it becomes more and more apparent they are autistic, and they then have to cope with the other issues that autism brings.

This hasn't been my experience with speech therapy. At all. Speech therapy should be targeted to specific deficits that each child faces. Every child, regardless of DX, should get a specific ST work-up and therapy should be targeted to those deficits.

I think you're under-estimating the "residual" language difference of MERLD kids. They have long term problems which are comparable to kids with Aspergers.

Some do. But I know many, many personally who don't. It's a fact. I just spoke with a half-dozen moms of MERLD kids this week whose children were misdiagnosed with autism and whose kids now show no trace of ANY disabilty.

As with anything, it depends on the severity of the issue. But MERLD children won't have the core problems that will remain with autistic children all their lives -- the inability to socially connect with people.

Anonymous wrote:

22:48 here:

The roots of the language disorders with MERLD and autism are different. Autism language therapy typically focuses on compliance and teaching social communication skills along with language, while MERLD children do best with back and forth matched responsive play-based therapies designed for a child with a speech disorder.

Once a MERLD child's language has come in, they become fairly typical kids with only residual language weaknesses that they learn to cope with. Once a child with autism has language, it becomes more and more apparent they are autistic, and they then have to cope with the other issues that autism brings.

This hasn't been my experience with speech therapy. At all. Speech therapy should be targeted to specific deficits that each child faces. Every child, regardless of DX, should get a specific ST work-up and therapy should be targeted to those deficits.

I think you're under-estimating the "residual" language difference of MERLD kids. They have long term problems which are comparable to kids with Aspergers.

Anonymous wrote:^Now you've done it. MERLD mom will now say that when the kid's speech comes in, the a MERLD kid will be NT.

The catch is that not all MERLD kid's speech "comes in" then it's a good bet that there is something more going on than just MERLD.

If your kid is 10+ yrs old and still has MERLD, it's probably a good idea to see exactly what is going on.

My kid is 12 and still has severe MERLD -- as well as other additional diagnosis that complicates things for him academically.

He's still not autistic, though.

Why do you so desperately want MERLD children to be autistic? Is it because it makes your situation not appear so hopeless?

Ah, the " MERLD parents are in denia" typical garbage comment.

^Now you've done it. MERLD mom will now say that when the kid's speech comes in, the a MERLD kid will be NT.

The catch is that not all MERLD kid's speech "comes in" then it's a good bet that there is something more going on than just MERLD.

If your kid is 10+ yrs old and still has MERLD, it's probably a good idea to see exactly what is going on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, you have those things together and not have an ASD.

ASD is marked by impairments in a triad of areas: social interaction, social language and repetitive behavior and restricted interests. It can occur with attention issues or without attention issues.

Children can have language issues and auditory processing issues without having ADD. They can can have those things with ADD, too.

Yes you can be non-ASD and have multiple disorders. Anxiety can also be present too with or without ASD, which sounds like your nephew has if he's been prescribed Celexa.

If he's 6, he should probably have a neuropsych evaluation done by a psychologist. They can test for speech delays, pragmatic issues, autism, adhd, etc. Don't get too hung up on whether or not he's on the spectrum. (Ruling out something at 2 doesn't mean much. PDD-NOS doesn't exist any longer in any case in the DSM.) He must have been evaluated by someone fairly recently to diagnose the anxiety since he's been prescribed medication.

At home/school techniques aren't going to vary too much whether he is ASD or not from what you described. It also doesn't really matter what the school labels him as long as he gets appropriate services. It sounds like he needs lots of speech therapy at a minimum. I wouldn't depend on the school to meet all his needs. Supplementing with private is always a good idea. Keep in mind that it's not really your place to suggest these things unless his parents ask.

These things are not true. It DOES matter what label a child gets. The label will drive services, even if it is not supposed to. And complex language disorders need fine-tuned speech therapy, not the garden variety that kids with autism tend to get. The root causes of the language issue are different, and the interventions should be different to achieve the best outcome.

I am the PP with a MERLD, ADD, auditory processing child and an ASD label would have ABSOLUTELY driven the wrong services, although that was not the mislabeling the school wanted in our case.

I'm curious about why you say this. My kid had a MERLD label and now has an ASD label. The interventions for him are exactly the same regardless of the label. He gets lots of speech therapy and some of social skills training, some parent led behavioral work. Regardless of label, therapy should be tailored to deficits. (We were private pay, though, and did 90% of this without the school.)

What did you do with your MERLD kid that would be different if he/she had an ASD label?

I would be curious too. I personally think the MERLD mom is in denial. She just doesn't want the ASD label.

22:48 here:

The roots of the language disorders with MERLD and autism are different. Autism language therapy typically focuses on compliance and teaching social communication skills along with language, while MERLD children do best with back and forth matched responsive play-based therapies designed for a child with a speech disorder.

Once a MERLD child's language has come in, they become fairly typical kids with only residual language weaknesses that they learn to cope with. Once a child with autism has language, it becomes more and more apparent they are autistic, and they then have to cope with the other issues that autism brings.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, you have those things together and not have an ASD.

ASD is marked by impairments in a triad of areas: social interaction, social language and repetitive behavior and restricted interests. It can occur with attention issues or without attention issues.

Children can have language issues and auditory processing issues without having ADD. They can can have those things with ADD, too.

Yes you can be non-ASD and have multiple disorders. Anxiety can also be present too with or without ASD, which sounds like your nephew has if he's been prescribed Celexa.

If he's 6, he should probably have a neuropsych evaluation done by a psychologist. They can test for speech delays, pragmatic issues, autism, adhd, etc. Don't get too hung up on whether or not he's on the spectrum. (Ruling out something at 2 doesn't mean much. PDD-NOS doesn't exist any longer in any case in the DSM.) He must have been evaluated by someone fairly recently to diagnose the anxiety since he's been prescribed medication.

At home/school techniques aren't going to vary too much whether he is ASD or not from what you described. It also doesn't really matter what the school labels him as long as he gets appropriate services. It sounds like he needs lots of speech therapy at a minimum. I wouldn't depend on the school to meet all his needs. Supplementing with private is always a good idea. Keep in mind that it's not really your place to suggest these things unless his parents ask.

These things are not true. It DOES matter what label a child gets. The label will drive services, even if it is not supposed to. And complex language disorders need fine-tuned speech therapy, not the garden variety that kids with autism tend to get. The root causes of the language issue are different, and the interventions should be different to achieve the best outcome.

I am the PP with a MERLD, ADD, auditory processing child and an ASD label would have ABSOLUTELY driven the wrong services, although that was not the mislabeling the school wanted in our case.

I'm curious about why you say this. My kid had a MERLD label and now has an ASD label. The interventions for him are exactly the same regardless of the label. He gets lots of speech therapy and some of social skills training, some parent led behavioral work. Regardless of label, therapy should be tailored to deficits. (We were private pay, though, and did 90% of this without the school.)

What did you do with your MERLD kid that would be different if he/she had an ASD label?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, you have those things together and not have an ASD.

ASD is marked by impairments in a triad of areas: social interaction, social language and repetitive behavior and restricted interests. It can occur with attention issues or without attention issues.

Children can have language issues and auditory processing issues without having ADD. They can can have those things with ADD, too.

Yes you can be non-ASD and have multiple disorders. Anxiety can also be present too with or without ASD, which sounds like your nephew has if he's been prescribed Celexa.

If he's 6, he should probably have a neuropsych evaluation done by a psychologist. They can test for speech delays, pragmatic issues, autism, adhd, etc. Don't get too hung up on whether or not he's on the spectrum. (Ruling out something at 2 doesn't mean much. PDD-NOS doesn't exist any longer in any case in the DSM.) He must have been evaluated by someone fairly recently to diagnose the anxiety since he's been prescribed medication.

At home/school techniques aren't going to vary too much whether he is ASD or not from what you described. It also doesn't really matter what the school labels him as long as he gets appropriate services. It sounds like he needs lots of speech therapy at a minimum. I wouldn't depend on the school to meet all his needs. Supplementing with private is always a good idea. Keep in mind that it's not really your place to suggest these things unless his parents ask.

These things are not true. It DOES matter what label a child gets. The label will drive services, even if it is not supposed to. And complex language disorders need fine-tuned speech therapy, not the garden variety that kids with autism tend to get. The root causes of the language issue are different, and the interventions should be different to achieve the best outcome.

I am the PP with a MERLD, ADD, auditory processing child and an ASD label would have ABSOLUTELY driven the wrong services, although that was not the mislabeling the school wanted in our case.

I agree with this last poster. We have a ASD label that I don't think is correct and the doc insisted on ABA (we are lucky it was covered with a small co-copay). I tried it and didn't get how it helped my child (I think its great for kids with autism and it should be saved for them, not a child like mine) . After a few months of it doing nothing (loved the therapist), we continued with intensive speech (4 days a week). While at the time, I wasn't sure if it was helpful, now as the speech is coming, it was very much helpful as was OT (we did it on/off depending on schedule) and both direct services were far better than ABA. The ABA therapist just did very basic versions of speech therapy and OT and she wasn't trained in what he needed (she was well trained and very good for ABA). It does matter about the diagnosis in one sense - for us it was the gateway to services but in the other, it didn't matter as many of the services are similar and its just about finding the best therapy and provider fit (hopefully one who takes insurance as well).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, you have those things together and not have an ASD.

ASD is marked by impairments in a triad of areas: social interaction, social language and repetitive behavior and restricted interests. It can occur with attention issues or without attention issues.

Children can have language issues and auditory processing issues without having ADD. They can can have those things with ADD, too.

Yes you can be non-ASD and have multiple disorders. Anxiety can also be present too with or without ASD, which sounds like your nephew has if he's been prescribed Celexa.

If he's 6, he should probably have a neuropsych evaluation done by a psychologist. They can test for speech delays, pragmatic issues, autism, adhd, etc. Don't get too hung up on whether or not he's on the spectrum. (Ruling out something at 2 doesn't mean much. PDD-NOS doesn't exist any longer in any case in the DSM.) He must have been evaluated by someone fairly recently to diagnose the anxiety since he's been prescribed medication.

At home/school techniques aren't going to vary too much whether he is ASD or not from what you described. It also doesn't really matter what the school labels him as long as he gets appropriate services. It sounds like he needs lots of speech therapy at a minimum. I wouldn't depend on the school to meet all his needs. Supplementing with private is always a good idea. Keep in mind that it's not really your place to suggest these things unless his parents ask.

These things are not true. It DOES matter what label a child gets. The label will drive services, even if it is not supposed to. And complex language disorders need fine-tuned speech therapy, not the garden variety that kids with autism tend to get. The root causes of the language issue are different, and the interventions should be different to achieve the best outcome.

I agree completely that the correct diagnosis is critical to directing the correct therapies, but there is nothing "garden variety" about speech therapy for kids with autism. It is highly specialized, "fine-tuned" as you said, focusing on not just speech production but abstract language and pragmatics. You can make your point, which again I agree with, without indulging in this antipathy towards autism diagnoses and interventions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, you have those things together and not have an ASD.

ASD is marked by impairments in a triad of areas: social interaction, social language and repetitive behavior and restricted interests. It can occur with attention issues or without attention issues.

Children can have language issues and auditory processing issues without having ADD. They can can have those things with ADD, too.

Yes you can be non-ASD and have multiple disorders. Anxiety can also be present too with or without ASD, which sounds like your nephew has if he's been prescribed Celexa.

If he's 6, he should probably have a neuropsych evaluation done by a psychologist. They can test for speech delays, pragmatic issues, autism, adhd, etc. Don't get too hung up on whether or not he's on the spectrum. (Ruling out something at 2 doesn't mean much. PDD-NOS doesn't exist any longer in any case in the DSM.) He must have been evaluated by someone fairly recently to diagnose the anxiety since he's been prescribed medication.

At home/school techniques aren't going to vary too much whether he is ASD or not from what you described. It also doesn't really matter what the school labels him as long as he gets appropriate services. It sounds like he needs lots of speech therapy at a minimum. I wouldn't depend on the school to meet all his needs. Supplementing with private is always a good idea. Keep in mind that it's not really your place to suggest these things unless his parents ask.

These things are not true. It DOES matter what label a child gets. The label will drive services, even if it is not supposed to. And complex language disorders need fine-tuned speech therapy, not the garden variety that kids with autism tend to get. The root causes of the language issue are different, and the interventions should be different to achieve the best outcome.

I am the PP with a MERLD, ADD, auditory processing child and an ASD label would have ABSOLUTELY driven the wrong services, although that was not the mislabeling the school wanted in our case.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, you have those things together and not have an ASD.

ASD is marked by impairments in a triad of areas: social interaction, social language and repetitive behavior and restricted interests. It can occur with attention issues or without attention issues.

Children can have language issues and auditory processing issues without having ADD. They can can have those things with ADD, too.

Yes you can be non-ASD and have multiple disorders. Anxiety can also be present too with or without ASD, which sounds like your nephew has if he's been prescribed Celexa.

If he's 6, he should probably have a neuropsych evaluation done by a psychologist. They can test for speech delays, pragmatic issues, autism, adhd, etc. Don't get too hung up on whether or not he's on the spectrum. (Ruling out something at 2 doesn't mean much. PDD-NOS doesn't exist any longer in any case in the DSM.) He must have been evaluated by someone fairly recently to diagnose the anxiety since he's been prescribed medication.

At home/school techniques aren't going to vary too much whether he is ASD or not from what you described. It also doesn't really matter what the school labels him as long as he gets appropriate services. It sounds like he needs lots of speech therapy at a minimum. I wouldn't depend on the school to meet all his needs. Supplementing with private is always a good idea. Keep in mind that it's not really your place to suggest these things unless his parents ask.

These things are not true. It DOES matter what label a child gets. The label will drive services, even if it is not supposed to. And complex language disorders need fine-tuned speech therapy, not the garden variety that kids with autism tend to get. The root causes of the language issue are different, and the interventions should be different to achieve the best outcome.