Dear mummies
My son is 3yrs 6months old diagnosed with mild high functioning autism .he s been n epic program for 6months .actual problm is i am not sure whether he s geting help .my son maintains eye contact,greets ppl,can talk n 3 to 4 words sentence .he is toilet trained at home but he s very hyperactive when he sees kids laughs loud,shakes head a lot ,cannot sit down much n bus and trains .these days he s biting cloth,spitting out .does anyone faced same issues and kindly suggest how to help him stop
Hi Swathi,
At age 3, children should be putting together 3-4 words so he doesn't sound too far off. The only thing I wonder is the social side of language. What does he use his language for? Does he use it for other purpose besides requesting? Does he use language to socialize? (i.e. make comments, greets, asking questions etc)
Also, what kind of words are there in his vocabulary? Ideally, children should have a good range of different word classes like actions, locations, descriptives, pronouns etc
In terms of what you have described, it sounds like your child needs some help with social skills. Some strategies which have been found to be helpful for social skills are:
1) Social stories - this is a picture book that is created for the child to explain how one should behave in certain situations
2) Video modelling - if your child is into watching videos, you can create a video of you performing the desired behaviour in the situation.
Regarding biting and chewing, there could be a few reasons: 1) he is using it as a calming strategy; 2) limited oral awareness; 3) difficulty with oral awareness 4); habit. All these 4 reasons require different approaches. If it persists, it is recommended that you seek help from a trained speech therapist.
Jia
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