when is the latest time to start talk? | Autism PDD

It's not even theory. It appears to be just unsubstantiated conjecture. In general, the earlier the better, but there is no magic age after which progress becomes impossible.

I have never heard that.

they always say kids befor age six will talk other wise its very rare if they do it. and also they will have a good convrtsation if they start to talk early.ya know I think we CANNOT label this with a certain time - just like 'potty training' - I do beleive that the most recent research shows that MOST children with autism WILL be 'verbal' - that is NOT to say they will communicate, though, as gtto so wisely put in a smiliar thread to this one.....two different things.

I'm not aware of any actually studies done on this. I'd guess this is just clinical observation, at best, peppered with a bit of dogma. It makes sense that if a child isn't talking at rather advanced ages, then the obstacles that that child has to overcome in order to ever talk must be higher than kids who talked earlier. I would guess that if a study were done, you'd see a definite correlation between age of onset of functional language and fluency as an adult, but again, that's just guessing. As I mentioned in another thread, this guy didn't talk until 12 (and now communicates better than most of the population, albeit by the written word). and that's another thing to keep in mind - lack of functional speach does not mean lack of ability to communicate - look at gtto, for example - communicates better than most of us but can't speak very well.

There is an age threshold for NT children.....if they don't grasp language skills by age 12, there is no hope of EVER obtaining it. There was a true case of a young girl horribly neglected & abused. By the time authorities were aware, she was 12, she become a case study and there was hope that she could be taugt to speak, but she never did learn.

I forget her name....but I saw a movie on lifetime about her story...and looked her up. It really upset me and spurred me to be sure Erin was getting all the ST possible.....BUT.....I have heard that there is NOT a threshold with kids with ASD or other developmenatl delays because the reason for the lack of speech is differnt.....

That's Genie. Here's a link to a critical period theory associated with her and other feral children. fred39276.4130671296

the therapist, specially school speech therapy, tv talk shows definatly my pediatrition

[QUOTE=lili]they always say kids befor age six will talk other wise its very rare if they do it. and also they will have a good convrtsation if they start to talk early.[/QUOTE]

Just curious who "they" is here? (See the other thread going on speech and age of onset in ASD kids.)

is there a dead line that autestic kids will talk by certain age or that is just theory?There actually HAVE been studies done. Brain mapping has been done in
extensively. It's a growing field in neuropsych and child development. I
was
studying it in school a few months back with a professor who blew my
mind
for her PASSION for the brain.
Like any good and overwhelmed student, I am unable to provide you with
any links, or share any documentation of this without spending all
afternoon
in my file cabinet

But, from what I recall, the "window" for speech is much wider than
previously thought. The kids who will NEVER develop language after a
certain age are more likely to be victims of hideous abuse/neglect and
isolated with no one speaking to them or almost no exposure to language
at all. For these kids, the upper end of the window is around 9, I think.
The prognosis our kids, who get speech therapy and attention from a very
early age is thought to be MUCH better.

I'm no expert, just a student.....Thanks Mamakat that was real interesting

There is a natural neurological window of opportunity for learning language and that begins to close at age 4. Ask any neurologist. But that does NOT mean a nonverbal child older than 4 won't learn to speak. It means it will be much more difficult, that the process will be in no way "natural" and that completely normal speech is not as likely as if the child had learned before kindergarten. Still, lots of kids develop functional speech later. Even fairly normal speech. I haven't seen a single child who is totally nonverbal at kindergarten develop completely normal speech, but I've seen TONS develop pretty functional speech, including social speech.

For those who are skeptical about "neurological windows of opportunity," I give this observable example. People who move to the United States before age 11 or 12 from non-English-speaking countries almost always learn English completely without an accent. Those who move here after age 11 or 12 invariably speak with an accent. There seems to be a neurological window of opportunity to accurately "get" another accent -- a window that closes shut at about age 12. Some people can imitate an accent accurately after that (which is a talent in itself) but no one I've met can speak naturally with a totally accurate American accent if they arrived her after age 12.

Each of our children will develop the degree of language they are capable of developing. I know NONE of us will stop trying to facilitate that just because our kids are older than 4. We should NEVER stop trying to facilitate better and better communication. So the question of when it's "too late" is moot. It's NEVER too late. My own 16yo son's language improves every year. Only slightly, but it improves. And the more opporunties I give him where he MUST improve his language, the more it improves. For example, if I give him money and tell him he can go into McDonald's and order an ice cream sundae by himself, he manages to walk out with both an ice cream sundae and the change. I don't hear what went on, but he must have managed to tell a total stranger what he wanted and was understood.