Spontaneous Responses

Dunkin' Donuts

This is the first week of school and I've had an early start, 5 a.m. in order to get my eldest son to school by 7:15. After dropping him off at school,  I stopped by my local Dunkin' Donuts to grab myself a quick cup of coffee.  Thank goodness for a drive thru. As we leave the drive-thru window, E says "bye-bye. ha a nice day" I looked over to him, his hand still waving and said "Hey E...stop blowing my mind!" He just smiled his perfect smile.

Now this may not seem like much to most folks. Cute perhaps to the average parent but for a mom with a child with autism who was completely nonverbal with little social emotional connection a year ago, this is ground breaking. He mostly echo's everything we say but has been gaining strides in speech. Today all I said was thank you at the drive thru. In my defense, I was a bit grumpy do to a cold. In any case, when he said what normally would be my response to the very lovely staff at my local D&D, I was over-joyed. It's not just that he said it and said it fairly clear,  I might add. But that he understood it was a moment that called for him to say that. I would have jumped in the back seat and kissed him if I wasn't already driving. Remember, I was going through the drive thru.

Well, I don't need to tell you that he turned my morning around and the rest of my day as well. I was so proud of E for showing me and the happy caffeine pushers that my boy can talk. It was awesome! He is showing signs that not only will he be able to speak more regularly but that he is understanding some of the social aspects or expectations of speaking. Pretty cool!

Here are some suggestions from another writer and Licensed Speech-Language Pathologist with ideas on how to encourage spontaneous speech with your child.

Top Five Ways to Encourage Spontaneous Language


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