Expert: James Michael Roan - 1/10/2008

Question
Hello again,
Thankyou so much for your response to my question earlier this week. We are researching all the therapy options in our area but they seem very limited.  I have today found a mainstream nursery very close to our home where the teacher actually specialises in dealing with autism and special needs. He can start later in the year. I am so relieved!
I wanted to ask - do speech delays in HFA children usually resolve themselves? That is, do you think my 29 month old son will eventually develop speech, and if so, how delayed is a typical HFA child? Are we talking about being months or years behind the norm? I realise this is very difficult to answer specifically as all children are different, but I just wondered what the general trend is where HFA is concerned.
Many thanks,
Katie

Answer
Hi Katie;

That is good news!

Speech delays usually do resolve themselves fairly quickly with no delays remaining assuming there is not a physical reason for the delay such as oral motor and oral sensory problems, problems with dyspraxia, and/or oral structures used for producing sound. Oral motor and oral sensory problems and problems with dyspraxia are common in children on the spectrum and should be eliminated as possible causes of speech delay before assessing the presence of an expressive language delay.

I hope I have not confused you with this! I can elaborate if you like.

Kind regards,
Jim