Expert: Trey McGowan - 4/22/2009

Question
My 12 year old boy was recently diagnosed with Asperger's/PDD. He receives
speech service, social skills counseling outside school, and he also had
ADHD.
He still cannot carry a conversation. I ask him something and it's so
longwinded and a ton of "well" words, "um", it's so frustrating. Or I'll ask him
something and the answer has very little to do with the question. Is it always
going to be this bad? Will he ever have a normal conversation? Will he ever  
stop arguing with his peers?  

Answer
Hi there, Mary!

One bit of extremely important information that you do not offer: how long ago was your boy diagnosed with this? You say 'recently', but 'recently' can go a long way.

The reason I bring this up is that something people need to consider about therapy of any sort is that it takes time. Depending on how long the issue has been going on, how pervasive it is, and what specific issue it is, that time can end up being quite a long time. Your young man has spent 12 years in learning his present mode of speaking. If he has only just begun this therapy, he has many habits that he has to *un*learn.

Now, obviously I can't say one way or the other when it comes to your questions. I don't know how long it has been, how pervasive his disorder is, and how fast he has come in how much time. I can say that there is always a possibility that there will be considerable advances in his conversational ability, particularly since he is receiving direct therapy for the matter. However, 'possibility' and 'definite' are two different things, and only time will tell whether the 'definite' will come to pass. Until that time, be patient with your young man. After all, this is not an issue that is just 'his choice', but a development in his brain. In other words, he not only has to learn, but he has to change the way he thinks about things in a lot of ways. All in all, it's a difficult job.

I wish and hope you all the best! Questions, comments, feedback, follow-ups, direct them back this way and I'll see what I can do!

Trey