I recently had a parent come to me and say. “I feel all alone because I think my child is having problems processing language, but her school doesn’t understands.” She has been tested and they says she is doing well, but because she has been diagnosed with Asperger’s I don’t feel she is getting all that she needs if she is not receiving any social language training or
We use language every day, and if there is deficits in language and your child is in 4th grade or above they often no longer qualify for specialized speech language services if they have average to above average grades. However, limited language skills will impact all other areas of development, especially for students with autism, whose language use deficits will always impact their ability to function in school and work. Students with autism are not the only once that benefit from direct instruction and are often denied. It is a common practice in schools to provide young students with intensive services and then to move them to group instruction as they get over. This practice is due to the fact that when providing young children with intensive services many children will overcome the deficit. It has been decided at around grade 4 that continued deficits are a permanent part of a child’s learning profile so that intensive instruction is no longer as beneficial.
It’s a difficult position for parents to face, but makes sense in many ways as a public policy; however continued instruction does make a difference and can help a student become a more effective learner.
Seek help if you notice difficulty with any of the following:
1.) Following multistep directions
2.) Expressing thoughts and ideas
3.) Limited vocabulary
4.) Difficulty comprehending when reading
5.) Inability to re-tell a story
6.) Trouble expressing their ideas in writing
Teens especially those that have had speech/language services in the past often benefit from speech language services in middle and high school as well.
We all have strengths and weaknesses many of us learn how to navigate our weakness by using strategies that we pick up and teach ourselves, but for some students they have to be taught the strategies they need to navigate their weaknesses.