r/MadeMeSmile • u/bendubberley_ • 16d ago

Wholesome Moments Autistic non-verbal boy speaks directly to his mother for the first time.

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u/BizarroMax 16d ago

We have two autistic kids. There’s a time when you don’t know if they will ever speak. And a lot never do.

Ours did and now they won’t shut up. But we are grateful.

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u/dryintentions 16d ago edited 16d ago

Same as my brother. He did not speak for a long time as a toddler and now he does not shut up😂

But I love it - he is now getting to a stage of being articulate and emotionally intelligent - very great at being in touch with what he is feeling which makes things easier in terms of taking care of him.

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u/S7AR4GD 16d ago

Please expand. How old is he now?

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u/fauxzempic 16d ago

I am likely on the spectrum - not sure if a diagnosis would help me at all at 39, but based on my eye contact (almost none to anyone), and a number of other things, it's something I suspected for a while, just as a "what if?" more than anything.

I was nonverbal until I was 2, nearly 3. I had to have surgery and on intake, several nurses asked my parents if I was, and this was 1988, "mentally ret**ded"

My parents didn't know how to react because they knew I was nonverbal but never really were considered that there was anything like autism or any sort of disorder at play. "He's shy!" was the thing.

Then I guess one day, my mom heard me singing a song on the radio in the back seat, and from that moment forward, I became annoyingly talkative (to people I'm comfortable with, shy around strangers).

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u/ijustwannasaveshit 16d ago

If you have struggles in daily life a diagnosis can help. I got one in my early 30s and then finally was able to get on a medication that helped me. I was also able to get accommodations at work that have helped me with my mental health significantly. Unfortunately, some of my additional mental illnesses were likely exacerbated and made worse from years of masking. Having an accommodation has been life altering for me.

At the very least I suggest finding a therapist that specializes in autism. They can be insanely helpful in getting you to understand more about how your brain works and how you can deal with the issues you face as a result of your autism.

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u/fauxzempic 16d ago

Thanks! I appreciate the insight. I have an ADHD therapist and I'm on meds, and it helps immensely, but I still have executive function roadblocks when it comes to human interaction and whether it's good ol' social anxiety, something else, or, I guess something that's on the spectrum, maybe it's worth seeing if I am AuDHD.

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u/ijustwannasaveshit 16d ago

It might be. I'm also AuDHD but for me my autism is the main problem. It's great that you are getting help! Not many people are willing to take those first steps and you are already there.

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u/Educational-Job9105 16d ago

Same here. Didn't really talk before 3. Still didn't really pull the cork out of the bottle till 4. (still early compared to many, I know).

Now the floodgates are open and there is no silence haha. 

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u/Angry_Clover 16d ago

Yeah mine didn't talk until after age 2, now he chatters constantly.

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u/TheeParent 16d ago

It's funny, your average kid has to "learn" to talk. I've witnessed many autistic kids "start" to talk. It just... turns on one day without any practice.

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u/wildflowerden 16d ago

I am autistic and that is what happened to me. I was over 3 years old before I spoke, and started speaking in full sentences immediately.

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u/TheeParent 16d ago

That is fascinating to me. Do you have any memories from this age?

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u/wildflowerden 16d ago

Very few.

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u/chococheese419 16d ago

I didn't speak until I was 5 and I also am a yapposaurus now

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u/Trumperekt 16d ago

How old were they when they spoke?

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u/BizarroMax 16d ago

It was pretty young for both, not like this video.

My oldest one is 15, his ASD is more like Asperger's. He was verbal young but language emerged slowly. He was often incoherent. He's better now but still lacks social awareness and has low registration. He comes across as more quirky than autistic. Though he does have some Rain Man skills, he's a freshman and he will have exhausted the high school curriculum next year. We had him take the ACT to get into early college courses, he got a 28 and he didn't even finish any of the sections.

The younger one is 12, he was diagnosed at 20 months and was completely non-verbal. We got lucky and got him into an ESDM program and lots of early behavioral therapy, and they developed those skills. He was really hard to talk to for about 6-7 years but he's in junior high now and his speech is excellent. He's hyperlexic, his spelling and decoding abilities with language are almost flawless, but his his reading comprehension is meh and his ability to make abstractions is low (e.g., "what is this story about?" - he doesn't know, but he can tell you what happened in it). He's very verbal, though. He's got a (private) YouTube channel. He also has perfect pitch. Name a pitch and octave, he can nail it; play a pitch, he can tell you the note and octave. He once diagnosed a clogged vacuum cleaner that way because the whine of the motor was off-pitch. "Dad, the vacuum is supposed to be in A, it's in G. Something's wrong with it."

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u/asdrunkasdrunkcanbe 16d ago

My eldest wasn't that far behind, verbally. But she did tend to make noises and grunts longer than most, and pointed at what she wanted instead of saying words. A LOT. She had said a couple of words, but no sentences.

Eventually her grandmother got pissed off one day having spent 2 hours with various things being pointed at, that she went, "I know you can speak, I'm not getting you anything else until you use your words".

And my daughter reponded, in perfectly clear English, "I want a drink". And from then on she spoke in whole sentences, not single words or phrases.

I think many autistic kids naturally worry about making a mistake, so they avoid talking out loud until they're sure they can do it.

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u/Alpacalypsenoww 16d ago

I’ve got one autistic kid. Parents of neurotypical kids don’t know the joy that the simplest milestones can bring. My son’s preschool teacher described him as a “motormouth” this year and I just beamed because a year prior, he was barely verbal.

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u/[deleted] 16d ago

Lmao. Sorry. I think that was me when I was a kid. Silent and now I haven’t shut up in decades. Be better than my folks, eh? 🫡

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u/Lilsammywinchester13 16d ago

Same

When they were 3 (both of them lol) they told me “I love you” and “mama “

I STILL ride that high haha

I will love them no matter what, but it’s always difficult to have hope and continue to work everyday, not knowing if it will be possible for them