Dear parent with a young nonverbal asd child, this is what worked for us -
Edward would say the odd word (
https://youtu.be/2ThfZtS2XUY ) , now at 5 years he is very very near fluent. He was diagnosed moderate at 23 months old. A few months later I started reading "the spark". (
https://www.amazon.com/Spark-Mothers-Nurturing-Genius-Autism/dp/0812983564 )
It taught me some things and other things it reinforced I was on the right track.
1) Movement
2) Song
3) Encourage strengths
1) movement - I don't know why but Edward found it easier to concentrate on my voice and make eye contact while moving. The swing was one of the best ways. I would sing to him things like the alphabet and sign the letters at the same time. Jumping on the trampoline with Edward and singing at the same time.
My theory on this is movement calms the visual cortex (that is why I encouraged stimming) and allows the mind time to process non visual information. Many a neuro typical person will go for a walk or stare into the distance etc to think more clearly (our ASD kids aren't too different)
https://youtu.be/KR3fAPbV-CM
(Swinging and singing)
https://youtu.be/3TMK_WgXkbU (please excuse my terrible singing)
2) Song - song is extremely important. For some reason our children find song easier, many an autistic parent will tell you their child sang before they talked. The reinforcing of song in the brain helps the speech part of the brain. Ref - oxford study ......http://m.brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/01/26/brain.awr335 )
3) Any "obsession" my son had I encouraged fully. Enjoyed letters so I bought ipad, paper, blackboard, white board, foam letter mat, chalk, white board markers, felts, crayons, laptop, videos on learning to read, subtitles on the tv, magnetic drawing board, window markers, baby bumblebee videos (
https://babybumblebee.com/Children-With-Autism/
). and your baby can read videos. I let him play with these on the trampoline, swing, jumping on his posters..... If he spun around I would too and make songs about spinning, jumping, flapping.
* Pays to get washable markers
This is me trying to explain Edward to his kindy teachers
https://youtu.be/5k2VA_MZwNE
Also we have done a bit of the rapid Prompting method which I believe helped Edward comprehend language better
https://youtu.be/aDnhpyjq3C0
And we are presently finding Edward's speech increase and anxiety and stress decline with a probiotic called L.Reuteri 17938 (also known as Protectis) - https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160616140723.htm
He has come so very far, and I am super proud of him. He is still noticeably different, but he is thriving. <3 p="">https://youtu.be/1N7FVbD-Nk0
A lot of stuff I know, I hope some of it helps your journey go a little easier.
One thing that that Oxford study says and I agree. More and more children are ending up talking now, they believe one of the biggest things is parents are more likely to continue trying and holding out hope. I took Edward's lead, if there were videos/ songs he was keen on anything, anything where he was comfortable looking at people talking and making sounds.
