What's the difference between Speech Delay and Autism?

Here are 12 differences between speech delay and autism

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[Aheadfamily]

Hey Friends, here's how we can support you, and how you can support us ❤

[TJ-lhwd]

Finally a mum with experience putting out explanations with examples. You are not generalizing things or putting more doubts in viewers head. Good job

[QueenNebulous]

I believe my youngest son has level 2 autism. He’s always been delayed, didn’t potty train till after he turned 5yrs. He was completely nonverbal just babbling, up until he was 4yrs old, but he didn’t start saying a word or a few, he just literally woke up one day speaking in complete full sentences and shocked all of us. Found out he is a gestalt language processor. However he also has echolalia, constantly repeating phases over and over, struggles to answer questions, ex: if you ask him to do something, “Can you grab that cup?” He will think very literal and respond “Yes” or “Of course” but doesn’t do it. In his mind he processes it as, “Are you capable of grabbing that cup?”. He also still struggles with his fine motor and stims. I’m planning to get him evaluated

[Esther_AdeoluOjo]

Finally! A channel on autism that makes sense. What is a child has a ll these symptoms but is improving.

[cassalynnvictoria]

🤦🏽‍♀️ wow, okay. Had a mommy come up to me today at the park and ask if my son was autistic. I told her no and started looking stuff up about it. He’s 3 and is completely opposite of his 9 year old brother when he was that age. My 3 year old doesn’t speak and grabs my hand and throws it at whatever he wants. He doesn’t play with his toys normal and has to line them up in a straight line. He doesn’t make eye contact and plays by himself. I watched some videos of his brother at that age and he was speaking in full sentences, making friends, and could understand certain commands. I thought my youngest was just being stubborn but I think he’s autistic. Definitely gonna make an appointment and get him evaluated properly.

[jazzaraemccollum]

Hi there im new to your channel!! I have a 3 year old, and im in the process of having him tested for autism. Im super scared as ive never even thought my child would have autism. After watching your videoes, your giving me hope and calming my anxiety! Im scared and nervouse about the assesment. But im so happy i found your channel❤❤

[alicewonder]

Thank you so much for this video! You guys are amazing. I don't know your family, but I love you virtually and wish you all the best. ❤

[Findingkeeann]

I'm learning a lot from you. You're a great mom. My 3 year old is said to be on the spectrum since 2022 by her paediatrian, and almost 2 years later she's yet to be properly assessed. Help isn't readily accessible in Jamaica for autistic children. We have been on a waiting list for proper evaluation since 2022. Regular schools refuses to enroll her, and she will be 4 next month and isn't enrolled in a school. My heart breaks

[anthonyjonas]

My baby 15 months. Only says mama and haha . Was walking on tip toes. Wont ride bike but flip it and spin wheels. She will
Look me in the eyes but any kid or stranger she will look down and not look at the person talking to her? She's amazing baby.

[nathanfortier]

I'm an autistic 20 year-old and, I mentionned this under another video too but, I don't like masking. I've done it in the past, I still do it to this day because I no longer know how not to mask but, it makes everyday really hard for me. Imagine how tired you feel, if you're a working adult, after a full 12h shift. Now, double that feeling. That's how a regular school day in primary school felt. It got worse as I got older. Imagine being that tired and exhausted and not knowing why because you don't realise that you're masking. Ever since I got diagnosed 2 years ago, I've stopped as much of my masking as I can but, it still feels like how I would imagine a non-autistic/neurotypical adult would feel like if they did 24-32h of straight work with no breaks when I only work 8h or go to school for a full day. The only time that I can do chores or that I have the energy to do chores is during my day off or during half days. But, even then, motivation is really hard because it feels like I need to sleep and rest after, what feels like, 5 x 32h shifts with no breaks in each of them. I wish I was diagnosed sooner and that I would have grown up without needing to mask since my life would be insanely easier now. I hope someone can read this and stop just 1 autistic child from making that same mistake.

[anitaboakye]

My 5 year old has speech delay and has a therapist to help him at school. I’m in conflicting views as to wether he has autism or ADHD. He is a brilliant child but at times it’s difficult for him to stay focused on a certain activity. When he is angry or frustrated he makes strange loud noise. He is very affectionate and loves people though. Thanks for your videos they are really helpful.

[ms.ragghianti]

Thank you for making this video. It was helpful. I see more of a speech delay. My friend’s child does point and make good eye contact.

[MiracleFound]

My granddaughter does a lot of masking and we are working hard to let her know that she is loved just the way she is. It was interesting because she could talk but not to people. She didn't make eye contact and wouldn't use words with people or even acknowledge that someone was talking. She would stand and sing or talk along with videos though. She is 4 now and sounds out words to read them, but if you ask her to read something there is only a small chance that she will. That being said, she is beyond adorable and just amazing. Her younger brother is being evaluated for autism as well. He is tracking similar to her, but doesn't do the masking that his sister does. The youngest is 18 months and is already talking in sentences, it really makes those differences stick out. Our middle guy is very focused and determined when he is interested in something. He is a sweetheart and is making progress and we love him to the moon and back.

[MSJARJU]

Your videos helped me get autism diagnosis for my son thank you so much for everything

[JonBrase]

I was speaking around 12 months and could speak in whole sentences by age 2. But communication, as a whole, is a weak point for me. What linguists call "pragmatics" tends to be quite different in autistic vs. neurotypical speech.

[lillyc]

My great nephew gas autism he makes noises but no words and likes things that he can hold in his hand and wave it in the air and saying not sure what level he is at but getting ready to be tested again after having lessons 2 times a week he grabs your hand when he wants something tho he has a great mommy and and family members who give 100% support

[thomasschoeck]

As far back as when I was in high school (back in the 1990s) I heard and read that people on the spectrum are more likely to go off on tangents than neurotypical people. I have not yet seen a video about this on either your channel or the autism family channel but if there is any truth to this then maybe you can do a video about it at some point.

Another thing I have seen more of in autistic kids than in kids with speech delay is delayed toilet training.

For example, a friend of mine has a grandson with level two autism who recently turned six. His toilet training is still very much a work in progress even during the day. As a result he is in at least his second year of kindergarten. The summer before last he was communicating even less than Simon did when he was in the middle of toilet training. For example, if Simon (who you mentioned is level one) is about to have an accident (or maybe just started having one) he will say “Oh no, potty!” like most other kids in a similar situation. Simon started training around three-and-a-half which is late but is still technically within the norm.

On the other hand, the level two grandson of a friend of mine was playing with some toy cars one day in shorts and underwear while working on his potty training at his grandmother’s house in her front yard at age four-and-a-half and did a potty dance for all of about five to ten seconds, paused, emptied his bladder, looked at the puddle forming apparently with some level of interest and then went right back to playing like nothing happened. He was not embarrassed by this and didn’t seem to be uncomfortable. Incidentally this is also what I would do at the same age because I was also level two when I was that age and therefore was not yet experiencing embarrassment. Over time my symptoms improved and I eventually trained. Today I am level one. Like him I did not try to get my mother’s attention or say “uh-oh potty!” Or “Oh no, potty!” (Or even start crying or whining) like someone who is either neurotypical or perhaps level one would do in this situation. I am guessing that this would be more or less how someone who is level three (like Ezra) would also react in a similar situation. He would probably notice what is happening but not be bothered by it.

On a related note I should mention that even kids who are level one (like Simon and like my sister) might not truly understand what is happening when they see the puddle form during a wetting accident (at least when they first start their training). For example, when my sister was around three-and-a-half and just started training she recently saw the movie the Wizard of Oz. During an early accident shortly after she started training she saw a puddle forming and said “I’m melting! I’m melting!” over and over. Apparently she thought she was melting like the Wicked Witch of the West after the bucket of water was thrown on her. This was about six months before I was born and my parents often tell this story.

The possibility (or even likelihood) of this type of confusion is why I have mentioned in past comments that if someone in training is having a wetting accident you should say “Look, (name of child who is training) you’re going pee-pee!” And then follow that up with “Can you say pee-pee?” if you are also trying to teach him to say the word “pee-pee”. A similar technique also works early in the training process if you happen to see a poop accident in progress. Before one can decide when and where to “go” it is first necessary to understand the concept of “going”. As you mentioned in the past potty training books and videos can sometimes help with this.

It is good that Simon is now daytime toilet trained. If you see any regression in this area in the next year or so (for example) from him you can point out to Simon (without any commentary or judgment (as I described in the paragraph above)) when an accident of either or both types is in progress. This should help to get him back on track fairly quickly by improving his awareness should any such lapses occur. I mention this because even in neurotypical children potty training regressions are not entirely uncommon especially in about the four to six year age range.

My sister (who is level one) started toilet training at age three-and-a-half just like Simon did. She also took about as long as Simon to finish her daytime training (from what my parents tell me). I wasn’t born yet so I only have their stories about this to go on.

My sister was diagnosed with Selective Mutism before she was eventually diagnosed as being on the spectrum. She was diagnosed as autistic late at the age of about thirteen or fourteen years old (long after I was diagnosed). Her symptoms are more mild than mine. She started talking at a slightly earlier age than I did, used her first “four letter words” (and phrases containing them) by age two. I was four years old before I said my first “four letter word”. In short, my sister had virtually no speech delay. I may have had a slight speech delay. My sister and I both struggle with understanding body language, facial expressions, figures of speech, and irony/sarcasm, but I struggle with this more than my sister does. Also, my sister and I both have little to no ability to recognize faces. This is also in part a result of a right hemisphere stroke that I had around the time I was born.

On a related note maybe you can do a future video about the under diagnosis and late diagnosis of females who are on the spectrum.

Maybe you can also do a video about all three autism levels as they relate to various toilet training ages (in terms of the beginning and ending of the toilet training process (at least during the day) and related toilet training milestones that occur in between those two dates/times). If you make that video you can mention where Ezra is in the process and what has worked with him and what has not worked with him to date. In that video you can compare and contrast Simon and Ezra in regard to these subjects.

[DescendingAngel]

That's so interesting, thank you for sharing. More specifically when you mentioned the difference between using gestures to show you something and them moving your hand to show you. My LG is 4 and has GDD (we're on a waiting list for an autism diagnosis). She's non verbal with very limited understanding (she's learnt 'more' in makaton sign but is really struggling to learn anything else). She shreiks and moans to communicate- she hasn't ever deliberately pointed at anything but she uses these obscure hand gestures that don't mean anything (or at least are unrecognisable, made up by her). And as you say to get our attention, she grabs at us or shoves things in our direction. The frustrating thing is trying to understand her way that doesn't immediately make sense and hoping that you've followed up with the right word (does aaaarrgghhh mean cup, or juice 🤔) Also in behaviour- it doesn't bother her that she's not being understood- I wonder if she thinks she is talking just the same as everyone else, so there's nothing she's doing or needs to do differently. It's baffling and I just really, really hope that over time, her happy, easy going demeanour doesn't change to frustrated and frequently irritable when/ if she becomes self aware that she isn't being understood.

[donmckay]

Adjusting to the world is important, can be tough, even cruel. Adapting to social acceptance makes the world less challenging into adulthood in my opinion, but still can be themselves in many situations. I accept I will not always be around to protect my son in his older years, so rather his equipped to handle a tough world when I'm not around.

[nafeesahrahman]

My 3 1/2 yr old grandson has just started saying some words. He also hand leads but he is social doesn’t have issues with sounds and very affectionate. This is so tricky because he doesn’t respond to a lot of commands. He has been evaluated and they didn’t diagnose him but they didn’t say he wasn’t yet as well.