About this blog.

My son was diagnosed with PDD-NOS at 24 months. I created this blog to bring meaning to the often-confusing label. Sometimes I have answers. Other times, just more questions.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Potent Potables for $400

Brad is going through an interesting stage in his language development: he's taken to phrasing his observations in the form of a question. Like jeopardy. On infinite loop. 24/7

Favorite questions: "what color is it?" "is it blue?" "is it tan?" and "how many are there?"

Don't get me wrong though: I'm loving it. It seems like a normal developmental stage, just a little delayed and exagerrated, which is an emerging pattern.

10 comments:

goodfountain said...

In case you are wondering how long this phase lasts ... well, I'll be sure to let you know when I find out.

Sigh.

Queenbuv3 said...

My son has wicked echolalia and is his recitations of his favorite movies have gone from single lines to whole scenes. I love it though! I'm amazed at his memory and he uses all the same tones of voice and even sound effects. He didn't talk until he was five so I still feel blessed whenever he is talking or "repeating".

Queenbuv3 said...

Pay close attention to what he is saying. As my son has gotten older his "chatter" has turned into a form of communication. Sometimes we don't realize that he isn't just repeating something, he is actually trying to communicate with us. For example, I'll do something for him and he'll say,"Thank you, thank you very much" just like Bell in Beauty and The Beast. I'll respond with, "You're welcome!" I try to respond to everything he says so he knows we are hearing him and getting meaning from what he is saying to help him learn how to turn speech into communication.

A little boy just 3 years old said...

*Ding Ding Ding*

DS is doing this exact same thing. The SLP was ready to check off 'asks varying questions' until I explained to her that any question he asks is in direct reference to something he can SEE at that moment (though I never really put 2+2 together on it being an observation until now). He usually asks 'are you drinking coffee' ' are you reading' 'are you playing on computer'.....

Did he go through a phase of commenting and making observations BEFORE the questions, or is this the first sign of that for him?

Queenbuv3 said...

He still won't respond to questions. He just repeats what you say to him if you ask him anything. His "communication" with quotes is more of a reaction to you asking him to do something or to a situation. Or he is trying to tell you what he wants or is feeling.

My favorite example is one week he used a phrase a couple times from one of the Land Before Time movies. He had been in his room for hours and finally came down to grab a snack. As he passed through the living room he said,"There's no time to eat." With the same tone of voice and intonation as the character from the movie. I responded that he just had such a busy schedule! He used the same phrase again when my husband called him downstairs to eat his bread and jelly (hides the siezure meds) and he sat down and said the same phrase.

But as with most of these attempts to communicate (outside of his small usual single words and the occasional 2-3 word repertoire of HIS words) we never hear them again or hear them a year later or longer. I still think that any speech is good because it means he is in there and I think he is practicing and trying to put all the pieces together. I still think that he is going to just start having conversations some day. Even if he never does get the hang of conversation I feel blessed that he can talk. Many kids with Autism never speak. Any speech, talking or verbal noises are exciting!

Laura said...

Queenbuv3, yes, any communication IS good. Brad does do some low grade scripting and half the time we don't know where he gets it.

goodfountain - LOL! you let us know.

ALBJ2YO - You know, the question/observation mode started early on. I remember when he first learned "where", he would ask "where's daddy?" when daddy was right in front of him. It's gotten more pervasive (and persistent!) lately though.

Anonymous said...

It is a normal developmental stage because Hope (NT) is also doing this a lot. I've noticed that she also asks questions that she wants someone to ask her... she will say "What letter is it? Is it P or O?" And then I'm supposed to say, "What letter is it? P or O?" so that she can then answer the question.

indigo said...

again, i come here and find myself smiling with recognition. r. does this. any observation at all, even a response to another question, has to be phrased as a question. i also find myself eternally answering questions such as "but why do i like fish? but why? no, but how?" and "why am i breathing? but why?".

i think of it as him "checking" stuff, if that makes sense. he's clever enough to know that he doesn't know enough to make many definate statements- the ones he is sure of ("i always pull my pants up after i do a wee", "i have a luke skywalker haircut",) he repeats a lot. loudly.

Nyx said...

There is an audio casette of me when I was 2 years old, "talking" to my father. I said something about the stove, he replied, I asked, "why?" he answered. I asked, why? ad nauseam, really, it went on for several minutes, until my dad started saying "I don't know." But I still just kept saying "why?" over and over. I also was reading by age 3, but although I keep taking those tests, I really am not on the spectrum.

Laura said...

indigo doll, rhemashope - right. It is a good thing, and common. and yes, the "why"s are fun.

Nyx, ahh I see you're going through the inevitable period of self discovery. I am going through that too.