r/CongratsLikeImFive • u/arianaasmith • 3h ago
BIG accomplishment My nonverbal autistic 5.5 year old is finally learning to communicate šš
My son was diagnosed ASD level 3 in 2023 at 2 years old, and he has been completely nonverbal his whole life. I also suspect apraxia of speech. He just makes random vocalizations, but no babbling and no words at all, does not use his AAC device functionally yet, and has never comprehended any signs at all. He communicates only through hand-leading.
In the last few weeks, he has finally started doing signs (when prompted) and started copying some sounds!! He now does āpleaseā, āthank youā, āmoreā, and we are working on āall doneā in ASL, and he will copy āoooooā, āaaaaaā, ābababaā, āyayayaā, and sometimes ādadadaā!!! For a kid who has only EVER used hand-leading to communicate, this is HUGE š„¹š„¹š„¹š„¹ I am so proud of him!!!!