Today we took Ethan for his first speech therapy appointment. We were referred by the health visitor at his two-year check-up. This was before I took Ethan to our GP. Asking for him to be referred as I felt he was showing signs of autism.
Of course, Ethan was on fantastic form and made us look like liars!
This was the third visit for Ethan to this clinic. This makes him a pro, which therefore meant he did none of his stimming. Ethan’s stemming mainly consists of him walking along the walls. Also following straight lines with his eyes. We do find that he is more prone to do this when he is in new places. Perhaps even nervous. Ethan walked straight in there bold as brass and started playing with the toys in the reception.
The speech therapist was a nice lady and asked us about the words that Ethan uses. The answer to this was simple, none! She played with him using bubbles. Then Ethan made his own game which was climbing on her chair whilst she spun him around. With this game, she showed us that we have to wait for Ethan to make some kind of noise or gesture. This would make him tell us that he wants actions repeated.
She observed that Ethan doesn’t know how to use imaginative play. He does however show interest in some toys and plays with them in his way. She told us this is a positive sign.
Ethan proved us to be liars when she asked us if he makes any noise. We said no not really, he then spent the whole appointment babbling to the toy tools she brought in for him. He has really only started to do this for the past week since starting going to nursery. I also told her that he doesn’t know how to blow bubbles. That is the exact point that Ethan decided to blow onto the toy drill he was holding!
We left Ethan’s first speech therapy appointment with information to read and homework to do for the next few months. We have to start working on more imaginative play. Also, use his books to point out objects in them. She will then observe Ethan when he goes back in January for his development observation sessions. It will be then they decide the next steps we are going to take.