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what does "processing delay" mean?

784 views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  kitty waltz 
#1 ·
We had a screening today for my 4yo. He can talk, but doesn't really converse. His actual articulation is at an age appropriate level (which is great considering he didn't start talking until a year ago), but he doesn't do the back and forth conversation like he should at this point. It is hard to explain exactly what is going on though and I am probably not explaining it very well.

One of the terms the screener used was "processing delays". He was fairly tight lipped about what he was thinking, but when I mentioned autism, he said 'not quite autism, but something...' and then didn't complete the thought. My brain was spinning at the time and I didn't press him further (and am kicking myself now).

He is supposed to have a full evaluation now. I would do a lot better if I had a clue what they might be thinking. Does anybody have any vague idea?

The test that caught his attention was when he was shown a picture of several animals (that he could easily name) and was asked which one can fly. He couldn't/wouldn't answer. I know that he knows that birds fly...he points to them in the sky and says "bird" when watching them. I suspect he might have been able to 'get it' if I had said "*point* to the animal that flies" instead of "which animal flies", but I am not 100% sure. There were a couple of tests like that where I felt like he could get the right answer if it were asked differently, but I sensed they were testing how he responded to a specific question format as the actual answer.

I feel lost. and scared. I wonder if I screwed up and how I can fix it.
 
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#2 ·
Hmm...I wonder if the audiologist was talking about this:
http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical..._auditory.html

It sounds like what you're describing. I think my DD has this disorder in addition to her autism and she'll hopefully be screened for it on Monday if she cooperates enough with the audiologist to do the test. Here's one treatment DD's neurologist was telling me about, which might be applicable for your son too if this is what he has:
http://www.auditoryintegration.net/

Hope this helps. Good luck with the full evaluation and I hope you're able to figure out what's going on.
 
#4 ·
My 4 year old DS has autism. He's always been able to speak but not converse. He's always had an excellent vocabulary and lots of general knowledge about the world. He becomes confused when asked questions with multiple possible answers or open-ended questions...even though he knows the information quite thoroughly.

There are several pre-verbal milestones that must be achieved before conversation is possible. You may want to look into RDI (Relationship Development Intervention, rdiconnect.com) so that you can work on these goals. Most behavioral methods (used by most schools) focus on verbal behavior instead of pre-verbal skills, so they won't really help with the issues your son has.
 
#5 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Fay
My 4 year old DS has autism. He's always been able to speak but not converse. He's always had an excellent vocabulary and lots of general knowledge about the world. He becomes confused when asked questions with multiple possible answers or open-ended questions...even though he knows the information quite thoroughly.
This is my experience with my 4 yr old dd w/ autism as well, excepting that she also has a speech delay. Celia talks at about a 3 yr old level. She knows lots of things, but cant answer abstract, or openended questions.

Our speech therapist said she has a language processing delay. Whenever I talk to her, esp when Im explaining something I have to talk really slow and clearly. At our homeschool playgroup, Celia is treated like a really big 2 yr old. She tags along with the 4 yr olds but is totally lost- they all talk fast and their games change so quickly. I take comfort in the fact that she doesnt feel bad about it. Sometimes I do!

Actually it is a wonderful improvement for her to be tagging along trying to be social!
 
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