The most important thing is to know that even though he may not be talking; he IS listening, and that is still developing the part of his brain that is responsible for language. As long as the language center of our brains are being used, there is no window of time you can put on his talking.

That part of the brain only shuts down when it is not being used at all.

Keep talking to him even if he doesn’t look like he is listening. He does hear and understand far more than he is able to communicate. Autism is like a prison that they cannot get out of. Imagine wanting to answer someone’s question but you can’t. You know the answer but you can’t make facial gestures and speak. Then the person you are desperately trying to communicate with, goes on like you don’t know anything and ignores you or doesn’t listen to you. That’s what it’s like. It can be so frustrating for an autistic child.

Talk to him; read to him and point to the words in the book while you are reading them. Re read books over and over.

Autistic children are never too old! There have been many Autists that didn’t talk until they were almost teens. And yes, some never talk.

Hopefully, your grandson is receving speech therapy. The Speech and Language Pathologist may want to introduce sign or PECS (Picture Exchange System). A common myth is that sign and PECS slow or halt language development. In fact, studies show it encourages verbal language.

Make sure your grandson has a good Speech Therapist. The critical years are up until 5 years old. Although, as I stated before, language does, and can occur, after 5.

Best wishes!

I agree with many of the other answers…speech could develop later, if at all. With that being said, do not hesitate in talking TO him. Hopefully, at school the teachers are working with him with photographs or picture symbols. If they are working with him on either of these types of communication, I would get to know more about them. At four, they are probably very basic – pictures of a toilet, food items, stop signs. As he grows older, the pictures will probably turn into words and he will depend on written language much more. If he your grandson has normal or higher intelligence, he should be able to communicate through special portable computers that speak for him or hand written notes.

I know it may break your heart not to hear his voice, but he will develop his own communication system. If you have the time, I would suggest that you volunteer for an afternoon or two at a special center/ classroom for teens and adults or an event like Special Olympics to kind of see what the outcomes are like… and to see all the smiles. 🙂 (I think he’s going to have to be seven or eight before competing.)

One more thing, talk to other parents and grandparents of kids with autism. While no two are alike, there is no other special education subgroup that bands together like families with an autistic child.

Autism can change from child to child and, in one child, from day to day. Many children with autism never really use spoken language to communicate. However, many can and it can happen at any time. At age 4, the only voalizations my son made were sounds simliar to what you would hear in an episode of Star Trek..lots of zaps, whirs, blasting noises and such. Now,at 10, he is completely verbal. While there are still some issues in being able to understand him (he often speaks too fast) it is a huge change from before.

I would ask what system you are using to communicate with your grandson now..specifically what are you doing so he can communicate with you? At his age, using a combination of picture cards and sign can be highly effective. When he does communicate, you should always verbalize what he signing or pointing to to reinforce it. Also, he should be working with specialists and in a class setting that is extremely speech and language intensive. He will need multiple sessions each week, both at home with family and with trained speech therapists. It will take a lot of hard work and effort, and it may not reap the gains you are hoping for in a direct way, but any work on communication is good work!

When my son was diagnosed with autism,he did not talk.He could and would repeat anything you said to him but he did not use spoken language to communicate.If he wanted something, he would take my hand with his and put it on the object.At that time, I wrote to the Autism Research Institute, now they have a web site: www.autism.com They will send you an information packet that I found very helpful.It will give you tons of info on autism including the different treatments and results from studies on there effectiveness.

We found the vitamin supplement Nu-Thera with P5P and DMG ,from Kirkman Labs, very helpful with language and sound sensitivity.We started with the Nu-Thera and in a short period of time my son initiated a greeting for the first time.We added the DMG and saw improvement in eye contact,which helps with speech.(There is a lot of info about this on the ARI web site, including a list of Doctors in your area that can help you with dosages and other possible treatments)He has taken these supplements for many years,increasing the dosage with his weight gain.He also saw a speech therapist from his Early Intervention Program through Junior High school.I believe these things,along with being in the classroom with his typical peers, helped my child’s language improve to where it is today, he talks your ear off! For your grandson, it may be something different, they are all different, but today there is so much more hope. Good Luck

NEVER! I am so glad to see so many positive answers, the truth is that no person is ever too old.

When my daughter was younger, the doctors told me that if she wasn’t talking by six, she’d never learn to talk. i was heartbroken, because at three she was completely nonverbal, she wouldn’t even scream when upset or hurt. However, I have since met a boy who was fourteen before he ever said a word. I’ve met nine and ten year olds that weren’t even using nonverbal communication just take the turn to speaking.

The number one thing that helped her learn to talk, was sign language, followed closely by PECS system. A good speech therapist will be well trained, I’ve never seen a kid take more than six months to get trained to PECS and start using them, and I’ve never known a child who has started using these and not gained some sort of vocal language. Teach me language is a wonderful book, you can buy it online. it’s kind of expensive, but when you look at your child never talking at all, it’s worth the price.

Good luck to your grandson and his parents. Support from you can make all the difference in his life. God bless.

Hi..my twin son Thomas is 9 and has severe autism, he also cannot talk but he does really try to say simple words, when he had his statement review we were told his mental ability was that of a three year old, do what i have and buy some flash cards they are brilliant for teaching the basic in language, some autistic people go all their lives without talking but never say never he might one day surprise you x

They are never too old to learn. The sad part of autism is some never ever talk no matter what you do, some begin to talk then later stop talking, you never know. Each child with autism is different as well, what might work with some childern may not work with others. Pictures/symbols are suppose to be good tools to teach childern with autism. For me, my son is 3 with autism, we verbally spell out words then say the word, he then repeats by spelling the word first then saying the word. I recently began to teach him American Sign Language so I would have some type of way to communicate with him if he doesn’t talk..which he has picked up on quite quickly..whatever letter I sign to him he says it..and some letters he can sign back. If I spell a word in sign language he will say each letter on his own then I’ll say the word and he’ll repeat me with the word. That is currently the only way we can get him to say any words, he will only say letters or numbers on his own. My son has not started therapy yet but he will be getting speech therapy as well.

Your grandson is actually not mature enough to talk yet. Even though he is 4 years old, he is not mentally developed to that of a normal child his age. He probably has the mental capacity of a 1 year old and this is normal for a child that has autism. What I learned while researching this subject for my psychology class is, symbols are helpful. If you use pictures and talk in a normal speech voice this will possibly stimulate the childs mind. This calls for repetition and patience.

They are never too old to learn to talk. Put him in speech therapy. My younger brother is autistic.