What’s Nonverbal Autism?
The diagnosis of nonverbal autism falls under the umbrella of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), which covers a wide range of neurodevelopmental conditions. Autism Spectrum Disorder affects how an individual socially interacts, behaves, learns, and communicates. Up to 40% of autistic children are nonverbal. If you suspect that your child may be autistic, I recommend that you also view this post: 20 Top Signs of Autism in Children and Adults.
Important Speech Milestones
By the age of 18 months, a child should be speaking more than twenty words. When a child reaches 2 years old, they should be combining at least two words to make simple sentences. If you notice that your child isn’t hitting speech milestones and suspect that your child may be nonverbal, I highly recommend that you do the following first:
- Get a hearing test done. Having their hearing evaluated is very important to know if they’re able to listen to different versions of pitches. If your child has some slight hearing loss, that can also cause a delay in speech and development.
- Schedule an appointment with a Speech-Language Pathologist as soon as possible. It is never too early or too late to get started with speech therapy.
Speech Therapy Tools for Nonverbal Autistic Children
Using speech therapy tools at home along with speech therapy services can help your child develop communication skills if you suspect he or she has nonverbal autism. Here are 5 Speech Therapy Tools for Nonverbal Autistic Children that I recommend:
1. ARK’s Z-Vibe Sensory Oral Motor Kit
This kit has 9 tools, a storage case, and an exercise book. The exercise book is fantastic and shows you all of the ways you can use speech tools! This item allows you to pay full price or pay in payments. (View here)
If you want more tools, ARK’s Everything Kit is a complete kit of tools for oral motor and feeding therapy, at the biggest savings they offer. This kit includes 79 tools and 5 storage cases. (View here)
2. Special Supplies Buzz Buddy Oral Stimulation Kit
This oral stimulator kit comes with a vibrating wand, 6 interchangeable heads, and a storage case. Each interchangeable wand head has its own unique shape. (View here)
3. Tongue Tip Lateralization Lifting Oral Muscle Training Set
This set comes with 3 tools to help strengthen mouth muscles and improve mouth muscle coordination and mobility! (View here)
Children love this tool because it has a little silver ball that you move across a bar with your tongue and it’s a great distraction when they’re bored. 🙂
4. Echo Mic Battery-Free Toy for Singing, Speech & Communication Therapy – 10″
Echo Mic is a battery-free fun karaoke toy with a coiled spring inside that reverbs voice waves and promotes sound making! (View here)
5. Hand2mind Mirror My Sounds Phoneme Set
The hand2mind mirror phoneme set is great for children learning how to make sounds. This set comes with a cue card book with directions on how to say sounds with your mouth and attaches to the mirror. When using the mirror children can practice doing the sounds while watching themselves in the mirror.
6. Extra Items That Help With Speech and Communication
Below are a few items that help build speech muscles!
- Party Blowers
- Silly Straws
- Whistles
- Flutes
- Sight Cards
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post! I hope you found it informative and helpful. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below. I appreciate your input and will do my best to respond to all comments. If you know someone who could benefit from this information, please share this post with them! 🙂
I also think you would like this blog post: The Top 14+ Helpful Apps For Autistic Children
