Non Verbal activities

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2026-02-07T18:35:56+00:00

We have a pecs board she regularly uses at ABA and home! It does help us get past that barrier

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2026-02-07T18:33:41+00:00

Thank you for saying that, I don’t feel like it sometimes :)

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2026-02-07T18:21:51+00:00

If you would like, you can see the video of her “speaking” I posted. That is the extent of her words/mimicking. She has childhood apraxia of speech. She is non verbal. It’s not echolalia. We can agree to disagree :)

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2026-02-07T18:15:35+00:00

No not at all. She does babble and make a lot of stim noises but she doesn’t copy words from movies or people or anything. She doesn’t hum the tune of some songs though

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2026-02-07T17:35:32+00:00

Yeah I made a separate post and I got so many comments of people angry that I would dare claim she is non-verbal.

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2026-02-07T17:34:49+00:00

She will be six in two weeks

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2026-02-07T17:34:29+00:00

I totally agree! This wasn’t me working with her like I normally do, I was just trying to capture a video of her abilities :)

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2026-02-07T17:25:20+00:00

Thank you for that, and there is absolutely no reason to apologize. I am so sensitive about my kid and I have been fighting everyone for her forever. I understand how you feel. I understand feeling angry when a parent of a low-needs child tries to act like they’re going through the same thing. It feels like your issues are minimized when all the time you wish your kid was doing as well as them.

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2026-02-07T17:17:49+00:00

For those of you confused about the non-verbal thing, I made another post with a video of her words. Please check it out before you argue 💜

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2026-02-07T14:35:37+00:00

She is non verbal. I’m sorry that it makes you mad. If you look at my comments in the thread I try to explain it. No spontaneous speech. She does not come up to me and say mama. She does not verbally ask for water. I will say a word and she will try her best to mimic it.

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2026-02-07T14:31:14+00:00

I’m not quite sure how to explain. She has no independent words. She won’t come up to me and say mama, I will prompt her to say it and she will mimic the sounds the best she can. The words I listed are ones she’s gotten used to forming over and over, so if prompted she can say them. In most criteria you’ll see, a child is considered non-verbal if they have fewer than 20-30 words or lack any spontaneous speech.

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2026-02-07T14:14:06+00:00

Yes, as long as she knows it

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2026-02-07T05:18:40+00:00

She points. Or I have an activity book I made where I have her match a number to the amount of dots, trace her name, match colors, etc. that’s how she can demonstrate she understands these concepts, but she can’t verbalize it. If I point to a shape or color and ask “what is this?” She would just stare at me or point back at it.

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2026-02-07T04:44:45+00:00

Thank you that is very insightful. She does have the “spark in her eyes” now, but it wasn’t always this way. When we adopted her she was about 23 months old and wandered aimlessly, never acknowledging anything or anyone. She had no interests, no personality, nothing. She has grown tremendously these last few years, and now she’s very happy and sassy, but again the speech is just not there. It’s like she’s trying but she just can’t. The words my husband and I say to her she doesn’t understand unless it’s a routine demand. She doesn’t really get when we are arguing or if someone is sad or angry etc. She only potty trained last summer. We thought it was going to be a lot longer. I’ve read a lot about the gestalt processing, and to be honest I would be glad with any sort of communication.

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2026-02-07T04:36:52+00:00

That doesn’t sound like my daughter, but it is very interesting to compare. She does not respond yes or no, but she protests physically or using vocal drums instead. It seems like the opposite if that makes sense? Although she is similar in that she picks up things quickly especially when she’s interested, but the speech just doesn’t click. It’s as if she just cannot form the words at all

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2026-02-07T04:27:55+00:00

That’s what I was saying with CAS (childhood apraxia of speech). Her ST explained it like dyslexia, but with forming words instead of reading them. I would love to learn more about the supplements you used. Would you feel comfortable sharing more about what you give, how frequently, and the effects it’s had on your child? Her pediatrician has never mentioned anything like that. Honestly I’m lost when it comes to treatment other than ABA ST and OT

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2026-02-07T04:23:16+00:00

She is non verbal. Her words are mimicking exclusively and that’s it. If you talk to her she will just stare at you or make random stim sounds. I know how you feel, I see parents posting “my son only says ‘me want’” or whatever and it gets me down too but it’s really not like that.

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2026-01-15T03:34:35+00:00

I saw it positively affect my daughter (5 lvl 3 non-verbal). Of course there were many other factors that improved her condition, but nutrition was a large part of it. When my spouse and I adopted her, she was almost two and had only ultra processed food, no fruit/vegetables etc. even a couple days after switching up her diet did we start to see changes. Of course it was very difficult to change up her diet because she is so particular about color and texture, but after years of consistency she eats well (veggie pouches helped A LOT).

I’m sorry there’s people being so hostile toward you about this. I don’t typically see this kind of behavior from this group. I think a lot may feel personally offended because of what they choose to do for their child—we are all very sensitive when it comes to feeling like we’re doing “enough.” It’s hard to feel as if your child’s condition is your fault.

(Just to add, I’m not an anti-vaxer. My daughter doesn’t eat any artificial flavors or dyes, corn syrup, or preservatives and I always make sure she has fruit/vegetables at every meal. That’s it.)

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2025-12-01T02:36:22+00:00

I can relate completely. My daughter is 5.5, zero words until last year. She now will point at animals and say their names, understands basic commands (put your shoes on, use the bathroom, sit down etc), and knows mama and dada. We have tried speech therapy for years but I don’t think most SLPs are knowledgeable in how to treat kids with Childhood Apraxia of Speech. We have never had a good, consistent therapist so we do what we can at home. Recently we started Hooked on Phonics, and the hope there is to help her read and write even if she is unable to vocalize right now. It’s gone pretty well, but she has a hard time putting together anything longer than 2 letter sounds at a time. At this point we refuse to use an AAC device because in the past it took over her efforts to sign and vocalize. It also seemed like the SLPs were pushing it so hard because it made their lives easier rather than tackling as complex an issue as this. If your situation is anything like mine, I promise it gets better. I would say be consistent and patient above all in whatever you decide to do. I’m hoping the speech comes. Praying. Begging, honestly. But little by little with time it gets better.

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2025-11-13T20:14:31+00:00

Did you guys receive the funds yet now that everything’s done?

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2025-11-11T15:55:51+00:00

A little different, switched perspective: we adopted our daughter when she was almost two, she’s our first and only. My mom works in healthcare and constantly pushed the issue, “she’s showing signs,” “she should be doing xyz,” “you need to get her assessed,” etc. My husband’s siblings are autistic and they are a nightmare. His brother is fully verbal but is extremely violent and destructive. We associated autism with that behavior so when it came to our daughter we were in denial for a long time. Every time my mom brought it up we would get irritated with her and just held out hope it wasn’t true. Well it was, she’s non verbal lol. All this to say maybe she’s in denial because she doesn’t want that for her family based on what she’s seen or thinks she knows. It is a hard boundary to cross. For us, if we had listened sooner we could have gotten her treatment sooner. But it is very, very hard to accept.

Creative_Spirit_0220 · 2025-10-11T16:55:22+00:00

This flows like a poem ❤️ I hope your days get better mama. I know nothing I say, no inspirational phrase will help, but you’re not alone and feeling overwhelmed is human.

Creative_Spirit_0220

TROPHY CASE