My son barely said anything until he was 3 1/2. I knew he would though. I just could tell he was processing things even though it wasn't the same as my NT children. With lots of therapy, he did start saying words, but his first real sentence wasn't until he was close to 5 years old and he said "I sick."

It was the only year we've skipped the flu shot and we all had it BAD. He just laid there and ran horribly high fevers. It meant so much to me and so thrilled me that he not only put a simple sentence together, but a sentence with meaning. It was months before he truly said anything else with real meaning.

I believe if they can put anything together, even through echolalia (and my son has mitigated echolalia), that things are going on in their mind. I have come to the conclusion that my son doesn't have an input problem, but an output problem. BUT, every child on the spectrum is different.

Autistic kids have MANY moments of clarity. They just have trouble communicating that they do... always interact with someone like they understand. You'd be surprised what happens in the long run if you do.

I don't think I'll ever understand this, although I am thankful he has no sensory issues. yesterday he told me he loves me and is a loving well behaved little boy. So I guess take the mountain and turn it into a molehill

Well it's hard because I thought that these "language pops" meant his language is coming and we did more and more floor time and ABA but still none however receptive language is and has vastly improved and often times with help of iPad I have found that my son knows soooo much more than what I thought. So I assume he pays attention even though it doesn't always appear as though he is. But I definitely feel your frustration as that is my biggest hope ever and we've had a specialist tell me he would talk, but I know the 45minutes he spent with my son virtually means nothing. Bottom line is every child is simply different in many different ways.

It's amazing those few breakthroughs, your hopes soar (tho briefly) that's what his voice sounds like...It's isn't just "EEEEEEEE" I don't know if I prefer those fleeting 3 or 4 words or not...