Your welcome! Happy to share some of what we have gone through! 😀

Hello Nikki! Our is non verbal also, he’s 18 now. What has worked for him the most is 1 on 1 learning. He’s been homeschooled since 2021, however, when he was attending public school he was part of a special education program.

My son also doesn’t understand the concept of birthdays, every year we have to teach him to say his actual age. For his birthday, we start telling him the previous day “tomorrow is your birthday”.

When it comes to learning letters, numbers, words, etc, my personal preference were flash cards. I started with just a few cards and then once he memorized them, I kept adding more. He’s at a point where he can go straight to worksheets to introduce new subjects. I also use repetition, when reading shorts stories, I go over them 3 or 4 times until he starts learning the words.

Over the years, my son has been able, not only to learn his letters, he can recognize numbers all the way to 400, he’s been able to learn new words, and to express his needs better. When he was younger, I used to think he would not be able to do the things he can actually do now. My son has taught me that non verbal kids are really observant we just need to learn how to engage them and capture their attention long enough so they can continue to learn new things.
I hope this helps! Have a blessed afternoon!

Thank you so much for your input and suggestions. I already have flash cards so I can start with that. As you said, repetition is key because they can memorize and retain information it’s just getting them to connect it appropriately. Just yesterday my son said his name for the first time without me prompting him in response to another child who asked him his name so that was a major breakthrough for us! Thank you again for your input and words of support.