The day my son said “mom"....
By Charlotte on
One of the realities of profound autism is severe communication differences. Some children have minimal or no spoken language. Many rely on alternative and augmentative communication like pictures, symbols, communication devices, or consistent gesture systems. Communication can be very context-bound and sometimes inconsistent, and often it requires patient support from the people around them.
When my son was younger, we didn’t know what spoken language would look like for him. We focused on other ways to communicate. Gestures, pictures, routines, anything that helped him express what he needed or felt. Like many parents here probably understand, progress sometimes felt slow and uncertain.
But there’s one moment I will never forget. The first word he said was “mom.”
It wasn’t a long sentence. It wasn’t perfectly clear. But it was there. And in that moment it felt huge. When your child has major communication challenges, a single word can carry so much meaning. It’s not just a word. It’s connection.
That moment reminded me that communication isn’t one-size-fits-all. Some kids speak a lot, some speak a little, and some communicate in completely different ways. Devices, pictures, gestures, eye contact, routines. All of it counts.
For families navigating profound autism, those small milestones can mean everything. Sometimes the world expects big progress, but in our homes we learn to celebrate the smallest breakthroughs.