Speech Delay | Imamother

speciwoman

Fri, Mar 27 2009, 11:18 am

I have recently become worried about my 20 month-old son's speech development. He only has a handful of words right now and relies mostly on pointing and grunting. I just made an appointment for an audiology exam, which apparently is the first step in evaluating his speech and language development. I have a hard time believing that he has any trouble hearing (he hears loud and soft noises from far away), but who knows. I understand that it's the first step in a process.

Does anyone have experience with this? Can anyone lend me advice or wisdom?

It breaks my heart that my little man may have a problem. Until a couple of days ago, I have let him have his paci way too much (I've since taken it away except for sleeping). Maybe I have caused this problem.

He's scheduled to begin camp and then pre-school in late June. I don't want him to be behind or have a problem interacting with the other children because he can't talk.

Crying

NotInNJMommy

Fri, Mar 27 2009, 11:28 am

see what the evaluation says.

My ds understood everything and could physically speak, say words, etc. but he didn't really start talking clearly until he started going to a daycare and HAD to talk to communicate to other children/the teachers.

My dd is also 22 and she also has only a few words to say, but she understands everything. She does say some words but I have no idea what she's saying (2-3) of these. I have to force her to ask for things with words instead of pointing and making noise which is hard bc she's very shrill...(and I just want her to stop making that noise so giving her whatever she wants is easier than waiting for her to try to ask for it)...

I'm also thinking of getting her evaluated in the next couple mos, but I don't think it's a hearing problem either. She's been a light sleeper since birth.

amother

Fri, Mar 27 2009, 11:31 am

My son is 23 months and hardly says anything, his playgroup teacher suggested I have him evaluated. I dont think its abnormal for kids under 2 not to speak. But now that his bday is approaching im also getting nervous. I do think that in this day and age when therapy is overrated it makes us nervous if our child is a bit late.
You're doing what you can and hopefuly if he needs the help he will get it.
My son also has pacifier and can take it any time when hes home-I dont think thats a cause for delay.
When he points or kvetches when he wants something, I worry that by just giving it to him Im enabaling him. So I just say the word out load before I give it to him.
What else can I do.

anon

Fri, Mar 27 2009, 3:27 pm

For some children, speech therapy is the push they need to get on track and catch up with their peers. For others, it helps to shorten the gap, but there is always a delay. It mostly depends on the severity of the problem. Get your child evaluated, but it's too early for you to be so worried now, unless there's something in particular that alarms you. And know that your participation in the therapy process is key...the more involved you are, and the more you follow through with the therapists suggestions, the faster you'll see progress.

In general though, you should always stimulate your child (whether or not he's eligible for therapy). Label objects and actions in his environment, talk to him about what's going on around him in simple language, read stories and label pictures in the books, etc. If your child points to something he wants, don't just give it to him. First hold it up in front of him and label it clearly, and then encourage him to try to repeat. And for future reference, don't accept non-specifiying words like "this" or "that" (for example, if you ask him what he wants, and he points to a banana and says "this")...always encourage specific words (e.g., banana). If he doesn't remember or know the word, then say it for him and encourage him to repeat it, before handing him what he wants.

mimivan

Sat, Mar 28 2009, 11:17 pm

my oldest ds could only say a few words at the age of 3 and could only start saying basic 3 word sentences at 3 1/2.
He was quite nervous and would hit so much in gan that I couldn't put him in a gan (he was frustrated and couldn't talk...now we found out years later he was also bullied there and couldn't tell anyone)

He was diagnosed with PDD (pervasive Developmental Disorder...a mild form of autism) and was sent to a special gan.
Let me just say that the gan's therapy was wonderful for him and he was able, slowly, slowly to communicate and act better...
But let me warn you about something...
Yes, they should consider possible PDD, but beware the labels! In my son's case, he is not PDD really (PDD kids do not show the kind of improvement my son did ba'h)...he was just a very bright kid who spoke late.
Now he is the ba'h the top reader in his class in school, and has friend etc...
But the PDD label has haunted us on many occasions when we needed documents for various things (we needed things from his gan)...they are still hanging onto their label and it is a funding battle to get him "permission" to go to a regular school. The compromise solution now is he goes to a regular school three days a week and has to go tot he special gan 3 days a week (megillah and vent....)

But at least we know that b'h he is okay.
I would definitely get the hearing checked, then have him evaluated...but be very careful about these diagnoses.
If you have a feeling your child is very bright, get these books by Thomas Sowell:
Late Talking Children
The Einstein Syndrome
if you find your child has very good memory, like puzzles and games, has very intricate play with concentration (especially doing things like lining up cars in exact rows) has musical ability, late toilet trainer, stubborn and sometimes tempermental, and photographic memory, it sounds like he is a late talking bright kid...

As I said, the regular therapy for my kid was good, but maybe I could have had it privately without subjecting him to a label and taking him out of the mainstream
You can pm me if you want to...
b'hatzlacha

anon

Sat, Mar 28 2009, 11:31 pm

octopus wrote:

did you mention it to your pediatrician? how many words is he supposed to be saying anyway (according to the charts?).

Pediatricians tend to give generic answers like "he'll probably catch up, wait till he's two to have him evaluated".

Often times they're right simply because many children are simply late talkers. But on countless occasions, they're wrong. The question to ask a pediatrician who says "Oh he's probably fine, wait some more" or the question to ask a speech therapist who says "He's delayed, he needs therapy" is: What's your rationale? Often times I hear stories about pediatricians who told parents not to worry and then later a significant problem was discovered. I would love to ask these pediatricians "What was your rationale for brushing off the parent's concern? There most certainly must have been red flags if the child was later diagnosed with ______________ " (insert: hearing loss, eye disorder caused by syndrome, autism, severe language disorder....all real examples of clients that I've come across or heard about from other therapists).

anon

Sat, Mar 28 2009, 11:35 pm

speciwoman wrote:

Has anyone had a good experience with speech therapy after a problem like this?

Just want to emphasize that based on the little info you gave, I wouldn't assume your child has a problem. A comprehensive speech evaluation will look at the whole picture of a child...his expressive language (how many words he uses), comprehension, non-verbal communication skills, play skills, sounds and vocalizations that he produces...

It's good to get an eval at this point, but don't worry yourself too much yet.

RachelEve14

Sun, Mar 29 2009, 1:57 am

My twins were also speech delayed. They each had only 1 word at two. They are still pretty delayed at just turned 5. For their first year of gan they had speech therapy from about January. This year they are both in a special gan program that focuses on language development. They have made great progress but I think they are still behind (also hard to tell because they are bilingual and the language gan is in Hebrew and my Hebrew is not good enough for me to judge how they are doing in Hebrew). Their English is defiantly delayed. We actually have a meeting today to see about their progress and placement for next year (gan chova, kindergarten).

Seraph

Sun, Mar 29 2009, 7:38 am

amother wrote:

My son also has pacifier and can take it any time when hes home-I dont think thats a cause for delay.
When he points or kvetches when he wants something, I worry that by just giving it to him Im enabaling him. So I just say the word out load before I give it to him.
What else can I do.

I think I may disagree with you. It is possible that the pacifier causes it. A kid I watch, from 17 mos till about 22 months said about 3 or 4 words. Her parents decided to take away the pacifier when she wasnt sleeping (she had it a LOT of the day) and in the space of a month or two, her vocabulary improved by leaps and bounds! I bet there is a correlation.

Mirabelle

Sun, Mar 29 2009, 7:45 am

I don't think the paci has anything to do with it.
My DD is 2 and a half and still uses the paci only at home, and is advanced in her speech.
Sometimes she tries to speak with the paci in and I make her take it out. This summer when she wasnt in school she had the paci in pretty much all the time and was for sure speaking in full sentences way before turning 2, probably around 20 months...