New Here (Long)

tiffanyirene

My DD (only child) is 3 (March birthday) and she had her first visit with a speech therapist in January. At the time she had maybe 5 to 10 words that rarely came out and in hindsight I really wish we would have started this process earlier but between a mixture of our primary doctor advising that some kids develop a little later and then not wanting to actually admit to ourselves that there was a problem we didn't start her until then, unfortunately. Since, her vocabulary has expanded drastically to about 75-100 words but she pretty much just labels things versus actually communicating. Additionally, her responsiveness has increased significantly and she will now follow 2/3 step directions, which never happened before. 

About 2 months ago (around the time she turned 3) we contacted the school district and got her in for testing there. We also decided to move her closer to home for speech therapy for a number of reasons the most being we can take her more being closer and also the doctor she was seeing was very nice but didn't ever give us any sort of a report of her diagnosis for our daughter (something we learned is pretty standard). So at this point, she received a school evaluation as being speech delayed both receptive and verbally. When the new school year starts she is going to start and IEP that includes therapy twice a week at the school. In the meantime she just got an evaluation from a therapy clinic and as soon as insurance goes through we are going to start therapy twice a week there too. The plus with the later facility is that during her evaluation the therapist got her to say "Want more bubble" and she's never ever made a command like that. 

At home, we are also trying to focus on making her say things she wants and increasing her vocabulary to 2/3 word segments. Plus, she just started a home daycare where she will be around 4 other kids her age and she has never been around other kids so we are hoping that will help her. 

Like I mentioned, I'm just so mad at myself for not starting this sooner. In less than 6 months she has come such a long way but it makes me sad when I see other kids her age because they seem so ahead of her. I just want to talk to her and find out what goes on in her head and hear about her day. Plus she is just so frustrated from not having a good way to communicate that she often has crazy meltdowns over minor issues. It makes me sad that I was so selfish and pretended there wasn't a problem. Anyways, I guess I just wanted to introduce myself and my situation because I'm posting other questions and it's not fair of me to not explain my overall situation. 

macchiatto

Welcome to the board!

We didn't get my son evaluated till he was 2y9m (a couple of months after I put in the request) and I know the feeling of wishing I had done something earlier. I'd had concerns when he was a baby and our pedi thought it was "just personality," "later side of the normal range" etc. so around the time he turned 2 I started to relax and figure he would do things when he was ready ... then about 6 months later, I realized the gap with his peers was starting to widen. One of the other moms on this board, meldoo, was a great help in figuring out that an eval was warranted at that point.

Anyhow, I know the feeling of regret, but it sounds like you have good services in place now and she is making some good progress already!

tiffanyirene

Thanks Macchiatto! It's such a bummer when you come to terms with there being a problem and realizing you set your kid back not acting sooner . I'm so grateful for this new therapy office she is going to, they have been so amazing working with our insurance to make sure we are covered. I gather this isn't their first time around the rodeo, so to speak. How is your son now, what was he diagnosed with?

macchiatto

He's doing OK. He has made a lot of progress, but when we first started therapies most therapists were saying he should be basically caught up by kindergarten and instead he's had to re-start OT and PT and now a social skills group as well. 

His diagnoses are a little nebulous. He has hypotonia, increased joint laxity (which we only found out last week is probably contributing to his gross motor delays and caution; that hadn't been explained to us before but was a helpful insight), SPD, anxiety and some delays in social skills, possibly ASD. I need to ask our developmental pediatrician about the fact that he has a different list of diagnoses on each report she writes. (SPD, anxiety, developmental coordination disorder and social communication disorder have all been on and off the list at various points.)

ETA: I forget something every time I list his issues (they are mostly in the mild range; there's just a bunch of them. Am I the only mom on this board who does that? I am a bad SN mom. ). He also sees a neuro for seizure Hx/abnormal EEG's and a metabolic specialist for suspected mitochondrial condition.

ToastieSimons

Welcome!

I'm sorry it took you so long to get started.  However, please stop beating yourself up (I know much easier said than done)!  There are always going to be a million should haves, could haves, and would haves.  But all that matters is what is and what to do going forward.

It sounds like your daughter is making a ton of progress!  

funchicken

Welcome to the board! DD1 has ADHD and SPD. I took us a long time to get through the diagnosis process, and we still have a lot of questions. It sounds like your DD is making really good progress, so try not to be too hard on yourself.

august06mom

Welcome! Don't be too hard on yourself. Just try to focus on the progress and what you can do now.

tiffanyirene

Thanks! She has made such good progress and she loves to be a "helpful helper" (this is what we say to get her to help us). It's just a bummer that we waited so long. But, we can't go back in time so we are focusing on what we can do to help her along the way. I hope one day we can have a conversation with her about her thoughts, likes etc. I know that sounds really dramatic but that's just where we are at. 

algalphys

Hi! My DS1 was diagnosed with apraxia in November after two separate slps said nothing was wrong around age 2. Since starting speech in November I can't believe the difference! Today, he talks non stop! We have a long way to go but I never thought I'd be wishing for a little peace and quiet

Therapy helps so much! You'll see some dramatic differences!

bumpuser511563

Welcome to our board!

You need to stop beating yourself up as PP's have said. You were proactive for your DD to get the help she needs now.

CCinLove

Welcome!

Your experience is exactly why I hate when people throw out anecdotes about how their uncles cousin's friend didn't talk until he was 12 and he's a lawyer now.  As a parent of a kid with a speech delay, I think it's always better to check it out early even if it's nothing rather than wait and see.  As others have said, don't beat yourself up.  I think many of us would go back and change things if we could, but that's with the benefit of hindsight.

My son was where your daughter is at the same age.  I didn't think he would EVER talk, but he's come so far with speech therapy.  His language is actually at age level (expressive) and advanced (receptive) at 5 years.  He never had speech more than once a week, so your daughter may very well catch up even faster.

Good luck!  I really credit wonderful SLPs with most of my son's progress.

tiffanyirene

Thank you everyone!