Need help/advice from those who have dealt with speech/developmental therapy

tigger1800

I just got back from my son's first speech pathology assesment, and I will say right up front that I'm kind of emotional about it, so go ahead and tell me I'm being way too sensitive

We've noticed he has issues with his communication. He can talk really well as far as his pronunciation and has a really large vocabulary, but if you ask him questions, like "How old are you?", he just repeats the question.  When he tries to have a converstion, like to tell us how his day was, its all just garbled and we only catch a few words.  But he can recite whole nursery rhymes just perfectly. So we decided to take him in for an assessment. 

Basically he was scored at 3yr 9 months for pronunciation, but he scored only 1yr 11m for comprehension (He's 3yr 3m old).  So he should qualify for therapy. I have to work with the school district on that (the appointment was at our hospital), but she gave me a referral for that. 

Its all kind of hard to digest, I mean, I knew something wasn't quite right, but to hear someone say he only has the comprehension of a not even 2 year old.  And what upset me more is that she also diagnosed him with severe ecolalia. She's referred us to a developmental specialist because she was cautious to say it may be nothing, but it can also be a sign of autism spectrum disorders.  I guess I'm just upset because I never thought that would come up. I've always known he has trouble with his speech, but he is such a happy kid, and he plays great with his sister and other kids, and he always seems to communicate so well from most points of view.

I guess I'm just looking for some support and advice. I'm nervous for dealing with the school system on this, because I know the schools are so stretched right now, but I want to get him all the help I can as early as I can.  She gave me some things we can work on with him at home, like pretend playing, and working on easy, direct questions.  Its just hard not to feel like its somehow my fault, even though I know its not.  I feel guilty for working, and not being able to have been able to work with him more, even though she said I was great with him...I know its silly and irrational to think that, its just hard to hear that my baby is so far behind.

Anyway, thanks for any advice or support...or just for making it this far  

 

minnasmommy

I am suspicious of anyone who makes a formal diagnosis for speech issues on the first visit. we are going through speech issues now and it's not easy. 

you might want to post your question on the special needs board. they are very helpful there!

good luck!  

tigger1800

Thanks.  I will try that.  I think she was able to diagnose the ecolalia because it is so severe. He literally repeats every.single.thing that you say to him.  Every question she asked him he just repeated, and he does this all the time at home too.  She was very cautious to say that even though it can be a sign of things more serious, that it didnt' necessarily mean anything, and that wasn't her area, so she wasn't going to make any comments about that.