So, dd's speech delay is worse than I thought.

CleoKitty

Dd has been getting EI speech therapy for a couple of months now. I wasn't sure if she really needed it and her initial evaluation was borderline, so I really didn't think it was a big deal.

Today I asked the therapist something and said, "Her speech delay would just be catagorized at very mild, right?" The therapist hesitated a moment and said, "Well, I would consider it more in the moderate category. At her age she should have 20-30 words." Dd does quite a few environmental sounds (meow, baa, moo, vroom, etc.) but only has one or two actual words.

I was really surprised. I thought she was almost caught up and had no idea she was really that far behind. She's so young that I'm still not all that worried, she's got plenty of time to catch up. I was just caught off guard, that's all.

Zenya

How old is she now?

CleoKitty

Zenya:

How old is she now?

19 months

gracendantho26

For some reason I am shocked that an otherwise healthy child can be categorized as speech delayed at such a young age. I don't get how they can do that since kids speech varies so widly at that age. Natalie barely said a coherent peep at that age whereas Owen was much more understandably verbal.

Zenya

I don't think DS had 20-30 words at that age!  I'm glad she's progressing, anyway!

DevonPow

I am surprised by this. DS did  EI for expressive communication - had his 1st word of any kind at 15 months, did not point, wave, or clap, etc. and he BARELY qualified for EI, graduated out in 6 months, and is now perfectly on track if not ahead. His therapist always told me that animal sounds etc. absolutely count as words - it is actually something we worked on a lot and definitely counted when he finally started them.

CleoKitty

Yeah, Grace, I kind of feel the same way. She's so young and there's such a huge range of what is considered normal and that's partially why I'm not overly worried.

At the same time though I guess I was concerned enough that I went ahead and made the EI appt in the first place. It's hard to explain, but there was just a little instinct that maybe she needed a little extra help in a few areas. She's always just been a little behind her peers in pretty much all areas- speech, motor skills, etc. Nothing huge, but still fairly noticeable. And she's also had some health issues (she's got some considerable FTT issues and an immunodeficiency. We've had a whole summer of appointments with specialists but no real answers yet.) 

So even though I wasn't overly concerned about the speech thing once I looked at the overall picture it seemed like EI services couldn't hurt.  And FWIW, dd absolutely LOVES speech. The therapist comes to our house with a big bag of toys, they play games and sing songs. Dd responds really well to the therapist and enjoys it so much that at this point I figure we may as well continue with services for as long as she qualifies.

But yeah, I do totally get what you're saying about wildly these things vary when kids are this young and sometimes it seems like a lot of the parents here call EI long before I personally would have ever considered it, but that's just me...

 

jessicaclare

I'm surprised by this as well. 20-30 words at 19 months seems like a lot.

CleoKitty

DevonPow:

I am surprised by this. DS did  EI for expressive communication - had his 1st word of any kind at 15 months, did not point, wave, or clap, etc. and he BARELY qualified for EI, graduated out in 6 months, and is now perfectly on track if not ahead. His therapist always told me that animal sounds etc. absolutely count as words - it is actually something we worked on a lot and definitely counted when he finally started them.

I don't know- our therapist has been considering those things as environmental sounds but not words. 

When dd started speech at 16 months she was *just* starting to point, clap and wave. Her first word appeared around 18 months. She also BARELY qualified at the time which is why I thought her delay was categorized as very mild and was surprised when today the therapist said otherwise.

Chrisy-Wyobride

Yeah I am pretty sure at 2 my DD #1 barely talked beyond animal sounds & mama & dada.  I have always worried about her speech since but I've had her evaluated twice (at 3 & 4) & they say she's normal...she just talks fast so it's hard to understand.  I really think your DD will be fine. 

AnnapolisLari

Maybe your therapist just isn't that interesting and A has nothing to say to her.

LOL

REOM

I wouldn't worry about it. Like you said, what is normal is such a range at her age.

Glad that she enjoys the speech therapy! I would just continue it, and take whatever benefits come with it. I'm sure she will be chatting up a storm sooner than later

Heidisean

I am an EI evaluator and your ST is right she should have 20-30 words. By 24 months it is 50 words. Environmental sounds such as animals sounds, vroom, choo-choo are not considered words but environmental sounds. But for her age that is great and age appropriate. She should also repeat single words said to her, say no meaningfully, use exclamatory expressions such as uh-oh and yeah and use gestures such as waving hi and bye, shaking her head no and pointing to things out of reach that she wants. I also would continue therapy and it is non-invasive and can't hurt. GL