So, tell me about speech...

kcswifey

Logan had his speech eval today and he has a slight delay when compared to his 18-month peers.  She said that it is encouraging that he has a bunch of sounds (m, d, p, s, b, tr, ch, n) and that he just needs to put it all together.  She said that his comprehension is great and we just need to work on his expressive language.  He is only going to receive services every other week because we have to alternate with PT for our insurance to cover it.  I am glad that he is going to get caught up but of course it brings up my preemie mommy guilt! 

I guess I would like to know...

1. If your child recieved speech did you see improvements right away?

2. What sort of things did they work on in sessions?  What did you do to help encourage talking at home?

3. How long did your child receive services?  TIA!

witt0198

We didn't have a speech referral or eval, but I seriously wouldn't have any mommy guilt. I looked at your ticker and you LO's actual age is only 18months and he only has a slight delay when compared to his peers. What about his other "peers" the ones he would've had if he was born when he was supposed to? How does he compare to them? Of course I'm a little bitter about the whole magic age of 2 thing. To me it's perposterous. No one would expect a healthy term baby to magicly be caught up with kids born months before them, yet we expect it from the kids who've had the hardest starts in life.

Sounds to me like your LO is doing great.

Becky

kcswifey

witt0198:

We didn't have a speech referral or eval, but I seriously wouldn't have any mommy guilt. I looked at your ticker and you LO's actual age is only 18months and he only has a slight delay when compared to his peers. What about his other "peers" the ones he would've had if he was born when he was supposed to? How does he compare to them? Of course I'm a little bitter about the whole magic age of 2 thing. To me it's perposterous. No one would expect a healthy term baby to magicly be caught up with kids born months before them, yet we expect it from the kids who've had the hardest starts in life.

Sounds to me like your LO is doing great.

Becky

Aww, thanks!  Thanks for your encouraging words.  It's little things like this that always bring up that "if I could have only kept you inside" feeling.  I got all emotional at his LAST EVER (thank goodness!!) synagis shot this week.  There are tons of full term babies who end up receiving speech services as well!  I know that it will help ease his frustration so it is well worth it!

goblue

My DS has an expressive speech delay. He uses at least a dozen signs and makes a few animal sound but has no true words.  He doesn't babble very much (although we are seeing progress with that). 

We just started speech therapy a few weeks ago (have had 2 sessions), and it seems that we are already seeing progress.  Our therapist works on getting DS to vocalize when he makes signs (any kind of noise is okay).  She also works on getting him to make a variety of different sounds - opening his mouth is a big one - rather than just mmm sounds or grunts.  She also gives us a lot of things to work on at home.  Our biggest one right now is no longer anticipating DS's needs.  He is very expressive (even if not verbally), so we all know what he wants and tend to give it to him before making him verbalize.  He is ahead for his actual age on receptive language so he understands what we are saying and follows directions very well.  We do little activities like stacking blocks and then making him say "boom" (or "buh") before he knocks them down.  We are also going to take a parents/toddler signing class so that we can continue to develop his sign vocabulary; signing definitely helps cut down on the frustration!  How long he'll be in speech therapy probably depends on how well he does and whether or not he has an underlying condition, such as apraxia, or just a preemie speech delay.

Does your DS have any words yet?  Try not to feel guilty - I know that's easier said than done!

ijack

My daughter started getting speech therapy at about a year (though the ST came a couple times before then) and has made some great progress!

1. I wouldn't say right away, but definitely in the first 6 months

2. They mostly just played games. ST would make funny sounds and encourage Emma to repeat them. She's also worked with us on Emma's eating and sitting still for longer periods. I repeat everything and if she is babbling at me then I have a conversation with her using the words that I think she's talking about (based on the situation and what's around us). I also try to use simpler sentences so she can copy me.

3. She'll be in it until she's 3