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Multiples
Language Delays for Multiples
My fraternal twin boys are 20 months old, and their speech has been a huge source of frustration for about 4 months now. They both have had the same 5 words for the longest time, starting off saying Mama, and Dada, and adding words like Baba, Bye Bye, and Hi. They seem to understand these words and know the appropriate time to use them, but it is hit or miss whether they will use them when prompted. We have a total of about 10 words now. They are not used consistently, but they say repeat them often.
They may say a random word here and there, but they don't seem to master many words. They babble to each other non-stop, and they babble to my husband and I. We have a First Words book that we have shown them over and over, pointing to things and saying them, but they never want to repeat the words. They understand what words mean, and they are more likely to make sounds, like, if I am reading Goodnight Moon, I say, "And goodnight to the old lady whispering hush." The boys will put their finger to their lips and say, "Shhhhhhhhhhh." They don't like to make animal sounds though.
The doctor has addressed my concerns saying that she doesn't think either of the boys are autistic based on their behavior, just speech delayed. She mentioned that at 2 years old, I could take them to be evaluated by a speech therapist, but she thought most likely they would catch up quick and not need the added help. She told us this 2 months ago, and they still continue to not make much progress.
One of my girlfriends who has a son with Asbergers said that a few parents she knows in her support group for parents of children with special needs have used a program called Play to Talk. She explained the program to me about how when the boys babble, I'm to babble exactly their words back, so I'm mimicing them 'word for word'. The idea is that they start viewing the mimicing as a playful conversation, and they talk more and more to me, knowing that I will repeat them. Then, when I am talking and say simple words, hopefully, they will try to mimic me. I have to look more into the program, but I already started the mimicing, and they do seem to like what I am doing and they are being more verbal, than when I try to throw a word at them over and over again. It makes me nervous though, that I'm not teaching them real words all the time.
I am so frustrated right now. In 2 months, I will have to bring them to speech therapy if they don't pick up on this soon. I just don't want them to struggle. And I admit, I hear my friends talk about all the things that their kids are saying, and I can't be happy for them. I am so jealous and worried about my own kids, that I withdraw from those conversations. They make me feel like a failure, like 'What am I doing wrong? What am I doing differently?'
Our pediatrician has told me that boys typically take longer, and multiples take longer, but I am the only person I know who has had multiples in real life, and I don't come on the bump very much, so I haven't seen if this is actually a common problem here.
I don't know what to do. I feel like this is defeating me. My boys are smart. They communicate with me without speaking or sign language (because they didn't learn that either), we just read each other so well. I just want them to be verbal. It would make it so much easier. Most people are understanding of my problem, but some people will take this as an opportunity to tell me that their kids talked in full sentences when they were just 12 months old. I guess those people don't understand that it feels like I'm being strangled and choked when they say things like that in response to my struggles.
Are any of you in my same boat, or have you gone through it already? I posted a few months back on being ready for a language explosion and it hasn't really happened.
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Re: Language Delays for Multiples
My boys were delayed too. They were evaluated for EI at 15 months, and started ST at 18 months. What really helped was learning signs, so they didnt' get so frustrated. (They learned a few like "more" and "milk" and "all done".)
About a month after their second birthday, they had a HUGE language explosion, and it hasn't stopped since.
I would get the evaluated sooner rather than later. Does your state have an early intervention program?
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The different types of twins and triplets
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I strongly second the recommendation of calling Early Intervention. You do not have to wait until they are two and you do not have to wait for your Pedi's ok. Let me know if you are in PA and I can give you the number. If not then call your local township's main number and they should be able to point you on the right direction.
We were working with EI for physical therapy already so when my boys were showing speech delays they had a speech therapist evaluate them. James has the same words as your boys (hi, bye, dada, etc...) but Connor is showing some improvement. They have been with the therapist 1 hour every week but she just upped it to 2 hours every week. It is a free service and does not access your medical insurance at all.
It could just be a delay and they may have a word explosion around the corner but it would not hurt for them to get the evaluation.
There was just a post on this yesterday and I gave that person some suggestions based on my experience in speech therapy for my girls over the past 4 months. My girls had only 10-12 words when they hit 2 years old, so we were referred by our pedi. for speech therapy. I went through our insurance because it was covered 100% with not out of pocket expense. We do have an early intervention program run by our county, but when I contacted them they told me it would be almost 4 months before the girls could even be tested because they have so many children they are currently evaluating and are just that far backlogged. I am not discouraging you from contacting your local EI, this is just what I had to face in our area, so we went private.
I agree with PP about if you feel you want to start working with them now, don't put it off. But I will tell you when I took the girls in to be tested, which was 3 weeks after they turned 2, I was told by the evaluator it is good I waited until they turned 2 before bringing them in. She said if I had brought them in before they turned 2 they would have had to score them based on a 1 year old instead of a 2 year old. They would not have qualified for services based on a 1 year old. The testing does not distinguish between a 1 year old that is 13 months old and 1 that is 22 months old, they just call them 1 and score based on 1. My girls were about the same from 21 months to 24 months old, no new words and no progression, so I am glad I waited. So if you do have them tested and they don't qualify and things don't improve by the time they turn 2, have them tested again at 2.
If you do decide to wait there are things you can do that will help them to start talking. My suggestions in the post from yesterday are all based off what I learned in speech therapy. I am not familiar with the program your friend suggested, but is sounds like a great program because in speech we work a lot on learning new words through play. Not so much mimicing what they are babbling, but playing with a farm set that has the animals and saying the animal sounds to them and they do start repeating them. My therapist uses a program that has a book with it called "It Takes Two to Talk". I have a copy of the book and starting using some of the techiniques with the girls right away and it was very helpful. It is an expensive book if you do look into it, but they may have it at your local library or I bought mine on Ebay for half the price.
And I know what you are going through, at that point I too, kept hearing about and waiting for this language explosion and it just didn't happen. Even now, my girls have so many words and are putting 3 and 4 together in small sentences, but it did not happen overnight like people say. It happened with work every week with therapy. Even now, my girls will add a new word or phrase every couple of days, they are really starting to repeat now. But they didn't just wake up one day talking in full sentences like people make it seem. Don't beat yourself up, it is not your fault, some kids just develop language slower and need a little extra help.
Thank you so much for the advice. Even though I know I have a lot of work ahead of me, it feels better to hear that other's have benefited from speech therapy and that for some kids, it just takes time and a bit of extra effort. I'm doing my best to not rain on my friend's parades when the tell me what their one year old's are saying, but I have a feeling I'll be secretly cursing them for awhile. I will keep up my calling around to see if there are other programs, but I'm still planning on getting the boys on the evaluation list asap at our local program. I think they will qualify.
I will take a look at sign language. Do any of you have tips on what is the best way to teach signs? This will be something new to them and me. We have gone over a couple signs from The Goodnight Show on Sprout, and I'd try to move their hands, and show them my hands, but I never did it super-repetitively, and never forced anything if they seemed disinterested. Most of those signs weren't even that important for them to know now. I will have to look into it, but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
My friend's son had a speech delay, so this post got me interested....
Why do specialists say that it's common for speech dealy with multiples? I've heard that before, but never found out why.
? Multiples often engage in twin talk, a spoken language or a language of gestures and body language. Multiples are often so effective at communicating with each other that their speech and language development can be delayed. ? Personality differences and the gender of a child often influence the rate of speech and language development. Girls tend to be more verbal than boys. Shy and apprehensive children tend to be quieter. ? Multiples place increased demands on parents limiting the amount of one-on-one attention and interaction each child receives. ? One multiple may ?talk? for another multiple reducing the need for the ?quiet? child to talk. This can also occur with older siblings who are quick to talk for the child instead of having the child verbalize their feelings.
my older son only said a few words at age 2 so we had him evaluated - the therapist said not to worry- his comprehension was great and that is more important at that age than verbal speech. He did sign a few things, and did a few animal sounds then, too. A few weeks later he exploded with lauguage and never stopped and is very articulate now.
one of my twins is saying new words all the time. He only has one 2-word phrase (all done) but says lots of single words.
my other twin, Grayson, says nothing - has said mama and dada with meaning a few times- but doesn't do it regularly. He signs a few things and does 2 animal sounds. My main concern with him is that he doesn't seem to understand as much - and has a LOT of frustration.
my niece had a severe receptive language delay so i know the signs - and gray exhibits some of them- so i talked to my pedi this week, who agreed - and we're having him evaluated later this month.
it can't hurt to have an eval done- they will either qualify or not - and either way you know you did all you could to help.
Hello all, I'm a speech language pathologist and it sounds like everyone has given great advice on how to stimulate speech. I would definitely have an evaluation (did they have one, I read that they wouldn't qualify-is that what the doctor said?). Most times, an insurance company will cover the evaluation. Even if you don't pursue weekly therapy, the speech pathologist should give you suggestions on how to work on speech at home during the evaluation. Are there any private practices or pediatric hospitals in your area?
I meant to post yesterday that you can PM me if you have any other questions and maybe I can find some helpful parent handouts for you (I recently moved and had to get rid of a lot of stuff).