if LO started speech therapy just before age 2...

groovygrl

what made you get him/her evaluated?

how did they define LOs delays (if you have examples of what s/he could/couldnt say that would be great)?

how long was LO in speech therapy before being up to speed (or how long is LO expected to do it)? 

 

The reason I ask is that DS appears to be delayed, we are starting the process with the county to get the evaluation, etc done (we have the first home visit interview w/ us tomorrow, then the hearing/office visit in 2 weeks and then shortly after that will be the official evaluation of him in our home) because I mentioned our concerns that he doesnt repeat a lot of things without us asking and has trouble pronouncing a lot when he does try to repeat to our pedi & she said we should probably start the process since he has only about 30-40 words maybe & doesn't do a lot of 'spontaneous' talking although he can label a lot in books & stuff and can point to body parts & can follow simple instructions fine. He only has about 3-4 new words a week at most though. He knows a number of his letters (10 or so?) and can count to 3 independently and further if we help along and things like that so I don't really think it is cognitive but I'm really starting to doubt myself. 

MH has been more concerned than I have all along & I always thought he was comparing too much to DD who is a girl & who might be a little ahead of the game also. But he talked to the daycare teachers this morning and they pretty much confirmed that he is behind all the other boys in the class, even the younger ones and MH has interpreted this as he is "really" behind or he is "SO" behind when he talks about it...I still feel like he is not REALLY behind but maybe I'm being biased toward him b/c he's my son. 

The other thing they told him is that he often plays on his own at school and not actively with the other kids (he interacts a lot w/ his sister & us at home though)  and they're not sure if it is b/c he prefers playing on his own or b/c he knows he can't communicate well and then chooses not to socialize as much. So now we have that to be a little concerned about too.

Sorry this got long. Any advice/insight would be great! 

mrse1107

My DS got evaluated at 21months and didn't qualify, at the time, he didn't say any words other than "mama dada baba kitty more" BUT it was very inconsistent...

On top of that he had very chronic ear infections so I was concerned.... 

I kept a close eye on him as we went to ENT and his hearning test showed mild hearning loss from fluid in ears, and we went forward with getting tubes. As he was just shy of his 2nd birthday I hadn't seen any progress in his speech so I decided to call and have him reevaluated -- he qualified.

 He initially got speech 1x week for 45 minutes and we saw a good amount of progress but he is still pretty delayed so we recently increased to 2x week for 45 minutes and the progress is monumental.

I'd push forward with the eval. It doesn't hurt him.

HOWEVER _ if he doesn't qualify, I would keep your eye on it because the gaps could get bigger and in a few months try again and he may qualify.  (or the "Problem" could correct itself... )

ETA:: qualifications vary by state for EI - but in NYS you need to have a 33% delay in one area (speech, OT, PT, etc...) OR a 25% delay in 2 areas... so they will perform an overall eval on him including these other areas and determine his needs.

schnappycat

Honestly, it doesn't sound like your DS is THAT behind, at least compared to mine. But the professionals can give you a better indication of where he should be. It's hard for me to know since DS was significantly delayed.

We were evaluated at 22 months. I self-referred because DS had NO words, just a few vague animal sounds. He was deemed 10-12 months delayed, although he was fine receptively. We started ST at 2. He still had no words at all when we started. By 2.5 he had several hundred words, and by 3, he was probably ahead of other kids his age. Now he just has some articulation issues he will continue to get help with in preschool this Fall. 

 

groovygrl

by 'qualify' do you mean large enough deficits for the state to cover it or for them to say he could benefit from therapy? I know they do the % thing with the deficits & our state does sliding scale based upon income now so we won't really qualify for them to cover things anyway, but would they not recommend or offer the therapy if he doesn't meet the criteria threshold even if we were paying for it?

We would still have the option to go the private route if we chose to, right? I just don't anticipate MH taking no for an answer, even if it is just a little bit of assistance...

MuckDiva

For starters I am sure it is hard when DH is comparing your daughter to your son.  Despite them being twins I am sure they are both unique individuals who met milestones at different times.

I understand that you are biased but IMO it is better for DS to go through the process of being evaluated early and have it be nothing than wait and have any potential gap widen.  DH and I did not agree on getting DD tested.  I made the call without him being on board and when it was all over he turned to me and said, "I was wrong."  I told him that it isn't about being right or wrong but doing things we may not want/like to do for the sake of our child.  I was hoping I was wrong and DD did not need help but she does.  DH and I have communicated with her school and our mothers (who care for DD during the school year) about what is going on and share with them the strategies that they need to do to help DD.  Her school is using the stategies with ALL of the kids. 

Fast forward to now.  30 words repeated and understood and 13 spontaneous!  She still might not call me "Mama" but when she takes my hand and leads me to something that she wants or needs I know she loves me and knows that I am her mother.

groovygrl:

what made you get him/her evaluated? 

My DD receives Speech and has done so for over a month.  Around 18 months (January) I was concerned but DH was not.  She had 5 words. The pedi gave me the number and simply told me that she was not worried but to hold onto it if I needed peace of mind.  Enter 20ish months- March and she stopped saything anything.  All 5 words were gone.  I'm a special education teacher and I was concerned about her lack of growth and, more so concerned with her regression.  DH thought she was fine and even asked her DC teachers who all agreed that she was just fine.  In May I still saw no growth and made the call.  My eval team was amazing.  They do not feel it is her hearing (although she and I are going today to get her tested) but she does have a delay in the area of Speech and Communication.  She babbles up a storm but she would NOT repeat anything we say.  DD makes little eye contact so we have to start with that.  She can make eye contact when she wants something but when I am trying to get her attention- nothing.  We spent an entire weekend working on it and we have seen major improvement.

how did they define LOs delays (if you have examples of what s/he could/couldnt say that would be great)?  I think I answered that above but DD has a 45% delay in the area of Speech and Communication.

how long was LO in speech therapy before being up to speed (or how long is LO expected to do it)?   Only a month in but we have seen major changes.  We sign now with DD.  She is a kinesthetic learner and needs to do the gestures to help say the words.  She talks more when rough housing so we actually enourage more of that.  (DH LOVES that part!)  She is also very musical so we sing-song words to get her to repeat them.  We also give her choices of toys or food and wait for her to say/attempt/sign/gesture which one she wants.  We had our monthly consult with her Speech Therapist this week and she wants to bring in an OT to see if maybe there is some sensory needs as well.

 

The reason I ask is that DS appears to be delayed, we are starting the process with the county to get the evaluation, etc done (we have the first home visit interview w/ us tomorrow, then the hearing/office visit in 2 weeks and then shortly after that will be the official evaluation of him in our home) because I mentioned our concerns that he doesnt repeat a lot of things without us asking and has trouble pronouncing a lot when he does try to repeat to our pedi & she said we should probably start the process since he has only about 30-40 words maybe & doesn't do a lot of 'spontaneous' talking although he can label a lot in books & stuff and can point to body parts & can follow simple instructions fine. He only has about 3-4 new words a week at most though. He knows a number of his letters (10 or so?) and can count to 3 independently and further if we help along and things like that so I don't really think it is cognitive but I'm really starting to doubt myself. 

MH has been more concerned than I have all along & I always thought he was comparing too much to DD who is a girl & who might be a little ahead of the game also. But he talked to the daycare teachers this morning and they pretty much confirmed that he is behind all the other boys in the class, even the younger ones and MH has interpreted this as he is "really" behind or he is "SO" behind when he talks about it...I still feel like he is not REALLY behind but maybe I'm being biased toward him b/c he's my son. 

The other thing they told him is that he often plays on his own at school and not actively with the other kids (he interacts a lot w/ his sister & us at home though)  and they're not sure if it is b/c he prefers playing on his own or b/c he knows he can't communicate well and then chooses not to socialize as much. So now we have that to be a little concerned about too.  My DD is often out on her own as well.  She sometimes doesn't even acknowledge others are in the room with her!  I noticed this during my spring break when I would take her to music class.  At DC they told me that she does play and acknowledge the kids some of the time.  We all attributed it to her being an observer.

Sorry this got long. Any advice/insight would be great! 

 

My ramblings above may or may not have helped but in the end we all want what is best for our child.  What is best may not be easy or what we want but we do it because we can.  As a special education teacher I see parents who are not always on board with this process and their resistence makes it so much harder to do my job.  I would rather be the parent who says "what can I do" rather than "what should I have done".

jenn_darrin1515

We had ava evaluated around 20 months.  She wasn't up to speed with her sister (who is ahead in many areas) and I can relate to the frustration of comparing your twins...they are individuals and will develop on their own timeline....that being said we had some concerns about ava being a little behind the other kids in dc and she would get easily frustrated not being able to communicate and with fine motor tasks...she always was a late walker and tall - but seemed off-balance when running around, so we wanted her evaluated for PT as well.

They came, did their eval and av qualified for PT and speech and was at the cut off for developmental so we got that too (to help with frustration/crying)....anyways....she has been doing great, especially over the last month we have seen a huge improvement in her spantaneous words (for labeling mostly)...but she is also more apt to repeat new words when you tell them to her and will use "more", "help" and "all done" to request, etc....she has also started using 2 word phrases...she definitly has over 50 words...I should count them to see how many she is up to...I would say she is about 1 month behind her sister...but seeing her improvement is amazing...and I am hopeful she will be caught up by the time she's 3, if not before...

She is also an observer at dc...altho an the rare occassion we have a playgroup with a couple friends she interacts just fine with the other kids...so I am not too worried - I think she is just a shy kid...but we are going to keep an eye on her socialization over the next few months...

So anyways...long post short - I was hesitant about contacting EI...didn't want to think my dd needed extra help...but I am so glad I did...b/c its not about me...its about getting my dd the help she needs to learn and grow...so here we are and I couldn't be happier with her improvement and their services...GL!

LoveEeyore

I just went through this.  DS was evaluated just shy of 23 months.  I have known since about 6 months that something was "off," but because he's always smiley and understood everything and seemed to be trying to communicate, everyone blew off my concerns because he's a boy and boys are later. 

My DS's issues wew- about 10 words that he vocalized the same sounds for everytime, but he wasn't making any consonants- in communication or babbling.  He'd come to me, point to his dipe and tell me "oo"  or "ee" to request a change, and he was always right.  If he wanted/wants water, he says ah-ah.  His mouth simply is not working correctly.  I expressed concerns at every appt since 6 months, and have always been told no worries... I knew if I took him to the 2 yr appt and was blown off again that I would be irate, at them for not taking me seriously, and me for not following through to fix what I've always known was a problem. 

To qualify he had to have 25% delay  I think!!  A team came out and played with him for awhile and then wrote up their assessment.  He was rated in multiple areas of development.  And if that age in months was more than a 25% delay, he qualified for services in that area.   He was 11 months delayed in expressive language.  He was advanced in cognitive concepts and receptive language.  He was very advanced in fine motor, but displays a significant delay in gross motor/core strength areas. 

I have thought, and even now and then, still think that maybe he just needed time- speech is helping in spades- and that I was over the top in going but another mama told me this:  Cost-benefit:  Cost to me for evaluation-zero.  Cost to LO- nothing- my DS loved the eval- a bunch of pretty ladies playing with him.  Benefit- either they'd find nothing and I'd have peace of mind or they'd find something and help him.  Can't lose.

hokies94

DS was evaluated at 18 months and started therapy at 19 months. 

At our 15 month checkup our ped recommended having him evaluated since he was only saying about 2 words "mama" and occasionally "dada".  He should have had about 10 words at this point.  I was not at all surprised at the recommendation.  DS had fluid in his ears for the entire first year.  He was not babbling at all at 12 months-no sounds whatsoever.  He got tubes at 14 months and the babbling started soon after.  A few words came after that but prior to therapy he still wasn't saying much.  He's been in therapy for about 5 months and he's definitely getting more words.  He's not where he should be yet (should have about 50 words at this point) but he's getting much better.   I'm hoping he'll be caught up by the time he's 3 which is when he ages out of the Early Intervention program. 

We're still concerned that he's not hearing correctly.  He keeps failing his hearing tests.  The audiologist doesn't know if it's because he's 2 and doesn't feel like cooperating, or if he has a mild hearing loss.  We're doing a more definitive hearing test next month and we'll know for sure if he has any hearing loss.  

Have you had his hearing tested?   

groovygrl

Thanks all!

I was not really thinking about not having him evaluated (we have all the appts set up already, including hte 1st tomorrow) b/c I agree that it is better to do it & it certainly can't hurt, my issues are more that I feel he is a little delayed (and therefore I'm sure will benefit from some interventions!) but MH keeps saying how he is REALLY behind and I was thinking some stories of others would help me put DS into context of other kids with a range of delays. MH tends to overexaggerate- like the kids will have a 100.3 fever and he is like "They're burning up!!!!", etc, so I have to be careful how I react to his expressions of concern, but I also want to support him in his concerns of course. 

Your stories & info are super helpful, thank you so much!

And yes- the hearing test is in 2 weeks, it's all part of the county assessment- first a home visit w/ just hte parents to discuss concerns & daily routine, then an office visit for hearing and financial screening, then a home visit w/ multiple therapists to do the different developmental screenings with him, which will be scheduled just after the hearing test.

Thanks!