Speech question - SLPs or speech delay moms

nictel

I haven't posted in a while, but had a question about my son's speech that I thought you ladies might be able to give me some insight into.

Quick background - DS was diagnosed with oral / motor dyspraxia a little before 2 and 1/2.  1st SLP agreed with diagnosis (made jointly with SLP and neuropsychologist) 2nd SLP who was PROMPT certified isn't so sure.  Thinks he has made too much progress and instead has phonological and articulation problems along with low facial tone.  DS had two evals - one private and one through the school district - part of comprehensive CPSE testing which both ruled out ASD.  Besides being a late talker no other red flags.  (A little shy but does well in small groups of peers.) Scores above average receptively and dead average expressively but 1% in phonology and 10% artic.

Anyway, he's a little over 3 now, and has been speaking for a little less than 8 months.  He comments on observations, tells you what he likes and wants, and asks and answers who, what, where (sometimes when) questions.  Still working on when and why. 

He is naturally shy and cautious, although a combination or typical preschool, ST, and confidence in his speaking abilities is turning him into a more outgoing child.  Here's the thing.  When he is asked a question he knows the answer to, he answers correctly / appropriately and usually asks a follow-up question.  Example - "What are you teacher's names?"  "What songs did you sing?"  "What did you eat for dinner?" "Which ride did you like the best tonight?"  etc etc.  When he is asked a question that he doesn't have an answer to - either something he doesn't know the answer to or can't remember, he either looks shyly away or repeats the question.  Anyone have any experience with this?  It's usually on a question that's very vague, like "What did you do today (this week?)"  He will get really shy and embarrased and then quietly repeat the question with a nervous laugh.  He also sometimes does it on questions like "What is the name of Joe's Mommy?"  or "What books did you read today?"  instead of saying "I don't know" or "I don't remember".  If the choice is narrowed down instead to "What did you read today on the reading rug with Miss Stacy" he'll answer it.  How atypical is this for a new speaker / apraxia diagnosis?  He only repeats when he doesn't remember the answer or the question is really vague.    My SLP isn't concerned, thinks it's a habit bourne out of shyness, combined with not totally understanding concepts such as today, last week, etc. but it seems odd to me.  Processing issue?  Something else?  How do I correct it? 

Thanks!

Assembly_Reqd

We've just started speech, so you can take my answer with a grain of salt if you want.

I think he sees that you really like to get verbal responses from him. Since he does not know the answer, he just repeats back before processing that he doesn't know. I think he is anxious about answering you in a timely fashion and instead of thinking about it a little longer, he is giving you the quickest information available.

I think the concepts of time could be giving him problems as well. Maybe he also just needs to know that it's o.k. not to have an answer or to "think about it" for a bit. Maybe some modeling on your part could help him?

jsugrin

Assembly_Reqd:

We've just started speech, so you can take my answer with a grain of salt if you want.

I think he sees that you really like to get verbal responses from him. Since he does not know the answer, he just repeats back before processing that he doesn't know. I think he is anxious about answering you in a timely fashion and instead of thinking about it a little longer, he is giving you the quickest information available.

I think the concepts of time could be giving him problems as well. Maybe he also just needs to know that it's o.k. not to have an answer or to "think about it" for a bit. Maybe some modeling on your part could help him?

Great answer.  I think it's fabulous that he repeats the question and I'd suspect it's his way of processing the unknown to see if he can figure it out, ya know like well I don't understand what they are saying but maybe if I say to myself it will make more sense.  Also possible he's trying to buy time to come up with a response.  Heck if my kid doesn't know the answer he just gets all embarrased and then either hides or does some kind of crazy behavior to distract from his inability to answer.  Personally I wouldn't be worried about the repeat of the question at all.

PS.  I'm so glad that he's making such amazing strides.  I remember not all that long ago you being so worried he'd never talk and that you were facing some serious issues.  Must be a wonderful feeling to hear him talking and talking away

VikkiRB

I don't know if you've ever heard of Speechtails, but it is a website I have been using with my child and love it.  This is a question I have seen posted on there.  You might check it out.  We have had great success with it, plus the SLP who runs the site has children and is very down to earth.  She is great to help with my questions.  Give it a shot!  Good Luck!

lite-bright

I don't know if this helps, but repeating the question is something my DD1 does often when she either didn't understand the question or doesn't know the answer. Often it's because a question is abstract and she has trouble processing both the question and her answer. 

I actually just brought it up with our SLP yesterday. She suggested rephrasing the question -- not repeating it back to her -- and/or turning it into a question with a choice (so "what is the name of Joe's mommy" becomes "Is Joe's mommy named Betty or Sue?"). Another thing that I can always get a reliable answer with is turning questions into yes/no, and then I can gradually circle back to the more abstract & complicated answers. 

So when I'm asking DD1 about her day, asking "what did you do today at preschool" is going to get me her rote answer of "I rode the fishes outside on the playground" and that's it. If I ask, "What center did you play in?" (because I know they always have time each day to do that), then she tells me the color and I can ask more questions that build up to the more abstract. I.e. -- Is that center the bedroom or the kitchen? Are there puzzles in there? Are there dolls? What did you do?