Help: SUDDEN decline in speech and increase in studdering
My son will be 3 in April. He was DX with "Dev. Delay" through our county program, as well as having speech issues. We all felt that since his older brother (almost 5) was the "focus" of everything since he is dx with aspergers, etc, that he just got put on the back burner, etc. Our county program did NOTHING to help our little one. They kept coming to the house to evaluate and do progress reports and NO ONE did anything to actually WORK with him, teach us things that we could do to help him, etc. So we pulled the plug. That was almost a 7 months ago. When my 4.5 y/o goes to school, I spend quality one on one time with my little guy, talking, reading, playing and really trying to make headway with his speech. He talks a mile a minute now, but he is unclear. We know, through approximations, what he is trying to say. Others would not be able to understand *some* of what he was saying...but he has grown leaps and bounds over the year.
Flash Forward to a month ago.....he started studdering...he would start sentences with "and and and and and" or whatever sounds of the word he wanted to share with us. We would tell hiim to slow down, WE would talk slower, we would get down on his level for eye contact so he knew he had our attention. Well, this week, it's gotten shockingly worse! Every other word in a sentence is with a studder....and we can barely understand what he is saying. As his mother, i pride myself in knowing most of what he is saying, translating it and repeating it back to him (or others) so his comments/statements/needs are being understood....I CANNOT understand him.
He is still talking a mile a minute, but with the studders and not understanding what it is he is trying to get across...it's getting frustrations. His teachers asked me today if something was going on with him b/c from Tuesday (when they had him in class) to today, they said it has gotten worse.
Any ideas? What do I do to help him? He is getting evaluated thru our local school district in the beginning of March but if something is going on NOW or if there is something I can do NOW to help him, I would be eternally grateful!
Thank you so much!
Re: Help: SUDDEN decline in speech and increase in studdering
Thank you Auntie...as usual!
Ei said that our 2 y/o had developemental delay as well as speech issues. Like I posted above, they did NOTHING to help him...no therapy, no instruction, nothing to help us help him. I opted out after three months of continual waste of time and getting no where. I am just waiting for him to turn three so he can start testing thru the city. (the city knows us very well due to our 4 y.o so they advised me to just wait <not see a speech ther on our own> and just wait it out. So...with about a month more to wait...it seems like my 2 y.o is going downhill this week and it's been so sudden that it scared me.
I am going to ready that link you sent.
Thanks again!
My DD has an articulation disorder - treated through EI and private therapy. I was told not to be shocked if she stuttered between 3 and 4.5. I was also told if it happened, not to acknowledge it, and act like it was no big deal or it could cause more problems, particularly in kids with pre-existing speech issues.
My nephew who is a very advanced 4 y/o now, and had tremendous language skills since 2, suddenly stuttered for 4-5 weeks around age 3-3.5, and then it just stopped as quickly as it started. If there were no earlier speech issues, i would wait it out, but where he already has speech issues, I would get him in with a specialist quickly. But in teh short-term don't make a big deal about it in front of him - just in case.
Zeus and Bubba