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***andreas4dogs*** or anyone with knowledge of speech delays
Hi,
I read your post below about your sons speech delays and I have a question for you. I was wondering what had you start your son with EI at 16 months. My son, also a Gabriel, is almost 19 months and only says Mama, Dada, Yaya (for his sister), and a version of duck. I know that other kids his age are much more vocal but I hadn't been concerned yet. Now I am wondering if I am missing something. Any info you could give me would be very appreciated. TIA
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Re: ***andreas4dogs*** or anyone with knowledge of speech delays
My son is 20 months old and just started speech therapy. He currently has one word and lots of babble. I have been concerned for awhile b/c everything speech related has been late with him. They told us during his eval that they expect 50 words and some 2 word phrases by 2 which my son is not even close to doing. He qualified easily for speech delay and we currently have once a week therapy with lots of practice with mom/dad during the week.
I know at this age there is a huge range for speech and that "explosions" of vocabulary happen all of the time. I wake up every morning hoping that Logan just starts jabbering on but until that happens I felt like I needed to give him as much help as I could.
My suggestion is to talk to your pediatrician or just have him evaluated. My pedi wanted to wait for the longest time and I could never understand why. How exactly is getting him evaluated going to hurt him? They will either reassure you that everything is ok or tell you that therapy would help...both options seems like a positive in my mind.
Hope this helps!
I told my pediatrician at his nine month check up that while he made sounds he wasn't really babbling. At his 12 month appointment he still wasn't babbling and had no words. He didn't really start "babbling" until like 13-14 months. We had him evaluated, mainly b/c of my insistence, at 13 months and he qualified at that time but we decided to hold off b/c he was so young and had no other delays. I don't regret that decision b/c even at 20 months the "therapy" session is play based and his attention span is lacking. I think it will get better with time. Every day he seems to be making new sounds so again I'm hoping he's just on his own speech pathway.
His receptive skills are great which is something they also look for. Does your son follow commands and understand what you are asking him? Does he point at things, take you to what he wants or make his wants known by some sort of sound?
Yes, he does everything you mention above. He also does a little sign language to get his point across. This is why I hadn't been particularly concerned. We have no trouble communicating with him. He just doesn't make any effort to talk, to say words, though with some of his sounds and mannerisms you would think he was telling you off. lol He also refuses to put to words together such as Mama Duck, we have a rubber one,and those are 2 of the 4 words he does say.
Just checking the board-sorry for the delayed response.
Anyhow, my pediatrician had been closely following Gabe's speech (or lackthereof) since he was under a year.
He wasnt babbling at close to a year, so he sent me to have his hearing evaluated-which was fine.
At his 15 month appointment, the pediatrician was still concerned about his lack of speech and gave me the number to Early Intervention.
It may be different in your state, but it my state anyone can call EI for an evaluation. When I called I said my pediatrician referred me because of Gabe's lack of speech.
They came to the house and it was determined he qualified. He was also in EI for other issues (not holding a bottle) which have been resolved.
To stay in EI, he had to have a delay of 33% in one area or a 25% delay in two areas. He is still receiving therapy once a week because he has a 50% speech delay.
I hope that helps, please feel free to PM me or post if you have any more questions!
You will forever be my best friend. I can almost feel our hugs. I will ensure everyone will know (now and in the future) what a genuine, kind, loving person you were...I already miss your laughter and our daily conversations. I love you, Samantha. May 20, 1983- February 20, 2012