How did you know your kid had a speech delay?

tri-reader · June 2011

A few moms have mentioned getting their kid tested for speech delays. How did you know your kid was behind? I question my son's speech and am comparing it to other kids (especially boys) his age and I've even spoke to his pediatrician about it, but everyone says its fine. I still worry about it and am wondering if it is something I should see a professional about.

What signs did you see? What made you investigate your kids speech further? If you're not comfortable speaking online about it feel free to email me at mnaylor3 at gmail dot com.

alibee09 · June 2011

Katie didn't start talking, really, until she was over two. It drove me crazy that J (at DC) was so verbal because it made me wonder if K was delayed, but then she suddenly started talking torrents of words at a time.

Not what you asked, btw, but I thought I'd mention it.

kittylove · June 2011

We evaluated Riley at 18months after he lost words that he had at 12months. He was considered borderline for qualifing for services even though he only had 5 words he used regularly other than mama and dada. According to his 2 yr report they should have at least 50 words and a few (2-5) two word phrases but many speech prefer 100-200 words. I personally feel that if you are concerned you should go in for an evaluation. It is free, easy, and can put your mind at ease or let you know there is a problem.

If you have any other specific questions I would ba happy to answer them. I can also ask Riley's speech therepist any questions you have, if you want.

futrkingsley · June 2011

DS did have one and I was worried. He eventually was evaluated, found to have a delay, and received speech therapy through EI.

I followed the tips on this site as he developed:https://www.earlyinterventionsupport.com/development/speech/8-12months.aspx and he kept missing the milestones.

Here were my red flags at one year:

He did not babble.
In his first year, periodically would practice making a sound. He would use one sound repeatedly for days at a time, then never make the sound again. He cycled through most sounds but did not ever combine them, and didn't use them frequently.
He did not cry for attention as an infant.
He did not have any words, even mama or dada.
He did not point or wave or have any meaningful gestures to communicate his needs.

He developed waving, and pointing with a single tone grunt at about 15 months. He still had no words and was very quiet generally.

At 15 months his pediatrician said that if he didn't make some progress in verbal communication -- mama, dada, something -- in one month I should call EI. He did not make any progress in 6 weeks so I called.

At his evaluation he still had no verbal words, but had 3 signs or so. He was using grunts and points to communicate all his needs. The team who evaulated him was very clear that he wasn't just being stubborn about not talking, that he genuinely did not have the skills to use and he was deemed to be at least 10 months delayed.

Does that level of info help?

jsugrin · June 2011

I had Andrew evaluated at 23 months and he tested at 9-10 months for expressive language Tongue Tied .

He never really babbled. At 5 months I address it with his pedi because he didnt' seem to have ever coo'd much, wasn't putting any sounds together and I wasn't sure he was even making any vowel or constant sounds. Then he up and spoke his first word at 6 months. He added 1-2 words a month, always perfect articulation ( with the exception of hotzzz, hotzzz [:D)]

Then at 13 or 14 months he stopped talking altogether. Nada, zip, zilch. At 18 months his pedi blamed it on the new baby (eventhough I repeatedly pointed out he stopped talking before baby was born) and said since we knew he could talk that we didn't need to worry Confused .

Like you everyone told me not to worry, he'd have an explosion at 18 months, oh no he'd have one at 2 or whatever. I called EI on my own and I'm glad I did. Based on their assessments he also qualified for some developmental therapy as well (I'm not so sure he needed that and it was more likely his fear of the evaluator).

In the month between assessment and starting therapy he started talking again and burst out with about 20 words so I think it was perfect timing and maybe he would have been fine but maybe not. He made incredibly rapid progress and by about 2.5 his speech therapist said he had the verbal skills of about a 5 year old, that she's never seen someone so young with such clear articulation plus verb agreement, proposition use, grammer ect. Turns out he's a perfectionist with some underlying anxiety so he never "practiced" sounds and words, he simply held out until he knew he could say them.

I say listen to your instinct and gut. Everyone has a story of how their kid talked late and was fine ect but that is not always the case and you've only got EI until 3, it's a valuable service you don't want to lose out on even if you can supplement with your own insurance (we did). Also it might take a bit of time to get him evaluated and then if needed worked into a ST's schedule so I wouldn't put it off if you think he needs it.

2bearichards · June 2011

Riley, at age 2, only had a handful of words and did not put two words together. I spoke with her pediatrician and sought help at her recommendation. She didn't end up qualifying for services, but does have a small speech delay. I know it is coincidence, but she has just recently had a bit of a language explosion.

Is your pediatrician concerned? We had to have a referral from our pedi in order to be evaluated.

futrkingsley · June 2011

2bearichards:

Riley, at age 2, only had a handful of words and did not put two words together. I spoke with her pediatrician and sought help at her recommendation. She didn't end up qualifying for services, but does have a small speech delay. I know it is coincidence, but she has just recently had a bit of a language explosion.

Is your pediatrician concerned? We had to have a referral from our pedi in order to be evaluated.

If you persue evaluation through your health insurance you would need an evaluation (we did and our pedit agreed). BUT you do not need a referral from anyone to call the counties Early Intervention program (called Early Start in Santa Clara county). And their evaluation process is free.

MrsJBL2005 · June 2011

Cami had continual ear infections from 12 - 18 months. Per her pedi recommendation, we had her evaluated by Early Intervention at 17 months. She had very few words and while she seemed mostly pleasant (not upset/unhappy), wasn't even gesturing like Tyler did at her age, like pointing toward the fridge or cabinet when he was hungry or wanted something. She didn't smile as much & wasn't ticklish. I was becoming concerned that she may have a spectrum disorder. The evaluators did their thing and explained that even though she wasn't yet speaking, she was quite bright. They suggested an eval by ENT for tubes because of a likely hearing impairment due to fluid - comparing it to hearing underwater... and that if speech doesn't improve (6 more words in 6 mos) then to re-evaluate. I appreciated the peace of mind that the eval offered, saw and ENT, got tubes, and noticed immediate speech growth. IMO, the docs do know how to recognize delays, so as long as the pedi still thinks he's within the normal range, I'd wait. If you can afford it & further evaluation will make YOU feel better about it, then go ahead and schedule.

dblhappiness · June 2011

I really started to notice when A wasn't adding to his vocabulary as much as S. I know I shouldn't compare but there was a definite downward spiral. A would grunt more and/or whine to get what he wanted and never really pointed things out. He also wouldn't answer to his name so we had his hearing checked. When that all came out fine we decided to have some assessments done. There were obvious other red flags that I overlooked but mostly it was that he wasn't putting one or two words together or saying most the simple phrases that his brother was.

Mrs.K&C · June 2011

Speech delay typically is much more than speech - it's expressive communication and that was one of the biggest red flags for me with DD. It wasn't as much that she only had a handful of words, it was that she couldn't/wouldn't express herself at all. Didn't point to things, didn't indicate she wanted something in any way, verbal or non-verbal. As such when she was evaluated, she scored 9-12 month level at 22 months but one of the biggest factors was the lack of non-verbal communication, not the amount of words she was or wasn't using.

I had the advantage of knowing what to look for because she was in PT through EI from 5-14 months and they had given me a heads up about her lack of babbling and communication and what to look for. I hoped and hoped that she would have some explosion around 18 months but it didn't happen. She has been in speech therapy for a year and unfortunately they are recommending she continue with the district when she reaches 3. She scores well above average age on what she is saying, how many words, uses tenses and pronouns properly, all that...but her pronunciation is still lacking a lot. She still uses a B sound instead of F, things like that.

vikkilerb · June 2011

It is so hard. I had so many people telling me different things and offering different advice. I finally sent my questions and concerns to a speech language pathologist at the speechtails website. I have been using it and have been having great success. You might give it a shot! Good Luck, Vikki, Indiana

Speechtails.com

alibee09 · June 2011

Uh, is that spam?

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