A different Early Intervention question

BabyC925 · January 2012

Just logged on and saw the post below....sorry!

My question is for those that have had EI. What exactly is it? We havent been referred (LO is 16 mo with a few words) but Im just wondering what they teach you as the parent to do. How do they encourage the talking? A friend of mind said they did EI and they told her to use all one word type speech and in books and magazines they say "fill in the blanks" with more of a sentence.....so Im just wondering what exactly they recommend.

For example...LO says DADA but says Gog for Dog, doesnt use the D, do i correct that or just say thats right It's a Dog!

Just looking for guidance i guess

amykins1283 · January 2012

Articulation isn't important at this young age. As long as she is saying "gog" consistently for dog (as in, using it in context in a way you can understand) then she is fine. Articulation will happen over time as she gets better and talking and manipulating her mouth and tongue.

So, just say "That's right! It's a dog!" and leave it at that.

OhSewCrafty · January 2012

DS is not getting speech therapy, but we have asked about encouraging talking just as a resource type question. The advice we got was just to label (call it what it is) everything very clearly. "Do you want a cup? Lets go to the kitchen and get your cup. Here is your cup!" The more you talk through what you are doing, the more they will understand. Understanding comes before speaking, but is all counted towards communication.

Just so you know, you don't need a doctors referral for EI. If you are ever concerned, you can call and schedule an evaluation.

kkfeb04 · January 2012

DS was referred at 18 months (we could've gone much sooner as he didn't have any words at 18 months and didn't start to walk until 16 months, crawled at 11 months). DS use to say Gog for dog around 16-17 months but he has stopped saying that by 18 months. He would say mamamama and dadadadada but never towards DH and I and never consistantly. Needless to say he was picked up for speech. He has two different therapists out, one for OT to help with some sensory things that they saw and it has helped a ton. He would be the kid in daycare that wouldn't even touch paint before and now he gets all messy with it. He also use to have to constantly touch things and then go back and touch them over and over again, this has stopped. I don't know what she does to help him as I'm at work when she comes over but DH is home. The other one is a specialized teacher for his speech. She has taught us to help him learn words by putting things next to our mouths and having him stare at our mouths. She thinks that instead of saying the word dog or gog in his case, he learned the baby sign for that and now pants whenever he sees our dog or sees a picture. He started therapy around 20 months of age and he can now say, mama and dada (and actually mean it), apple, ball, moo (for cow), no which he also shakes his head no when he says it, all done, and the panting for dog. So for us 8 words in 2 months (actually less when he got these down pat) is fantastic. She has also taught DH other things but again since DH is off during the week (his weekends are during the week) he is home with the therapists while I'm at work.

sschwege · January 2012

I used to nanny for a set of twins who were in EI. As pp said talking and reading is a great way to encourage speech. Another great tip I learned is to take the object when possible and put it up to your mouth while you say the word. So for example, if you were handing your LO a cup you would hold the cup up to your mouth and say 'cup.' LO will most likely be looking at the object so if you bring it up to your mouth you are encouraging LO to watch your mouth move as you form the word. Also straw cups promote better oral development over sippy or bottle. So if you haven't made the switch it might be a good time.

Mrs.Dreamy · January 2012

My DS is in EI for a speech delay. He receives services once per week. A therapist comes out and plays with him and suggests new activities to try each week. The main thing is consistency and talk about EVERYTHING you are doing and showing them...My son went from 1 word (dada) at 15 months to 15 words plus a handful of signs at 18 months. If you are concerned call, it is a great service! My DS went from one word, to two word combinations! My pedi said that I could discontinue service, but I love how much I learn and how much progress my son is making...we will continue service until EI decides he is caught up.

(bumping from iPad, ignore errors)

MaxandRuby · January 2012

For speech it will sort of depend on the age. DS2 is just over 2yr old. We do a lot of labeling and 2 word sentences since we are trying to increase his vocabulary and string at least 2 words together. We play with toys, flash cards, an iPad, balls, etc. etc. etc.

EI basically shows you ways to do things and may suggest things (and ask as many questions as you need!!). Basically kind of mimic what they do. Like for us, I do a lot of "black shoe" while I show it to him before I put it on him and we do things like have them follow simple commands like "hand me the ball" and some things to see if they understand what something is we'll do stuff like "where is the cat?" and see if they can find the cat in the book, picture, etc. We will also do things like point at a cat in the book and ask "what is that?".

At this point we are not really worried about enunciation and actually using a "t" sound if a word he is saying has a "t" in it like "hit".

There are 2 types of language. Receptive is them understanding what is said to them and expressive is them talking to you. You can have a delay in one, both, or none. DS2 seems to have the biggest delay with expressive speech which is why we are trying to build up his vocabulary.

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