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mommy0411
member
Speech issues and now possible sensory issues
mommy0411
member
Hi!
My son started speech therapy today so I thought it was time for me to intro here. My son is 18 months old and only occasionally says dada and only says mama when he is very upset. I had to talk our pedi into a referral because she thinks he is just a late talker. We had our evaluation last week with the speech pathologist and she diagnosed him with a mixed expressive and receptive language disorder.
At our first session today, she also started noticing that he might have sensory processing issues as well. He pops his jaw and she thinks he is trying to create pressure in his head to help him process (at least I think that's how she explained it). And he actually babbled when she was using some of the OT equipment. We are going to an ENT to rule out ear issues but his ears were fine at his well check. Our next step will likely be a referral for an OT evaluation.
I am also trying to get him and ECI evaluation. We are doing private therapy right now because thats the only thing the pedi would refer us to.
This has all been really overwhelming. I thought I had a handle on the language issues but adding the possible sensory issues makes it seems so much worse.
Does anyone else have experience with this? Any advice for a mom who is trying to do what's best for her son but feels like she is failing?
DS1: 4/15/2011
Dx: ASD, SPD and receptive and expressive speech delay at 21 months
BFP #2: CP 5/2012
DS2: 4/24/2013
BFP #4: Miscarriage at 5 weeks 7/2014
BFP #5: 8/8/2014 Due 4/20/2015
Its a healthy girl!!!!!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Speech issues and now possible sensory issues
My DD is 19 months and is in therapy for speech and SPD. We have been in therapy for 3, almost 4 months now.
It can all be very overwhelming. DD only says "da-da" and "ma-ma' but they are not directed at my husband or me. I think it is great that you got him in EI. You are not failing. I blamed myself a lot too but it is not your fault. You have done the best thing for him and got him into therapy.
This is still a little new for me too. DD's OT has been working with her and we are still trying to figure out the best sensory diet for DD.
If you can, I would get him evaluated by an OT.
Here's my take:
1) Call Early Intervention (or whatever it is called in your state) regardless of your pedi if you feel he has a speech delay and/or sensory issues. My pedi never mentioned EI and only sent me to private when I had concerns. I called on my own, thank goodness, and DS got services for speech and sensory needs from EI.
Early Intervention provided all his therapies, with us paying a cost share based upon salary. Every state is different. Some are free. So definitely call. You do not need a referral.
2) His ears were always "fine" during basic well checks, but after a trip to a pediatric ENT (two, one for 2nd opinion), he was shown to have hearing loss under 20 decibels (if I remember correctly) and got tubes to drain fluid, which was causing the hearing loss. He had a language explosion after that.
Hope that helped a bit.
Note that my DS is 3 now, and aged out of EI (birth to 3). He still has sensory issues but his speech is primarily caught up.
Bronx Zoo: Summer 2013
To read my blog, click on the giraffe pic below!
Thread Jack----sorry
How long after the tubes did he start talking?
DD gots hers put in on October 5th and still no words. I know I should not compare kids but I am just curious.
My DD has some issues as well, and we are working on figuring exactly what they are out. She has eating issues, possible sensory issues, and also does not have any speech (although, is only going to be 1 on Sat). She got tubes about a month ago for fluid as well. She can say dadadadada and she will babble a bit, but that is all.
We are in private and EI feeding therapy, and may be going in to speech therapy if she doesn't progress. Our EI is free, and I think, better than our private therapy for the feeding therapy.
Good luck! We are out here for you!
First, I hope things turn around for your DD speech-wise.
My DS's situation was different. He had a fair amount of words when he started EI (at just 2, 8/14/11) but wasn't combining them or using them spontaneously.
So by the time my DS got his tubes, he'd already been in Early Intervention for 7 months and had made good progress. But after the tubes (3/1/12) ... his speech just exploded. Probably about 2 sessions after (with his speech therapist) he really began to pick things up.
Bronx Zoo: Summer 2013
To read my blog, click on the giraffe pic below!
We kind of had a similar path. At 19 months old my son was diagnosed with an expressive/receptive language delay. His language skills were tested to be at the 9-12 month range. At 22 months his SLP told me she thought he had sensory issues and we had him evaluated. He was diagnosed with sensory processing disorder and started OT. Once we started OT his language exploded. It really did take a good 4 months of therapy that seemed totally worthless before it all clicked but once it did it really took off.
At nearly three, he never.shuts.up. I actually asked his speech therapist recently if we could redo all the therapy she did. lol! He recently tested at an age-appropriate level for all areas of development--he's actually ahead of the curve in receptive language/cognition now. His only lasting issue with speech is articulation but even that continues to improve.
I know it's so much easier said than done but try not to worry too much. When I started the process with EI, my service coordinator told me that the vast majority of kids age out of the program at 3 and are caught up with their peers. You're doing the right thing by getting your LO help now.
at 18 months, my DS still wasn't speaking much, just a lot of babbling. So I pushed peds to get an eval done, primarily for speech. Of course had to have formal hearing eval first, which was normal, then speech dx him with expressive and receptive delays. OT is the one who dx him with SPD. I contacted EI and got the ball rolling. Also got referred to devel peds( here they take around 6-7 months to get in). He has been in OT/ST for almost 6 months now. I see a big difference so far. I am not gonna lie, the SPD thing can be overwhelming. There are days I just cry, like the last 2 days. You feel like you can't do anything right or enough and you feel like you are failing your child. We all have those days. Get on a sensory diet ASAP, OT can explain this all to you. also contact EI in your area.