Special Needs
bellapup
member
Speech Question/Early Intervention
bellapup
member
Hello. I have never posted here and I am going through a range of emotions so asking these questions is so hard. I have two daughters. My first hit every milestone when she was supposed to. I never once worried about her. My second seems to be behind on almost everything. She wouldn't sit unassisted until 7 months, wouldn't bear weight on her legs until 8 months, and just recently she started crawling. She was getting around the house (rolling and doing her own form of crawling) so I wasn't too concerned. She does pull herself up and will slowly cruise along the furniture. My major concern is her lack of babbling. Last week she started making the m,b, and g sound, but she doesn't say ma or ba. On the positive side, she does seem to understand most of what I say. She will hand me things, turn off the lights at my request, give hugs and kisses, wave (most of the time), give fives, understands object permanence, will clap my hands when I say clap, and imitate some of my gestures. Just yesterday, I said "yay" and she took my hands and clapped them together. If I ask her if she wants a cracker, she will whine and I know that means she wants one. If she sees food, she will reach for it (not point) and whine. She loves her older sister and is always wanting to play with her. She also loves music and will instantly start dancing. She will also play "where's Sophia" with a blanket. I mentioned all of my concerns to her pedi. at her one year check up and he said that cognitively she seems fine. I should look at everything she IS doing and not just focus on the things that she isn't doing and that her language will probably develop soon. He also said that when he walked into the room she really took note of him which was a good sign. I have a very high level of anxiety as it is, so having a daughter that is so slow to reach her milestones is not helping. I guess my question to you is should I be as concerned as I am and look further into getting a second opinion, or should I wait a couple more months like her pedi suggested. Also, if I do look deeper into getting her evaluated, where do I start? Thank you for the help.
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Re: Speech Question/Early Intervention
I agree with this. We couldn't determine for certain that my DS was behind in speech until he was 18 months old because that is really the first time speech is measured in terms of number of words a child has. Even at 15 months having no words isn't that strange (at least according to the guidelines our pedi used). Also the fact that your DD understands so much is a really good sign. My son can't do or struggles with a lot of what you said your DD does and he is 20 months.
If you are still worried at 18 months definitely talk to your pedi and get EI involved! Good luck and try not to worry too much until there is a reason to!
My daughter cannot talk because of her trach, so I cannot comment on that part of your post. But, I wanted to address this statement.
1) I wouldn't say your daughter is "so slow to reach her milestones" As a teacher I am sure you know that not all children hit milestones at the same time. Sitting at 7 months, weight bearing at 8 months and four point crawling at a year are all within range.
2) While you may not have meant to offend anyone, this statement is kind of a slap in the face to anyone who's child really is delayed at meeting milestones. Think about it, if you really believe your daughter is "so slow" at reaching her milestones, all because she could not sit unassisted until 7 months of age, where does that leave my daughter, who still can't sit at 2 years of age?
3) Regardless of whether or not your daughter has a developmental delay, autism, or is neurotypical, she's still your daughter. She will be the same regardless of the label placed on her. You can either choose to love her for who she is in this moment, or live in constant fear of her future. None of us are guaranteed a "perfect" child... if there is such a thing anyway. Having a child is like a game of chance. For some, the cards are already stacked against them, but that doesn't make anyone immune. Anyone can be dealt a lousy hand at anytime. You just have to learn to play with the cards you got. (Just to clarify, the cards are the circumstances we are placed in when having children, not our actual children).
Now, before you start thinking I'm a witch (if you aren't thinking that already). I just want to say this is all coming from someone who felt the EXACT same way that you are feeling, just 1 year ago. While my circumstances and outcomes may be different than yours. Your anxiety is all too familiar, and I am so sorry you are feeling this way. I hope with time, you will be able to find peace.
I definitely didn't mean my post to be offensive and thank you for your last comment because that was nice of you. I love both of my daughters more than life itself and if something does happen to be wrong, that will not change. I do know that not every child develops on the same track and within the same time frame. It is just really hard when your child is the one that is seemingly behind. These are feelings which you are familiar with, Im sure. Thanks for the response and I'm genuinly sorry I worded it the way I did.
There are a million different reasons why some kids don't talk early/babble much. Autism is only one of them and usually doesn't present as solely a kid who talks late/doesnt babble a lot. The overwhelming majority of late talkers are caught up by school age with their peers--only a small percentage of kids will later be diagnosed with a disorder driving the delay.
FWIW, my son didnt babble much as an infant and was had few sounds. He had a handful of words at 18 months (most were animal sounds). We started early intervention at 1.5 when his language skills were tested to be at the 9 month level. At 2.5 he was retested and his language skills were completely age appropriate--he's actually ahead of the curve in most areas including receptive language/cognitive skills. His articulation is a struggle still but his therapist think that he's got a year (if that) left of speech. His early intervention speech therapists were shocked he even qualifed for continued speech services through the school department past his third birthday.
I'm on board with intervening at 18 months if her language skills don't pick up. At 12 months it's WAY too early to be worried, especially since she is babbling some sounds.
Out of curiosity, has she had a ton of ear infections? I ask because that delayed my son's speech by 6 months and I wasn't aware that those could be an issue. Also I agree with the other mom's that 18 months is best but if you are doing private insurance you could do an eval at 12-months if it makes you feel better and she is still having issues at that time.
Yeah, I would hold off a bit for EI as 13 mos is a bit early. Give her some time to develop still--especially since the other milestones were delayed--it's almost a given the speech would be too.
With DS1, he was behind on every milestone---and then of course speech being the worst (still behind but making progress). Remember, that in this day and age we're blessed because there are so many ways to get help. Try not to stress and really just encourage language through play. As you near 18-20 months then discuss again with the dr and see what they'd recommend.
I would say that considering the delays---that there certainly may be some issues--but nothing that some therapy couldn't fix.
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