My DS is still not Babbling. He is 9 motnhs old and his dr. wants to start Speach Therapy.(He passed his hearing test with flying colors) Has anyone experienced this at such a young age? Did it work? Should I start therapy now, or wait until he is older? How do you do speach therapy on such a little guy?
Re: No Babbling 9 months - Speach Therapy??
BFP 3/9/12 Natural M/C 4/11/12
As a special education teacher for children with Autism (mostly non-verbal students), PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE start speech therapy now!! Especially if your doctor recommends it! Often times pediatricians are too quick to brush everything off as nothing and in doing so deny children who need help the services they deserve.
Since your son is only 9 months, he may turn out to have completely normal language skills when he gets older, or he may have a language-delay. Either way, the BEST thing to do for your child is give him early intervention! At that age, therapy is done all through play and is quite enjoyable for the child. Good luck!
I am a Speech- Language Pathologist, but work with adults now. I have pediatric experience and just wanted to say before they start therapy, there is always a Speech Evaluation in which a Speech Pathologist will evaluate your child and determine the need for further intervention (ie therapy or not). I would say go ahead with the evaluation. They may also give you helpful hints to stimulate language development if therapy is not needed at this time. HTH
My son had his first EI assessment done at 7 months, and he was below average, but not low enough to qualify for services. We had him evaluated again at 10 months and he was further behind- he qualified based on that second assessment. Now he has therapy once a week, they come to our house, and it is free. There really isn't any downside- he plays he has fun, they encourage him to improve the things he needs help on (in his case he is slow on fine motor and language). He has been in therapy from 11 months to now (15 months) and we won't be stopping anytime soon.
DS is 6 weeks and he has a speech therapist. We're focusing mostly on his ability to suck and swallow. If a 6 week-old can have ST, a 9-month old can too.
I would start ASAP. Pay attention so you can practice the techniques at home. They will teach you, and pay attention to your son's cues. You don't want to overwhelm him and have him overstimulated. Good luck!
3 boys (15, 8, 6), 1 girl (4)
I am also a SLP. I would encourage you to get an evaluation. Just as PP said, the earlier the better.
I would also encourage you to visit asha.org (American Speech-Language Hearing Association) for more helpful information about speech and language.
https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/01.htm
The rates for therapy vary according to location and experience. The rates you listed are about right, but look around, ask for recommendations from your doctor, or look up professionals on asha.org
You can also try introducing your son to basic sign language to help stimulate expressive language. Children as young as 6 months have shown understanding of basic signs. There are numerous books, videos, and classes available (kindersigns.com). Good luck and good job for being an aware and concerned parent!
I just goggled Early intervention in CA and came up with this...most states (I think) have birth to 3 programs.
https://www.dds.ca.gov/EarlyStart/Home.cfm
Hope this helps.