Speech therapy

h4nn4h · October 2013

Dd is 2yrs old (since oct 4th) and not very very verbal. She prefers "no" and pointing and making a fuss to get her wants rather than using words even though I ask for them but she does talk a little. She says "oh dear" "oh no" "go dog go" but that's the longest sentences she will say and not a huge number of words. She won't say them on prompting though. The minute you ask her to repeat she clams up. And won't say them at all for strangers or pedi. So pedi is asking us to get a speech evaluation done. I'm nervous and feeling a little overwhelmed. And I'm worried that she might be shy with the therapist and it will look worse than it really is and she will be given unessersary or wrong therapy for what she needs. She clams up more so with strangers than when I prompt her.

Has anyone had the evaluation done and their child been more shy woth strangers than their parents? If so, How did the therapist get an accurate evaluation?

Helenahhandbasket · October 2013

Hi-- DD is a little younger than yours (21 months) but we have an early intervention eval scheduled for Tuesday (for delayed speech). They come to your home (at least they do here) so your child won't feel scared/ shy/ etc. Basically their job is to determine if your LO qualifies for speech therapy.

I am a little nervous as to what they will say, but if my DD does need some extra help it's my job as her parent to get it for her.

I think it's normal to be nervous or conderned, but you can't let your feleings about the situation get in the way of your LO getting the help they may need. Good Luck!

h4nn4h · October 2013

Thanks. The pedi said they might accommodate us in our home if I explain the situation. But I'm worried it won't make a difference. When friends visit our home she doesn't say words and gets a fair bit shy. I don't think the home makes a difference to her, but how much she knows them. It's prob not helping my my sil is latching on to this for her OCD and paranoia that she is going through right now. And is trying to convince us and herself and other people there is something wrong with dd (more so than not speaking) and she keeps making comments that when she goes away she's worried about dd being safe and she worries we don't watch her enough. (Absolutely not true, I don't even pee half the day and when I do I keep the door open because I'm paranoid about not having her I. My sight). So I feel judged because of that. And I'm worried she will take it as confirmation she's right and it will get worse.

youaremysunshine323 · October 2013

DS has been in speech therapy since 16 months and it has been great for him. They came and did the evaluation at our house and monitored what he did but they also asked me a lot of questions about what he was or wasn't doing. The therapist should understand that she may be shy and will ask you what level she is on. Speech therapy at this age is play based so hopefully your daughter will be able to warm up to the therapist fairly quickly. My son loves when he therapist comes over. Also, don't ever feel judged for getting your daughter the help she needs. You are a great mom!

ILoveBoys · October 2013

It's parent questionnaire as well as what they observe

kcisthebombdotcom · October 2013

You can't really get "wrong" speech therapy. From what you describe it seems like there are numerous red flags for a delay--no short sentences (stuff like oh no isn't what they mean by sentences; it's more like mommy more juice, not phrases like oh no), few words (the absolute minimum they expect is fifty--the "average" kid has 150), no repeating/mimicking so its not unnecessary. Parent questionnaires are part of the Eval and they will take that into consideration. They also understand most kids aren't going to be as chatty with strangers than with their parents. In the grand scheme of things, its better if your kid underperform so they get more help vs performing better than normal and getting less. I wouldn't over think it. Good luck!

h4nn4h · October 2013

KC_13 said:
You can't really get "wrong" speech therapy. From what you describe it seems like there are numerous red flags for a delay--no short sentences (stuff like oh no isn't what they mean by sentences; it's more like mommy more juice, not phrases like oh no), few words (the absolute minimum they expect is fifty--the "average" kid has 150), no repeating/mimicking so its not unnecessary. Parent questionnaires are part of the Eval and they will take that into consideration. They also understand most kids aren't going to be as chatty with strangers than with their parents. In the grand scheme of things, its better if your kid underperform so they get more help vs performing better than normal and getting less. I wouldn't over think it. Good luck!

She repeats words and mimics but not on command if that makes sense? It's like the minute I show a desire for her to speak she's not playing ball. I don't think she qualifies to having 50 words because the pedi doesn't count them unless she says them all the time. She's said words a couple of times and then not again.
My sil though is trying to make out she might have dyslexia though (my child doesn't have autism or dyslexia red flags at all) it's just the not having a huge vocabulary that's setting her apart from other kids.

Pips09 · October 2013

Is it with EI? EI came to our house and they played with her, while I was involved, too. With the one on one, plus me being there, she warmed up pretty fast. If she wouldn't do something for the therapist, then she may do it for me instead and the therapist could still observe the behavior.

h4nn4h · October 2013

Pips09 said:
Is it with EI? EI came to our house and they played with her, while I was involved, too. With the one on one, plus me being there, she warmed up pretty fast. If she wouldn't do something for the therapist, then she may do it for me instead and the therapist could still observe the behavior.

There's two she wants us to go to for evaluation. One at ucla beciase they take insurance sometimes and are quicker to get an appointment and one is gov funded in culver city but has a longer wait. She wants us to get two opinions because the gov one will help us out if our insurance reflects it but at the same time pedi is worried they might be overly generous in their evaluation because they have limited funds and that they might say she's fine and doesn't need help when she really could do with it.

ridesbuttons · October 2013

Both my kids attended speech therapy, it was a wonderful experience though I admit daunting at the beginning. Don't worry about your DD being shy or clamming up, therapists who work with children are trained to work with that. In Ontario where I live speech therapy is available as a part of the universal health care but the waiting list was too long, IMO. We chose to do weekly sessions privately. It was well worth the time and effort. My kids are now 6 and nearly 5. They attend French immersion school and nobody would ever guess they had spent any time in speech therapy. I will caution you to not expect quick results. DS1 'graduated' quickly after only 9ish months of therapy; DS2 attended for nearly 2.5 years. Best of luck!

h4nn4h · October 2013

ridesbuttons said:
Both my kids attended speech therapy, it was a wonderful experience though I admit daunting at the beginning. Don't worry about your DD being shy or clamming up, therapists who work with children are trained to work with that. In Ontario where I live speech therapy is available as a part of the universal health care but the waiting list was too long, IMO. We chose to do weekly sessions privately. It was well worth the time and effort. My kids are now 6 and nearly 5. They attend French immersion school and nobody would ever guess they had spent any time in speech therapy. I will caution you to not expect quick results. DS1 'graduated' quickly after only 9ish months of therapy; DS2 attended for nearly 2.5 years.

Best of luck!

Thank you.

kcisthebombdotcom · October 2013

You can't really get "wrong" speech therapy. From what you describe it seems like there are numerous red flags for a delay--no short sentences (stuff like oh no isn't what they mean by sentences; it's more like mommy more juice, not phrases like oh no), few words (the absolute minimum they expect is fifty--the "average" kid has 150), no repeating/mimicking so its not unnecessary. Parent questionnaires are part of the Eval and they will take that into consideration. They also understand most kids aren't going to be as chatty with strangers than with their parents. In the grand scheme of things, its better if your kid underperform so they get more help vs performing better than normal and getting less. I wouldn't over think it. Good luck!
She repeats words and mimics but not on command if that makes sense? It's like the minute I show a desire for her to speak she's not playing ball. I don't think she qualifies to having 50 words because the pedi doesn't count them unless she says them all the time. She's said words a couple of times and then not again. My sil though is trying to make out she might have dyslexia though (my child doesn't have autism or dyslexia red flags at all) it's just the not having a huge vocabulary that's setting her apart from other kids.

I think is impossible to diagnose dyslexia at two. Having a difficult time mimicking on command, a limited vocabulary, and using a word a few times to have it disappear might be apraxia. It's good you're getting her evaluated and the ball rolling on therapy.

Nita2603 · October 2013

My oldest turned 2 on the 9th. We are in speech therapy (we are in Canada though, so the system is probably different). We opted for private therapy as the public system has a waiting list of 6-9 months.

Anyways, at this age, they work more with you than the kid. They give you the tools to help your child.
My son is painfully shy. Like terrified of strangers. The speech therapist? Easy peasy. These people are used to this and plan for it. We saw two different people so far and he has warmed up pretty quickly to both.
We have seen the therapist 5 times so far and he now has doubled his vocabulary, bringing us up to maybe 30 words. It's awesome.

h4nn4h · October 2013

KC_13 said:

h4nn4h said:

KC_13 said:
You can't really get "wrong" speech therapy. From what you describe it seems like there are numerous red flags for a delay--no short sentences (stuff like oh no isn't what they mean by sentences; it's more like mommy more juice, not phrases like oh no), few words (the absolute minimum they expect is fifty--the "average" kid has 150), no repeating/mimicking so its not unnecessary. Parent questionnaires are part of the Eval and they will take that into consideration. They also understand most kids aren't going to be as chatty with strangers than with their parents. In the grand scheme of things, its better if your kid underperform so they get more help vs performing better than normal and getting less. I wouldn't over think it. Good luck!
She repeats words and mimics but not on command if that makes sense? It's like the minute I show a desire for her to speak she's not playing ball. I don't think she qualifies to having 50 words because the pedi doesn't count them unless she says them all the time. She's said words a couple of times and then not again.
My sil though is trying to make out she might have dyslexia though (my child doesn't have autism or dyslexia red flags at all) it's just the not having a huge vocabulary that's setting her apart from other kids.
I think is impossible to diagnose dyslexia at two. Having a difficult time mimicking on command, a limited vocabulary, and using a word a few times to have it disappear might be apraxia. It's good you're getting her evaluated and the ball rolling on therapy.

She looks for problems. She's become very OCD and somewhat paranoid since becoming depressed and not getting it treated. Unfortunately she not only directs it at herself but also at everyone. Try's to psychoanalyse and find health problems. She just can't believe everything is fine. Believing dd has something seriously wrong like a learning disability is part that I think. I knew a 2 yr old with apraxia and dd not like him at all. Though he has since become a Mensa member and graduated in business accounting with a 1st, so it's not like something awful to have. I know it wouldn't be the end of the world. And I know I need to be less sensitive about it. But At the same it's so hard not to. Other people's experiences are helping though

h4nn4h · October 2013

Brandi Bee said:
Try not to worry about what could be "wrong"-autism, apraxia, or whatever else. Focus on the goal. To get her using her words and initiating conversation. If you can help her accomplish that, it doesn't matter what her label is.

I know it is hard. My daughter has autism. And honestly, that word at first felt awful to hear and I didn't even hear it from anyone else. I just started to suspect early on. But it honestly isn't something that defines her as a child. I won't let it. It's just one tiny part of who she is.

Thanks, I guess the situation with sil "finding things wrong" that are not there is reminding me of what my aunt did to me and making me over sensitive. I need to ignore that part and treat it as I'm just checking what's needed and move on.....I need to separate the two. Sils opinions are not founded by evaluating dds speech. And having her evaluated will not encourage sils thoughts anymore or less. I need to remember that.

I need to separate my demons and just lay down the law with sil. But somehow in a nice way.

h4nn4h · October 2013

Thanks. It's my dhs sister. I believe OCD is just the tip of the iceberg with sil. I believe she has suffered from depression for a long time. And it's not been treated and escalated. She's not diagnosed so I guess till then it's conjecture on my part but she's done a lot of things that to me are what I understood as OCD. We do deflect what she says but once she forms an opinion it's had to get her to accept it's not true.

h4nn4h · October 2013

Truthfully though I think it's my fault that dd doesn't speak enough. She's my first. And I'm a quite and shy person myself. I don't sit in silence all day with her but I must not be saying/doing the right things as my mum (I'm eldest of 3) and my dad were visiting in August for 3 weeks and her words doubled. She stil clamed up when asked to repeat but she was more verbal

h4nn4h · October 2013

Thank you for that link I will check it out. It will be helpful to see some ideas of what I could do.

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