UPDATE: EI Eval

Lovenyc · November 2013

My son had his EI evaluation yesterday. We had a special ed teacher and a speech therapist come to the house. They were very thorough and explained everything they were doing. I was so very nervous. They give us an assessment at the end. He had normal scores in all areas except communication. (All scores were in the 80s or 90s out of 100) He qualified for EI due to his communication score. He was a 55 out of 100. They said he tested a bit lower in the cognitive skills area (79 out of 100, block stacking, ring tower) but said that goes hand in hand w the communication delay. They told me the cognitive skills will develop with the language skills. I said "I have to ask, do u think this puts him on the spectrum?" They both said absolutely not. They saw no signs of ASD. They feel strongly that his ear issues are the culprit of the delay. I wish I had been more proactive when I started to suspect something at 18 months but everyone (including ENT and ped) kept telling me to wait and see. They told me this is strictly a language delay and he will just need speech therapy. The speech therapist said "He is going to be ok. We are going to get him the help he needs." They were so very kind. They gave us a lot of tips on how to help him until therapy begins. We have our family action plan meeting on Dec 3. I am just happy he will finally get some help. I am also relieved that my mother's intuition was not wrong.

We have my 25mo son's EI evaluation tomorrow. I've told you how worried we've been. We've spent the last 3 weeks really being focused on him. No tv, no computer. Just lots of books and creative play. He is back to pointing to everything I ask him to point to in a picture book. He is following all commands. We switched him to a big boy bed a couple of weeks ago and it's going really well. He's gone from sleeping maybe 6-7 hours a night in the crib to sleeping 11-12 hours in his bed. It is a HUGE change. He is waking up happy and refreshed. His dc providers have praised him for how focused he has been. He's been listening really well. Needless to say, I'm not as freaked out as I was just a couple of weeks ago.

I've really been paying close attention to his speech. He very clearly says Dada and doggie. Anything with the DA sound. He also uses the syllables "da-da" as his default word for a LOT of things.

He will look at me and I can see his little wheels spinning.. He is desperately trying to tell me something and it comes out like "ahh, ahh, ahh" (almost like a stutter) and then he gives up and just says "daa daa." I've started reading a little about apraxia. Does this sound like that?

I'm so frustrated for him because I can TELL he wants to tell me more...it just can't come out.

ps we had his hearing tested again yesterday. No major hearing loss from chronic ear infections.