Parenting
Q for those w/ kids in speech therapy
DS is almost 18mo and was evaluated by EI at 16 months (pedi suggested it for lack of speech). The results were that he has an expressive language delay, but all other areas were age appropriate. He qualified for what they call "family training and counseling" 2x a month, bc according to the coordinator, 16mo is still on the young side to do a direct speech therapy and between 12-18mo there is still so much variance in language between kids.
So basically a therapist comes out 2x a month and pretty much plays with DS (while talking to him during various activities to try to encourage language). She tells me that although his expressive language is behind, he's doing amazing in all other areas and he has great receptive language, which is great to hear.
Within the last month or so, hes definitely started vocalizing a lot more with lots of different sounds and babbles (lots of b, g, c, p, & n sounds), and his new word for everything lately is "up" (probably bc whenever we stack blocks we say "up!" So now he says it). Other than that, the only other actual word i hear him say is "dada" or "kee kee" when he sees the cat sometimes.
Sorry that was long winded, but I wanted opinions from those with experience in this area. Am i being impatient/putting the cart before the horse or should I be pushing for a more targeted speech therapy more than twice a month? I plan to follow up with the pedi at his 18 month appt next week, but figured I'd ask you folks as well. TIA guys
So basically a therapist comes out 2x a month and pretty much plays with DS (while talking to him during various activities to try to encourage language). She tells me that although his expressive language is behind, he's doing amazing in all other areas and he has great receptive language, which is great to hear.
Within the last month or so, hes definitely started vocalizing a lot more with lots of different sounds and babbles (lots of b, g, c, p, & n sounds), and his new word for everything lately is "up" (probably bc whenever we stack blocks we say "up!" So now he says it). Other than that, the only other actual word i hear him say is "dada" or "kee kee" when he sees the cat sometimes.
Sorry that was long winded, but I wanted opinions from those with experience in this area. Am i being impatient/putting the cart before the horse or should I be pushing for a more targeted speech therapy more than twice a month? I plan to follow up with the pedi at his 18 month appt next week, but figured I'd ask you folks as well. TIA guys
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Re: Q for those w/ kids in speech therapy
They were also waiting on results from some ENT issues he's been having (fluid in the ears and he also just had an x ray to rule out adenoids issues, although at his last ENT appt the ear fluid was gone, but they're still keeping an eye on it to see whether he'll need tubes or not). So idk. I guess with all the ENT stuff up the air, they're hesitant to start speech therapy.
I'm not new. I just hate The Bump.
According to the coordinator, I'm doing all the right things as far as working with him, its more just waiting on him to progress and also rule out all the ENT crap (possibility of ear tubes/adenoid removal).
So basically she told me not to worry since hes doong great in all other areas, we already have them (EI) involved, and they'll be keeping an eye on his progress and will bump up his services if/when they feel its necessary.
Im certainly not trying to borrow troubles here (EI coordinator told us speech delays are the most common delay in kids this age), but I'm also trying to be proactive. According to our pedi, when it comes to speech delays, its best to nip it in the bud asap instead of waiting, so thats what I'd liketo do.
He was just re-evaluated at his last speech session and like I mentioned, he's essentially caught up. We are going to try a speech sound assessment next appointment to see where he is in that regard. He has come such a long way with what I consider to be not enough therapy so I'm hopeful we will see even more improvement when he starts school and is around kids 4 mornings a week.
I know it's hard to wait, I'm not patient either! What bothered me the most was peoples silent or outward judging at his lack of speech (whether it was really there or in my head, I'll never know!)
Feel free to pm me or page me if you have any more questions!
Like our pedi said, when it comes to speech delays, its best to get a head start on any issues, so that hopefully by the time the kids get to school-age, they're caught up. So thats my game plan. Best of luck and thanks for sharing!
Eta tag @algalphys
At DS's 18 month old well visit I asked the pedi to make a referral to Early Intervention because I was concerned about his lack of speech (about 4 words at that point but none consistent). Pedi agreed and he was assessed about 3 weeks later. At the assessment I was told he qualified for special instruction once a week - that started about 1.5 weeks later. The special instructor is basically what you described, someone who comes out and plays with him and me and talks about strategies I can use during the week while playing with him to encourage his use of words and sounds. She also taught us some sign language to help him communicate his needs while he was learning to use words.
At the 3 month review, he was making progress in that he had more words and was using sign language to communicate needs for things he didn't have words for, and had recently had tubes put in his ears due to fluid build up. The coordinator and special instructor started throwing around words like childhood apraxia of speech because of "how" he was talking, but said it was still a little early for a diagnosis. They gave me paperwork to read more about it. We decided to keep the services the same becasue we were seeing progress and had just had the tubes put in.
At his six month review, I asked if we could add a speech and language pathologist to the special instructor becasue though he was making progress, it did not seem like it was going as fast as I would expect if the delay was only due to the fluid in his ears. They agreed to have one come out an assess him and she told me the day of his assessment that he qualified and she began working with him the next week.
At his 9 month review, the SLP said she at that point did not think it was childhood apraxia of speech. She asked that I have his tonsils and adenoids check and i agreed to do that. We kept services the same as he was continuing to make progress. By this point he was using works consistently and we were working on expanding sentence length to 3-4 words.
By his 12 month review, he had had a second surgery to remove his adenoids and replace the tubes in his ears that had fallen out. He was talking consistently in 4-5 word sentences and they decided to drop the special instruction and only continue on with the SLP. This is where we are now and he has his next evaluation at the end of July to determine what services he will get when he turns 3 in September. The SLP feels confident that he will still be eligible for speech therapy due to his articulation issues which is what she is currently working with him on.
My advice to you is to use whatever services you can get and dont be afraid to ask for more at your reviews. I assume you have a case manager - use her. Also enlist the help of your special instructor - they have lots of resource of information that they can hook you up with - you just have to ask. My special instructor was a special ed pre-school teacher during the day so I was able to take advantage of all her knowledge and expertise working with a variety of kids with delays. When the services first started I was a little unsure, because I would look at what she was doing with him and think "isn't this exactly what I already do?" but trust me, it works. I found that sign language, especially in the beginning, was incredibly helpful becasue we were both getting frustrated when I didn't know what he wanted and he had no way to tell me. Some of his first words and sentences were ones that we first used sign language with. 16 months is pretty young for targeted speech therapy - DS still struggles through the sessions and he is 2 1/2. At the younger ages, play really is the best way to do any type of therapy.