Just had 2-year check & don't know what to think

[jenduck]

ds2 has just had his 2 year check with hv. I already knew that his speech is behind & we've been going to group speech therapy for this. Hv said that he is a little 'behind' in other areas too. When I pressed, she said that his play is immature, as he likes playing with the same things not flitting to different things $ he likes posting eg shape sorters. She said he's about 4/5 months behind, but that hopefully he'll catch up, like e he did with walking & self-feeding (,was slow with both of these but now at average level)

I don't really know how to feel. I feel a bit sad, I guess, but relieved as when I asked about autism she said no. she kept saying it was nothing i had done, but that felt patronising.

Has anybody else experienced this & how did you feel. I am probably being silly, I know!

[jenduck]

ps sorry for typos

[OhGood]

I worried a lot about DD who was v slow to walk etc, and you just can't help worrying.

Does HV view chime with what you think? I find it so hard to think they can make these sweeping statements on the basis of one assessment. Is there anyone else who has an objective view of your DS who you might be able to ask?

[lunar1]

Ds1 was the same. Later end of normal for crawling walking and talking. Couldn't put 2 words together well past 2 years. His play was obsessive too, repeatedly doing the same thing for hours.

He is almost 5 now and has more than caught up with his peers. I know it's worrying I was pulling my hair out over his speech and I had followed every bit of advice about reading singing and getting down to his eye level.

It was as if something just clicked with him overnight.

[madhousequeen]

if you are worried then ask the GP for a referal to a developmental paed.

i do not know your DS but i have a child with severe autism and the HVs (i saw 3 different HVs) between 2nd and 3rd birthday all dismissed my concerns even though my DC is severel autistic.

really, this is something HVs are not very knowledgable about. for them every child is differen and they will all get there in the end bla bla bla

if you are worried follow it up via Gp and sideline the HV.

[noisytoys]

Sounds like my DD2 her speech is great but everything else isn't. We were referred to a development paed and even though she can talk very well, she still has ASD (and epilepsy) it's worth checking out

[DeWe]

You could argue that playing with the same thing shows a remarkably good concentration in a 2yo.
Dd1 was always remarked how good her concentration was-she did one thing at a time and finished it. She still has excellent concentration at 12yo.

If you're worried about autism then go and talk to your GP and ask for a referal, don't leave it with the HV.

[AprilFoolishness]

HOw did you start going to group speech therapy before your two-year check? My 20mo DS isn't very keen on the idea of talking, more keen on the idea of running around , so I'm not overly worried but wonder if we should start looking at options. I assumed we'd wait until the 2yo check but wonder if there is something I'm missing?

Sorry for hijack!

[firawla]

I agree with madhousequeen that HV are not really qualified to definitively rule out autism or anything like that. Same situation here, hv told me not worrying about autism but my child was later dx and is quite severely autistic.
I always go with the rather be on the safe side line of thinking, so I would back and ask for a referal to developmental paed as he has delays in more than one area - ie speech and play skills, and was late in walking feeding too. Just see what they say, if they will give you referral. If it comes to nothing then there is no harm done. I'm just not a fan of the wait and see approach, when waiting lists are soo long. Then by the time people may decide okay theres still a problem, and the child is 3+ or so by then, so much time wasted. Early interventions are key.
Obviously all that said, your ds could just be doing it at his own time as some children are BUT if you feel any concerns of your own then dont just take HV's word for it that no need for concern, as they normally don't know.

[jenduck]

Thanks all for the differing opinions. I think really she was just saying what I knew, it just felt strange to have someone else say it iyswim.

I do think that he has good concentration for a 2 year old, but also he tends to play with more toys than he did today. They were here for 30 mins with 5 toys & he played with them all, but liked the shape sorter best & played with that for about half the time.

The question of autism only came up because I know it can be a reason for delayed speech, but he shows no other signs of it & passes the mchat.

Hv is referring him for a hearing test, in about 3 Weeks & speech therapy in about 3 months & she also said salt would pick up any signs of autism.

April, I know the children's centre coordinator quite well through 4.5 years of attending groups run by them, so I mentioned to her my concerns about his speech at 22mos. She then put him on a list for group therapy & he got invited to it about 6 Weeks ago! It's worth asking at your centre if you are concerned it maybe ask your hv.

[Meggie3]

Sorry just had to reply to your thread when I read it, I have 4 children, my eldest didn't say a word till his 2nd birthday but now at 13 his speech is amazing and he is in top set in all his subjects, my 10 year old gabbled a lot but his speech was very delayed and he had intensive speech therapy for about 4 years and has been left with slight lisp but only when tired, he has also been quite slow developmentally but is a clever boy he's just taken longer to get there !! My 7 year old also had speech therapy, group and one to one but again is working a year above his age group at school, the 2 year old seems to be progressing slowly but quite normally although interestingly a lady at playgroup was saying she thought her speech was delayed (!) the point I'm trying to make is children are all very different and develop very differently and I really believe children shouldn't be labelled or made to fit in a 'box' just to make it easier for them to be assessed ! I'm not saying there's not a problem

[Meggie3]

Sorry my daughter pressed the button before I'd finished 😃
Your son is only still really young and I'm sure will develop at his own pace and 'catch up' !! Obviously I'm a huge fan of speech therapy and it works wonders especially when they're young but I also think children do things when they're ready ! Good luck with it :)

[jenduck]

Hi Meggie, thanks for your experiences, my ds sounds quite similar to your DC 2! I'm glad you found speech therapy worthwhile, I hope that by catching ds fairly young he won't need it too much & that his play will catch up along with his speech.