Speech & Language Delay experiences?

[QuiteLikely5]

My DS has been diagnosed as having a delay.

I have had concerns about him for a while and did wonder if he needed to see a paediatric Dr.

The therapist said her gut says not and that I shouldn't worry.

Did your DS/DD have a S&L delay? Do these things sort themselves out with therapy? Will they always be a problem? Is a language delay a severe thing?

Can I do anything to help him? i read on another thread that therapy doesn't really help the language delay, is that right?

Any help greatly appreciated

[SomedayMyPrinceWillCome]

My DS was diagnosed with a moderate / severe delay. He had just under a year of therapy (not always weekly) & the delay is now only mild.

[QuiteLikely5]

You say it's only mild does that mean it's going to be a permanent thing. There for life iyswim

[maresedotes]

How old is he?

DD2 didn't say anything until she was 3 (made noises instead). When she started saying words she stuttered. She had therapy for 18 months - 2years (on and off). I was given a lot of information, we were videoed talking to each other and lots of homework. She can now speak clearly (7). It comes back a little when she's a bit anxious or tired (towards the end of term) etc. Good luck with your DS.

[DayLillie]

DS had a delay - did not start talking until after 3yrs old, then caught up fast before he was 4. The speech therapists monitored him and made sure he understood what was said to him properly.

However, it can be a sign of some ASD disorders. I think he is on the spectrum with some things and we could have done with some help on the way. However, the speech thing was the only concrete difference we had to go on and were signed off, and I was quite happy to believe that was all it was at the time.

[QuiteLikely5]

He is 2.3. He tries to communicate all the time but it's very unclear.

He can't speak in sentences.

He can say some words.

Thanks everyone who has replied.

[minimisa]

It could also be a mild hearing problem, which in the case of my child a number of people overlooked as it isn't obvious. I would recommend a hearing test if you can get a referral.

[Fugghetaboutit]

Has he had a hearing test?

My ds is 2.5 and has a moderate delay, but is catching up.

[GingerFoxInAT0phat]

My ds is 2.3 and only says dada and ooo for thank you.

He also doesn't follow any simple instructions.

He has had an assessment for speech therapy and will be starting sessions too. The Hv came today and we will starting to get the ball rolling soon for looking into autistic traits.

However, he's very happy in himself and plays lovely with other children.

He had a hearing test with suspected mild glue ear but will have another one next month to determine if he will be getting grommets.

[QuiteLikely5]

Thanks everyone for replying.

Yeah he has been referred to audiology but I think his hearing is fine.

I'm hoping against hope that he's ok.

[hazeyjane]

Sometimes it is difficult to know with hearing loss, as they can have a loss with only low or high frequencies (which is why they may miss some of the speech sounds)

If he has some words, then it means that a speech therapist (and nursery if he goes) should be able to help with the speech sounds that are unclear.

How are his 'oro motor skills' - ie chewing, lip closure (does he often have an open mouth?) tongue movements, can he blow bubbles? lick a lolly?...these can all influence clarity.

There are so many variants and causes of speech delays and disorders, that it is very difficult to say what the outcome will be with your little boy, but it does sound as though he is making progress, which is fantastic, because he will continue to make that progress.

Does he get frustrated if people can't understand him? Have you thought about doing any Makaton signing with him? - this can be great for children that struggle to be understood.

[LemonYellowSun]

My DS starting seeing a speech therapist when he was about 3.5. Sees her once a month and basically does jolly phonics to pick up on sounds he finds hard to pronounce.

Speech is improving thankfully although it's slow.

Good luck.

[claravine]

Speech therapy isn't a magic bullet but more a longer term way of guiding you as to the best way to help him with language and communication. It sounds v positive that he is so keen to communicate, as hazey said above he may just need help with making speech sounds. I would be fairly optimistic if the speech therapist was so reassuring

[hazeyjane]

Also, if he is in an early years setting, ask the therapist to set some targets, and strategies, and talk to the senco about including them in a session.

[RandomMess]

Well 2 of my dds had speech delay for different reasons.

One had recurrent glue ear but her hearing tests kept being just okay then finally got grommets as she turned 5, she'd had speech therapy at 3ish. Grommets caused a personality change - went from be near selective mute at school to a chatterbox. It had really affected her confidence with regards to not being sure she had understood what had been said. She also had stammers etc, and they occur now as a teen when tired/stressed etc.

Younger one kept passing the hearing tests with flying colours but had severe speech delay which did not improve at all in the 9 months between tests. She chattered away and did lots of imaginative play but at nearly 4 the pre-school staff understand her at all, and we struggled and had been using all the speech therapy tricks for 2 years at this point.

Had a hearing test done by someone as a favour - guess what her hearing curve was all wrong, too sensitive to the low frequencies and borderline hearing impaired at the high frequencies. Am still fuming that they kept passing her hearing as okay with much of it being in the high 30 decibels almost double the norm of a toddler fortunately Johansen Therapy actually fixed her hearing (was an auditory brain problem) then she had to relearn how to speak.

Now has pretty much perfect hearing and very much perfect speech.

[Rasell]

Hi,
My 30 month old son has severe speech delay. He only really says ready, steady, go, counts up to 10 (but doesn't always point at the items correspondingly!), raa or peekaboo when hiding and the odd other word, such as daddy or bye, as and when he wants. His eye contact is often very poor, too and he shows various other ASD traits, however no one thinks he's autistic as he's very flexible, happy, relaxed & confident. He sees a salt therapist, has a 3rd paed appointment in November & a sen report started at nursery. He's had hearing tested but we want to check it again. It's a slow process & it's hard to not know why your child won't talk & deal with your own emotions, but most of them get there in the end.
I'm so glad to have seen this thread so relevant to myself & that all the replies are so positive.
Good luck, op. I hope your little one starts chatting your ears off soon! Xxxx

[orangepudding]

My son didn't say any words until he turned two then almost a year later started using sentences.
His speech is unclear and at 5 was diagnosed with verbal dyspraxia. He has just turned 7 and currently has weekly salt sessions, it is helping but is a long process.
A few months ago he was diagnosed with ASD and ASHD too. He is generally happy, chatty and can maintain eye contact so doesn't have classic ASD.

[RandomMess]

The other thing I would do is learn baby sign language and use it in conjunction with speaking. Also model back the words that are said and give limited choices to encourage speech - all very relaxed though.

Child asks for chocolate, you model back "Oh you'd like some chocolate!" - so you're not correcting their speech just modelling in back so they get the opportunity to hear it correctly.

"Would you like milk or juice?", child says "ju", you say "Orange juice it is." - If they just point, rather than attempt to say the word you still model it back.

[lljkk]

3 of mine had delay & 2 had SALT.
Not sure what you're worried about but we probably didn't have it.
With mine it was specific sound production problems, and DS2 did weird things with grammar but I'm told he was in the normal spectrum on that.

[yousuf1]

My daughter is 3 now but is speech delayed. Up until about six months ago she would say probably 10 words maximum and no sentences. Most of the time it was jargon and it was so hard for her because she would try to communicate but she just couldn't. I remember once I gave her lunch and she was trying to say something but I couldn't understand what she was saying, she got so frustrated and was crying. After a while we worked out she wanted a fork!
The best advice I can give u is watch mr tumble and use makaton signing. I did this with my daughter and finally she could communicate with me. I can't believe how signing has made her speech come on so much. Even her speech therapist was so impressed that she had improved. She is still delayed but now she says so much and has two to three word sentences. It is a hard road cuz as a parent you always think the worst and it's hard to imagine how they life would be if things don't improve. Try the makaton and see how it helps.
Try not to worry hopefully things will improve.

[yousuf1]

My daughter is 3 now but is speech delayed. Up until about six months ago she would say probably 10 words maximum and no sentences. Most of the time it was jargon and it was so hard for her because she would try to communicate but she just couldn't. I remember once I gave her lunch and she was trying to say something but I couldn't understand what she was saying, she got so frustrated and was crying. After a while we worked out she wanted a fork!
The best advice I can give u is watch mr tumble and use makaton signing. I did this with my daughter and finally she could communicate with me. I can't believe how signing has made her speech come on so much. Even her speech therapist was so impressed that she had improved. She is still delayed but now she says so much and has two to three word sentences. It is a hard road cuz as a parent you always think the worst and it's hard to imagine how they life would be if things don't improve. Try the makaton and see how it helps.
Try not to worry hopefully things will improve.

[Mummyb1992]

Hi my son is 2 and a half an isn’t speaking at all ime having him referred to speech and language he also runs around a lot and used to flap his arms but he doesn’t do that really anymore, he doesn’t point to things to show me but if he wants something he takes my hand and takes me to get it has anybody got an advice has anybody else’s children been quite similar Thankyou

[Hayley2407]

@Mummyb1992

Hi my son is 2 and a half an isn’t speaking at all ime having him referred to speech and language he also runs around a lot and used to flap his arms but he doesn’t do that really anymore, he doesn’t point to things to show me but if he wants something he takes my hand and takes me to get it has anybody got an advice has anybody else’s children been quite similar Thankyou

My son is exactly the same he's 3 in august. He's saying words, can count to 10 and knows some colours/shapes. But not talking in sentences, very little imaginative play. So worried about him! What has your health visitor said?
Hope you're okay x