could it be dyspraxia or just a delay in speech? (bit log)

[redsofas]

hi i posted this thread a while back and got some suggestions that it could be dyspraxia. I will copy the thread over:Hi i just wanted to hear from others really who's dc's have had speech difficulties.
Ds is 3.5 and he has been referred to SALT for an assesment (tried to get this over a year ago but we were sent to a speech playgroup thingy and told he was fine ).

Well anyway, he has a fantastic and amazing vocabulary and speaks in extremely long sentences and uses allot of grown up words ect but the problem is his pronounciation.
Here are the issues:
#'c' replaced with 't' ('tat' rather then cat)
#'g' replaced with 'd' ('darden' rather then garden)
#'s' replaced with either 'd' or he lisps

(he can say c and g when really concentrating as i have been trying to help him with it for ages now but he doesnt really remember them when generally talking)

#he misses letters from start of some words for example 'play' becomes 'lay' and 'house becomes 'ouse'

#he also struggles to make sounds like,
#pl
#sh
#ch
#gr
#tr
although he can say most of those sounds individually.

We do everything possible at home to encourage speech and have done from a very young age but he has allways struggled in this area, he is not behind in any other area of development either physically, emotionally or socially infact he was an especially quick physical developer crawling at 5 months, walking by 9!

I just wanted some opinions on how severe this is and how long anybody elses dc's took to correct this with or without help of a SALT?

(also he has never had a problem with understanding if that helps?)

any input welcome, thankyou x

Id just also like to know what the other symptons of dyspraxia would be as i have looked it up but havnt really found anything helpful at all x x x

[redsofas]

bump

[catkinq]

sounds exactly like my friends son who at 5 was eventually dxed with glue ear and was fine after having grommits put in.

[bubble2bubble]

Hi

You may have seen this already, but a lot of what you say makes me think of this: www.afasic.org.uk/pdf/glossary%2014.pdf

This is also one of the best descriptions of verbal dyspraxia that I have found:www.tayloredmktg.com/dyspraxia/downloads/das.pdf

Whatever the problem is - and I am very wary of internet diagnosis - the fact that your DS understanding is good is a massive plus and means that he can respond well to therapy. The fact that he does talk, even if most of it is unintelligible, is also - believe it or not - a huge positive.

[Niecie]

Oh yes definitely check for glue ear, especially if he is missing letters rather than changing them - that sounds like he hasn't heard them. I have a friend whose DS was similar and had a couple of hours with a SALT, grommets and practice at home and he is fine now.

Difficult to say whether dyspraxia is the cause without hearing your DS speak. Bear in mind that small children can't say all sounds until they are about 8 so maybe he will simply grow out of some of his errors and 3.5 is very young still.

If your DS was walking so early and is generally physically very able I doubt if he has dyspraxia generally - the definition of dyspraxia is 'an impairment or immaturity of the organisation of movement' and its other name is Developmental Coordination Disorder which doesn't sound like your DS.

This is the Dyspraxia Foundation website with a list of symptoms.

I am not an expert, just a mum with a child who has dyspraxia (including verbal dyspraxia) but I it would be unusual for a child to have verbal dyspraxia but no other symptoms. That doesn't mean that it isn't possible of course.

Good luck.

[Niecie]

Sorry, forget my post

I have read your OP again and I am now presuming you were asking specifically about verbal dyspraxia and not dyspraxia in general.

[redsofas]

bubble - i couldnt get through to first link but second 1 was very helpful and souns ALLOT like ds apart for to me hes not 'intelligable' i can understand ALLMOST everything he sais family and close friends can understands 90% of what he sais although they have to listen allot more attentivly then other children ds's age but with strangers have to listen so hard and sometimes dont get anything so frustrating for ds as he knows what hes saying.

niece - i didnt actually know there was two types although there obviously is from reading up about it more.

I just wish theyd hurry up (SALT) because it feels like they've forgotton us , how long does it usually take for them to contact you after a referal?

[Phoenix4725]

sadly it can take forever where we are you get a phonecall aftr about 4 months and see a salt after 12 if you are lucky .

I to have ds with verbal and oral dyspraxia , have you contacted afasic they cansend you lots of info

[bubble2bubble]

redsofas

1st link was to the Afasic website www.afasic.org.uk - look at speech & language impairments, then glossary sheets, then phonolgical problems

In some ways the actual diagnosis matters less than you think ( though it may help you to understand more what is happening )nd there can also be several things going on at once.....but what matters is actually getting some therapy and guidance to help the child as much as possible

If it's been a while and you haven't heard anything from SLT it is probably worth a phonecall to ask when your DC is likely to be seen.

As Neicie says it is unusual to have verbal dyspraxia without any motor difficulties and it is worth looking at the Dyspraxia Foundation website to see if anything fits your DS. That said, my DD1 has verbal & oral dyspraxia & a phonological disorder with severe gross motor skill difficulties et al;dd2 has a yet to be officially diagnosed S & L disorder ( she is only 2 )which looks like dyspraxia but I am 99% sure she does not have any motor difficulties.

[redsofas]

phoenix - 12 months

It hasnt been that long about 5 -6 weeks or so but obviously that is nothing on there waiting lists.
I have no idea if it is anything to do with dyspraxia just listening to all advice given at the moment.
Ds has been in nursery for 5 afternoons a week now for 5-6 weeks also and he is enjoying it and his teachers are lovely, they have a speech therapist at the infant part of the school who they have referred him for also so that may come through sooner than SALT? they also do some extra phonics work just with him in the hope that that could bring him along a bit also. They have also told me that his speech is not affecting his social ability to communicate and play with the other children.