Anyone taken a 2 year old to speech therapy ?

[gatheringmoss]

My DS only has 3 words and is 2 years old. He had suffered from glue ear, but this has cleared and his hearing is now perfect.

I haven't spoken to my HV as when I contacted them at 18 months saying the same - he only says 3 words they basically said they would be concerned until 3yrs.

Has anyone taken their 2 year old to speech therapy - I would like to know what a speech therapist would do with a 2 year old? I would have to save for private sessions I guess, but if it's beneficial I would be interested to know.

My son has a condition which meant we have known since he was very little that he would have language delay. I would teach him Makaton and use lots of short sentences like more orange, get ball, big dog etc. Simplify things, and leave unnaturally large gaps between sentences for him to respond. Play with him and use small bits of language or sounds to enhance the game like car noises.

I took my youngest to speech therapy aged 2, just after she had grommets inserted for glue ear. Her speech was delayed, and she only had a handful of words. The grommets themselves made a huge difference but I think the ST helped too. I was able to self refer - they had a drop in assessment clinic each week so I went along and the therapists arranged sessions on the basis of that assessment. I self referred again several months after the first sessions ended, and it helped again. A lot of what they do you can also put into practice at home. Best of luck with your DS.

dd2 had a speech therapist from birth due to oromotor difficulties.
Is he making attempts to words? (And you are struggling to understand his speech?) or not attempting to communicate verbally at all? (And if so - how is his understanding? If you say ‘where are your shoes?’ does he go get them?) If you say ‘do you want to wear the red t shirt or the orange t shirt?’ what happens?
SLT at this age is based on communication and sometimes it is a matter of training the parents to encourage communication - and then you can deal with any actual speech issues if/ as they occur.

We were told that at age 2 they would probably just give strategies you could work on at home. Things like flash cards and naming objects constantly.

@Geneticsbunny hi thanks great advice. I could prob shorten my sentences. I try to do lots of repetition of words. He does sign quite a few things - like cat, car, frog, dog, park. He also points a lot to things. Leads me to get stuff like keys, then will sign walk.

And I always repeat the word he signs, but he only says Mum, Dad and no. He is very busy and not interested in listening to a book. He can point to things like find the dog / show me the car but literally he is off after 2 seconds.

I just wondered if a focused sessions of speech therapy might help. But I don't know what they can do at this age?

My son had speech therapy when he was three, for very similar reasons to your son. He could say words by then and run a few together, but they weren't clear at all, hence the speech therapy. The speech therapist (NHS) was absolutely marvellous with him. I think their sessions were a large part of the reason he ended up working out how to read when he was four. She could see that he could make the connection between printed letters and sounds so worked on that. She also had pictures and a talking parrot toy. (It's a long, long time ago - memory hazy now!)

Anyway, I just want to reassure you that by the time he was in Reception you'd never have known that he had speech delay. He was able to make all the sounds correctly and did really well at school. I hope your son has a similar outcome.

My 2 and half year old is at speak therapy, she uses play to help him form words.

@niceberg thanks - no drop in's in this area that I know of. I will do a bit more research and ask GP

We've seen one. Honestly there isn't much they can do, but she did advise me to continue using simple words, short sentences, and repeating back to DD what she's just (tried to) say. DD loves that, as it gives her a boost if I've understood her.

However, her issue is clarity, not number of words.

@Mamaryllis

Yes DS can follow instructions- get shoes etc. Although I've never asked him what items he'd like to wear

No attempt to try to make words other than his 3 he says very clearly.

He might point at the cupboard for example. I open it and say do you want tea bags and would just keep pointing until I say biscuits I say the thing he wants. Or he can sign some things but doesn't sign any food or drink ones.

Well I’m in ireland and the public health took an interest from 2y and we had sessions with a therapist from 2y 4m.

A lot of it was telling us how to engage with him to improve his language. You basically had to do what the kid was doing and comment on it (without trying to direct it). There was other stuff I’m sure but that is the main thing I remember.

So yes, it was helpful. But it was no magic bullet.

If it’s any comfort DS1 wasn’t talking at 2.5 at all and just as I was starting to fret he got about 3 words and by 2.10 had full sentences. He started nursery at 2.10 and they looked at me as if I was a loon when I said he’d been a late talker. So unless you know there’s a reason don’t panic!

@wiltingfast I do try to join in his little games and add some noises or comments like brrrr car. But it's like it's breaks the magic and he's off to something else.

@DelurkingAJ it's definitely a waiting game. I think worry and compare too much sometimes.

Honestly I wouldn't spent your money on speech therapy until he is older.

Ds went to a ST aged two for exactly the same reason. They assessed him but decided to leave him for 6 months as his hearing had only just returned and gave me some tips on helping him along the lines of what genetic said. Use minimal words as a lot get lost in long sentences. Give choices like water or milk? Repeat words back like when you hand over the milk name it that sort of thing.
Ds had no words at all at two and it did take some time by three he was getting there and it seemed at the time that one day around 3 and a half he woke up one morning and could talk. He’s 12 now and never stops.

Ds1 was referred just after his 2nd birthday for just this reason. He was assessed and put on a waiting list for play sessions which materialised just before his 3rd birthday.

The therapist spent each session on the floor playing with him, being led by his interests (cars, garage) and modelling language and sentences according to what he picked up. I was also given advice as to how to carry on at home and after his six sessions he was put on a three monthly, then six monthly review. It did help enormously even though the wait was immense.

My DD was born with a cleft palate and so her speech was delayed. This year we have paid for private weekly speech therapy (as the NHS offered us one session every few months) and the results in the space of six months have been remarkable (she is now 3.5). She has gone from making sounds and having one word ("Mumma") to speaking in short sentences and having conversations. She has now stopped seeing the speech therapist as her speech has taken off and we are seeing how things go for a bit. It has cost a fortune but has been worth every penny.

DS was referred just after 2 which meant he had his first appt just after he turned 2.5 which is when they start seeing those with a suspected speech delay. It was helpful as the speech therapist identified that there was a rhythm to his noises so he was aware of speech patterns, sentences etc - just not using many identifiable words. He continued to be assessed every 6 mths or so but didn't have regular sessions until he started primary school.

My DS saw a ST at 2, made a huge difference as we made big changes at home. Look into the VERVE technique as it's really helped

Ah yes forgot about that he did get a bit of speech therapy at primary school as well. He had a great vocabulary by hatbpoint but some of his formation wasn’t great. You’d never know now though tbh I think the teacher that referred him was a little over zealous in that instance because he had only been speaking a couple of years and his speech was just immature.

Perhaps go back to the HV? Slightly different circumstances but my youngest was late talking and at 2 the HV saw us about him and a family worker came to see us for 6 weeks with strategies to try at home etc. It helped and his speech has come on but they did say he would be able to get speech therapy if needed.

We are going back through the process again now as he suddenly stopped talking again.

@Fatted Hope you get to the bottom of the speech strike. Have you had big changes like moving ? Only saying as a friends child stopped speaking in a stressful period when her marriage broke up. It only lasted a few months and once things settled she was fine again.

I called the HV number for my area who had a message saying call another number. Who told me to wait until his 2 year check at 27 months to discuss it ( apparently this is when it's due and then chase the team up on the original number) ha ha anyway disorganised chaos.

My DS is 25 months ( that hurts my brain to think in months so 2 months to go )

Has he got anything else you are worried about?
My youngest was the same and made noises rather words so juice was ‘oooos’ and could also cover things like sauce, soup etc.
I knew he needed speech therapy but he wasn’t allowed it until 3 years old. He’s 4 now and has come on in leaps and bounds, can even sing now!
If you have the money then I would go for it. No harm can come from it.

Or try having a look on YouTube etc for games to play with him to help develop speech.

Eldest DS didn't start talking properly till he was around 3, and he was very frustrated. HV was aware and they wouldn't/couldn't offer us anything until he 3 - by the time they called for a check up he was talking enough not to warrant it. Not sure if private therapy would be much use to a 2 year old