To ask for positive outcomes with a speech delay?

[Dazedandconfused28]

My toddler is 2yrs 4 months. He is only saying a few words & a couple of phrases - but inconsistently.

He is seeing a private SALT, and is under the care of portage. We've been referred for audiology, but the waiting list is so long. We have a full paediatric assessment in June.

We are seeing some limited progress, his eye contact is improving, and he is starting to be more reciprocal in his play. But I am so anxious about his future. The few times I have seen him around other children his age, the difference is stark. Whilst he does seem to comprehend language, it is nowhere near the level of other children.

Did anyone else experience this, and did you have a positive outcome?

Both my son and daughter had speech delays. My daughter was probably 8 when she started properly talking. Her best friend in nursery actually understood her funny sign language and used to translate for her. She's now 20 and at university non London.
My son was diagnosed with autism at the age of ,3 and used the PECS system to gets his needs across. He was about 7 or so before he began so speak properly. He's just finished his uni course.
Both kids had loads of speech therapy, it wasn't easy but it does click. Good luck, don't beat yourself up xx

My daughter started seeing a speech therapist last year just before she turned 3 as she could only say a handful of words and no sentences. She only had a couple of sessions then we went into lockdown so that was that over. She turned 3 in May last year and now almost 1 year on her speech is amazing and she's talking in sentences.

She's still a bit behind IMO but I have no concerns at all that she won't catch up where as a year ago I was convinced she'd never speak.

Nothing at all I done or tried helped her speech along she just started speaking on her own terms and that was during lockdown so no nursery to help her along either.

My son could only really say mama at 2.5 years old, at nearly 6 he is just where he should be in everything and a bit ahead in maths.

On the other hand my oldest son was really early to develop his speech and could have really in depth convos at 2.5. He is under assessment for autism and has severe mental health problems although remains very ahead academically in some areas. He does have a stammer though.

Try not to worry too much about what the future holds. It really is impossible to tell before we get there.

My DS has a speech and language delay. He is nearly 5 and is at a mainstream school with a speech and language resource unit as he has an EHCP.

At 2 he had a couple of words, by 2.5 we were really worried and he was referred to community paediatrics and then for asd assesment.

Some progress made with single words at 3, 3.5 he started putting two words together and we applied for his EHCP.

He started school in September and since he's been about 4 his speech has flown. He not quite where he should be put miles ahead of the child he was when we applied for his EHCP. He now never stops talking. Still waiting for his asd assessment but I think it's unlikely he'll get a diagnosis.

Thank you so much, I really appreciate you sharing these stories. We have been advised to pursue an EHCP, so I'm going to speak to Portage about this.

I just worry so much for his future - these experiences give me a lot of hope - whether he is formally diagnosed or not.

not sure what you mean by positive outcome.

DC started out with speech delay, later diagnosis of autism and learning difficulties. Teen now and can talk (not age appropriate), attends a special school and will never be independent but has achieved so much more than I ever dared to dream in the earlier days. The most caring and loving person in my life by a mile. I wouldn't change the world for them.

Does that count?

All 3 of mine had delayed speech. DS1 is 21 and just been accepted to do a masters at Cambridge. Very bright and very articulate. DD1 is 19 has autism and is still non verbal. DS2 is 11 and never gives us a moments peace.

There is a wide range of normal in terms of speech development. I wouldn’t be unduly worried at this stage but access any SALT you can just to ensure you are covering all the bases.

I stopped talking when I was 20 months old when my brother was born and didn’t talk again until I was nearly 4 (I’m still as stubborn now 😂) I went to a speech therapist for a couple of years between the ages of about 4 and 6 and now I’m a 30+ year old woman whose speech is absolutely fine. It caused me no long term problems, did well at school, college and university and I regularly speak in front of groups of people. I still have problems pronouncing my r and v (the word variety is the bane of my life!) but I genuinely don’t know if that’s from having delayed speech or just one of those things and I tend to make light of it when it comes up.

My oldest DC had a speech delay - no words at all at 2, only a handful by 2.5. Read and wrote very late too. He’s now 12, sailed through his 11+ and is doing fantastically at a good grammar school, glowing parents evening and excelling at several academic subjects. I wouldn’t normally boast quite so badly, but I want you to see how little relation it can bear to future ability.

On the flip side, he also walked very late (2yo), and is still epically unsporty (likely dyspraxia), so I wouldn’t say anything’s a given.

@knitwearordeath

My oldest DC had a speech delay - no words at all at 2, only a handful by 2.5. Read and wrote very late too. He’s now 12, sailed through his 11+ and is doing fantastically at a good grammar school, glowing parents evening and excelling at several academic subjects. I wouldn’t normally boast quite so badly, but I want you to see how little relation it can bear to future ability.

On the flip side, he also walked very late (2yo), and is still epically unsporty (likely dyspraxia), so I wouldn’t say anything’s a given.

Thank you - I feel I am missing these lovely years worrying that he will struggle in the future. This is very reassuring

My DS was language delayed. His pediatrician picked up on it around 24 months and our local school district provided speech and later occupational therapy.

It was no picnic as it delayed his reading, which made his other studies harder. He needed regular support until year five. At that point, he was pretty much caught up.

He's a very bright kid. He's now at uni, doing extremely well and this semester is doing an internship with a multinational financial firm. He's really good with figures.

Good luck.

My DS was like this. He started nursery at 2 yrs 4 months and I was so worried he wouldn’t be able to communicate his needs to the staff! He was very noticeably behind his peers. He had glue ear but not bad enough for grommets and he was assessed at the 10 per centile at age 4 in his language development. As soon as he started Reception, something clicked and he was reading way beyond his age range by the end of year 1. His comprehension has never excelled, I still have to work hard with him on that but he’s just got into one of the most selective schools in the country. As PP said, I’m not trying to brag, his siblings were miles ahead at the same age yet not as academically able as him later on. So it’s still very early to be sure of anything.

Our son had a speech delay , he said only a few words until he was about 2yrs 8 /9 months when he started speaking in complete sentences . We always said he didn’t talk until he could hold a proper conversation. As it was he was diagnosed with a moderate bilateral hearing loss at 6 yrs , and apparently was an excellent lip reader although we didn’t even realise he had an issue ( it was picked up by a school hearing test) . There is no speech issues that would indicate a hearing loss except the delay .

2.4 years is still very young - my two DD only said a few words at 3 but speak in line with age now. My son was not speaking at 2 and was diagnosed with autism at 3 - he then didn’t speak until he was 6 and started talking more and more and now speaks in line with his peers but he attends a special school. Lots of children remain non-verbal - my friend still hopes her son starts speaking more at 13 and was delighted he’d picked up another word.

As for a positive outcome - if your child has delayed speech/ASD/LD then there is nothing you can do to change that - all you can do is get as much support and early intervention possible. When DS was diagnosed with ASD there was a feeling of grief because it seemed like it closed off my hopes and dreams for him but that child never existed and I needed to focus on getting him the right help. For every ‘my child didn’t speak until 6 and now has a phd’ there will be a parents whose child is non-verbal or child whose speech is delayed long term.

My DS had speech delay. I knew he was unclear and often was the only person who could (mostly) understand what he was trying to say. It wasn't picked up at his 2 or 2.5 year assesment and I wasn't aware that I could self refer him to NHS SALT. A nursery teacher picked up on it (he was 4) and I spoke to the gP who put a referal in. He had about a year of speech therapy but i noticed a difference after a few weeks
He is 11 now. He speaks clearly and audibly but has a lisp (and sometimes struggles with th, v and f sounds) and I still have to remind him (in normal times) to look at someone when speaking to them!
Hes at the expected or above expected level for everything at school.

We were exactly where you were, 15 years ago.

Next year DC will be taking their A Levels, one of which is English Literature

Hang on in there with the SALT.

There is a wide range of normal in terms of speech development

^^This. My brother didn't speak till he was three. One of my sisters used to speak her own "version" of English (that we used to "translate" for other people") and had speech therapy until she was 6. Both of them are now very successful, well-rounded people with "normal" speech.

My ds also had a speech delay and said very few words up until he turned 3. He was referred to speech therapy and recommended group sessions but by the time those came around (just before he started school) he had suddenly started speaking in full sentences with a very impressive vocabulary. He was absorbing everything around him and has a very detailed memory of a time we were driving somewhere and he was trying to tell me something but I couldn’t understand him. To his mind, he was speaking to us quite clearly.

He’s 12 now, eye contact and attention span are still not the best (!) but he’s very academic and has always had a very high reading age for his years too which I partly attribute to all the extra work and reading we did with him when we were so worried about his speech.

My son only said his first word and engaged with eye contact at 2.4 he’s now 3.3 and his speech is still very unclear but family and nursery staff all understand him most of the time.
He had 3 hearing tests no issue, but after a year of pushing for a eye tests he finally had a eye test last month, he has very bad vision. The optician informed us that a lot of children with speech delay and lack of eye contact have either hearing or vision problems. However, this isn't all cases.

Me. I didn’t speak until I was about 5, had speech therapy (that I still recall) I’m now a business woman, speak well (read - never shuts up but claims to be making up for lost time)

Two out of three of my dc had delayed speech. Ds only said a few words until he was about 3.5 and then it suddenly and very quickly came all at once. He has a diagnosis of autism, but is only very mildly affected. He is extremely articulate and is doing fab at school, has friends, etc - he’s 12.

Dd took a lot longer to get going and was 7or 8 before she was in the lower end of the ‘normal’ range. She struggled at school initially and was stroppy and difficult, especially when she couldn’t make herself understood. Apart from some grammatical bad habits (‘more better’ 🙄), she’s now also doing fab, particularly excelling in drama and singing with fantastic diction (she’s just started to learn songs in other languages) - she’s 11.

Dd really benefitted from SALT - we paid privately too. She also really benefitted from a small class size at school. Ds just needed to get there in his own time.

DS was not speaking beyond occasional words at 4
Had SALT and statement of SEN up to high school then occasional learning support
Now 27 and normal speech just not very chatty! Good degree and high earning professional role

Ds had glue ear with little speech. He had salt from 2.5 and intensive salt in special preschool programme. He was going.to be sent to a speech and language unit for reception but he made so much progress in preachool year he went to mainstream secondary. Turns out he does have severe dyslexia and auditory processing problems but he can communicate perfectly well.

I can’t believe I just highlighted dd’s grammatical bad habit, whilst writing one of my own TWICE in my post above! How embarrassing .

My ds didn’t speak until he was 3. He’s 13 now and speech is fine, his favourite school subject is drama. He’s now much more articulate than my dd who was speaking age 1.