Send 23 month old to nursery to help speech delay or pay for private speech and language?

[jenniefromtheblock2]

My son is nearly 2 and I've been a SAHM since he was born. From around 15 months I started taking him to toddler groups, soft play, role play places etc so he is well socialised but does not speak. Loads of babble, hes said a few words here and there but nothing consistent and compared to other children his age I can see a big difference. The health visitor won't refer to speech and language until he is over 2 and there is a long wait list, so we were debating if we should send him to nursery to hopefully help with his speech. We also considered paying privately for speech therapy but it was hundreds just for the initial assessment alone and I've heard mixed things about it. We could only afford one morning a week at the moment in nursery, but from April we would be entitled to 12.5 hours funded. Do you think one morning a week would help in the short term? or would paying for private speech and language be more beneficial?

Before you go down either route I'd get his hearing tested, even if you think it's fine. We thought my boy could hear perfectly but as part of his referral he had a hearing test and had mild to moderate hearing loss due to glue ear. His speech improved once his hearing improved.

He has had a hearing test and all was fine x

Teacher and SEN Specialist here. You do not need to do either of these things. he will get more personalised speech practice by being around you and you talking to him a lot. I know it must feel a little alarming at the moment but really this is not something you need to worry about (also I say this as a mother who had to speech delayed children both of whom are more articulate than many of their peers and doing very well academically now.)

One morning a week will be detrimental I'm afraid. Hell not settle as it's too spaced out.

dontpanic though, you can do so much at home! Keep talking to him, annotate your conversations all the time. When he makes noises back, give them words "ooh yes I like pasta too. " that sort of thing.

That's good. I didn't find SALT very helpful, but that's because we were already doing the stuff. It would probably be worth just an initial consultation to check you're on the same page. If you are I wouldn't do more sessions at this point but keep the NHS referral ticking along. Unless he's super confident and would enjoy nursery in its own right I wouldn't go down that route (but the caveat there is that I was privileged enough to be a sahm and didn't want to send a child who couldn't tell me if there were issues).

I wouldn’t send a child for one morning a week it would be very difficult to settle in a setting with a couple of hours once a week. I can’t see what being in nursery for a morning is going to give him that you can’t provide yourself.

One morning a week would do more harm than good (not to his speech), just keep doing what you are doing for now

Honestly I don't think one day would make a difference. My 3.3 year old was exactly the same at that age and I've had him at childcare for 3 days a week and he's still not talking. No hearing issues and he's now being put on the pathway for assessment for autism. If your little one hasn't got any other issues then I'd get a SLT asap. That's going to be more beneficial id say

I sent mine for three mornings a week due to that reason when he was two. It didn't make any difference and even at nearly four he still speaks a few words. I wish I had waited until he was three to put him in nursery. We are on the waiting list for an autism assessment now.

I honestly think just working on it at home with yourself talking to him all day will be best at this stage. There are lots of SALTs on Instagram etc too who share specific tips, but the best way if via you.

Nursery is unlikeky to make any difference. You need a SALT assessment and regular sessions with a speech therapist.

Just to mention, my sons understanding is good. He can follow instructions and point, gesture etc his communication in other ways is good, he just doesn't use words yet.

He is still so young. My younger two were late talkers. Both academically high achievers now (21 and 18 now). I used to worry as some children were speaking in full sentences and they barely said anything. But they soon caught up. I’d give it more time.

No don't waste the money
My DD had a delay and back then we were able to get help through one of the only decent initiatives the sure start center.

The help was in a group and it was speficic with really helpful tips and strategies.

When ds started nursery Three plus I told her key workers about this and I may as well have said nothing they were useless and just kept saying, oh she'll pick it up now she's at nursery...

But toddler groups are not that different ,nursery isn't some magical place where DC suddenly speak

Keep socialising him at toddler groups which are cheap and pay for some private sessions. However I'm sure you have done all the ear tests as well.
And I'm.aure now I tube and Google have good tips to help.

Eg really annunciate and exaggerate your voice
Use short sentences with physical back up. Cow in field.

Cow on chair

Cow under chair .

Using an actual cow toy and a chair.

They had a farm and each week used different animals and simple language like that .

This may help, it tells you what is age related and when to be worried speechandlanguage.org.uk/help-for-families/ages-and-stages/18-24-months/

As an SLT, nursery won't help, unless no one is speaking to him at home. If he honestly is understanding as age appropriate, (and you should have that assessed by an SLT if you can afford it) then he will likely be fine long-term. Has he got a good range of sounds? Is he trying to label at all even if not clear? How does he ask you for something? Does he want to communicate? Gestures?

Oh really because we were advised by a SLT that nursery would help.

He can follow basic instructions like go and get your shoes. When I say its bath time he will run to the gate, when I say its time for snack he will run into the kitchen etc so I know he understands what I'm saying without a visual clue.

He points to what he wants, and will push us into the kitchen and point at the fridge for a snack for example. He will whinge/grunt/shout if we don't understand what he wants.

He says eeeeee and geee alot, deee for duck, baaa for ball.

He tries hard to communicate and loves to play with us. Hide and seek he will play for ages, he pushes my husband behind the curtain 😂

Thank you.

Our health visitor has arranged something similar for us, he has just completed a language and play 6 week group and we've just started a 6 week number and language group. It's just 3 or 4 children each week for an hour singing and stuff. My son mostly just runs around and plays chase with the other children. He enjoys it but I haven't found it massively helpful. If I could get my son to sit down for more than a minute maybe he would learn to talk, but hes very active.

Don’t bother with any of it. Just constantly comment about what he’s doing. What you’re doing. Wait for his two year check and then health visitor can refer to speech and language.

Nursery won’t help. My kids were in full time nursery at that age and we used to notice how much more their speech developed during holidays with us. The best thing you can do is continue to give your DS 1:1 attention and keep talking to and encouraging him.

My DD has verbal dyspraxia, which was diagnosed as profound when she was two (as far as a diagnosis can be confirmed at that age). She speaks fine now, at 15. Although I agree with the above advice, about how to interact with your DS, I would also say that if he does have a speech disorder, then the sooner the better to work on it. A disorder like verbal dyspraxia needs a specific way of teaching speech sounds.

We paid for a private assessment and once we had that, the NHS listened to us and gave us a weekly speech therapy appointment. Then we stopped with the private therapy. It also enabled us to get an EHCP and specialist nursery place and later, a place in a speech unit attached to an infant school.

Of course, your DS might just be delayed in speaking, but it's worth considering an assessment if you feel there's something more going on.