3 years old speech

[2boysnamedR]

Hi all. I have posted about this before and got lots of helpful comments last time so I was wondering if anyone could help me again.

I have a son who is turning three in two months time. He is still not talking ? he maybe has 50 words now. He started talking at a normal age 1 ? 1.5 but only picks up 1 ? 2 new words a month. He is a quite and shy child but he is very loving and likes the company of other children. He does have problems with communication which affects his ability to make friends but he wants to be sociable. I have seen a paediatrician, after months and months of telling my health visitor I was worried about his development. The paediatrician says he is just slow and she did not seem too concerned (we did think he may have been in the aspersers spectrum range as this was mentioned earlier by my health visitor).

I keep on being told he will pick up and one day just start to talk. When I sit and do educational play with him ? like flash cards he does not know what a duck is, or a pig, cow etc.

Is this really totally normal for a three year old? When do I start to worry? My health visitor is no help ? the only route left open to me to express concern is with my follow up appointment with the paediatrician in September. I have been on a waiting list for speech therapy for 8 months. I chased this with my health visitor ? she is aware and keeps on telling me the speech therapist is way behind ? it is normal to wait a year to see someone. I have completely lost faith in my health visitor now. I think they are under so much pressure they can only concentrate with the children that are in danger of abuse / neglect. As I look after my son ? therefore he is off her radar.

Thanks

Hi, some SureStart Children's Centres have their own speech and language therapists or maybe try your community hospital. All you need right now is assesment just to feel like you're not standing still. Some do drop in sessions. Worth trying some now before the end of the school hols, as a lot work in schools.

Good luck

Hi, I'm sorry, it can be very worrying and frustrating when SALT referral takes so long... I don't really have much experience, but it could be a processing issue rather than AS/ASD.
Is his underdtanding okay? If you ask him to follow instructions, can he? (Eg please get your coat and put it on, its time to go out now)
Not linking a picture to a word doesn't mean he doesn't know what a cow actually is IYSWIM.
Hopefully someone with more knowledge will be here soon...

If your feeling concerned I would either ring your Paediatricians Secretary and see if you can be seen sooner. Also have you phoned the Speech and Language Team to see where you are on the waiting list and how long til your seen?
Have you got any Childrens Centres near you as in our area they have a Speech and Language drop in clinic which might help give you some ideas and they might then accelerate his referral.
I found the Baby Talk book by Sally Ward very useful in encouraging speech development when my son was young.

I have been to my local sure start centre - they was very good but that centre has just opened so all they could do was help me to get my facts together for the pead oppointment - they do not have a speech person working there. I could phone around to see if any SS centres could help me.
He can understand things - its hard to say how much he does understand as he just babbles to me. He can get his coat and shoes and put them on. Find toys. Go to places I ask like 'put this in the bin'. I phoned my HV to ask where I was on the list. She told me that the speech department will not answer or return her calls so thats as far as I got with finding out where he is on the list.
The pead at his assement asked him to do lots of things which he could not do - find the spoon, find the comb, build a bridge - train etc with bricks. She said that was ok as it was things a three year should be able to do, but he was 2.5 at the time. My elder son could have done all those things at 1.5 - but I know you should not compare.
The book sounds like a great idea. All I ever hear from the NHS is wait until he 18 months, wait until his 20 months, wait until he is 2 etc. He never improves much. I know next time it will be wait until he starts school but I feel he needs help now. I just don't know. I feel like this time is being wasted if he is delayed - I could use this time to help rather than cross my fingers and hope it's all ok in the end.
Thanks

Is it worth posting on special needs board for advice?
Also, situation sounds similar to Dog and her DS... maybe look for one of her old threads?

Thanks I didn't think of that - I have not been on here for a long time - will post over there now

2 boys - is there any chance you could afford to see a private speech therapist? I had a similar but different issue with my DC aged 2.5 and was also put on a long NHS waiting list. Unfortunately speech therapy services are so, so stretched and under-resourced.
Even if you could afford three or four sessions privately, it would mean you could at least get your DS assessed. The therapist would also give you some strategies to support you at home.
Your instinct - that he needs support now - is probably very pertinent.

Firstly, put in a written complaint to your Speech therapy department, cc'd to the NHS trust management and involve PALS (look at trust website for addresses) - you have a valid complaint as they wont tell you where you are on the waiting list making it impossible for you to assess whether you need to try and afford private therapy
Secondly, if you are looking at private therapy go to helpwithtalking.com this website only lists registered practitioners, registered with the HPC (they have to be by law) and ASLTIP (their independent body) and RCSLT (their professional body). Don't take on anyone who is not registered with these 3 bodies no matter how cheap, they aren't uk qualified.
A private therapist will be able to offer you an initial assessment that should be a one-off charge that comes with a written report with advice to get you going, so no requirement to sign up for long-term therapy and make sure you take that report along with you to your first NHS appointment it will be really useful to measure change and list you a as a priority for future NHS therapy.
Some therapists will offer a 30-minute chat for free, I do. It is a 'get to know you' see if you have a problem worth assessing type meeting, but any therapist worth her salt will be happy to answer your questions and give you some basic generic advice.
Finally, check out this website for some good ideas to support your child in the meantime.
www.talkingpoint.org.uk/

You need to actually call the SLT department and ask them how much longer you will have to wait and express your concern about your ds' communication development.

The HV and Paediatrician will have no influence on when you will be sent an appointment as they are in different departments.

We would always try to send an appointment off asap to a parent who was complaining.

Good luck.

I have tried to see my doctor three times in the last six months but they tell me I am on the list so wait for the outcome of the assesements. They leave all this kind of thing to the health visitor in our GPs. As the pead thinks he is just slow I look like I am paranoid waiting to she her next

I would also recommend to get his hearing checked first. DD also als problems with glue ear and is behind in language. we will have surgery soon (grommets/adenoids) and hopefully, her speech will improve.

but just because your DS is able to follow instructions, it does not mean that his hearing is ok. So I would defo get his ears checked out.

Had a similar problem with my DS, after waiting 5 mnths for a SLT appointment I got in touch with PALS who gave me the phone number for SLT manager. Having shouted spoken to her on the phone my DS had an appointment in the post for 2 weeks later.

Please, please keep pushing, my DS had a pretty rubbish SLT who failed to notice that he couldnt breathe through his nose. He is currently on the waiting to have his adenoids and tonsils removed and grommits inserted. Oh, and three years scar tissue removed from his nose so that he can breathe through it. If he hadnt had a fabulous SENCO at his school and I hadnt complained very loudly about the waiting list for ENT he would have only just gone for his initial appointment. I am in the process of making a formal complaint against the SLT who treated him but wish I had asked if this could be a physical thing 3 years ago. As soon as my GP looked up his nose they could see it was totally blocked.

So, sorry for the unhelpful rant but to me your action points are;

• ask your GP to refer you to paediatric audiology, they can check hearing and to some extent processing as well.

• chase SLT on a daily basis until your DS gets an appointment, it is wrong but is still true that the ones who shout loudest get seen first. Check with PALS what the waiting list target is for your SLT and if it has gone past that it is worth contacting your GP as you can request funding for private treatment.

• Be aware that if you pay for assessment and treatment privately without agreement from the NHS that they can remove you from the waiting list. Check whether this is what they would do before considering paying privately.

I hope this helps, sounds like your DS is very lucky in having you.

There are also lots of excellent slts around .

Don't forget that it is not usually the slt's fault that there are long waiting lists, it is the lack of funding that prevents more sessions for more children to be seen.

Letters of complaint about long waiting lists can sometimes be useful for managers to use as an argument for more money.

Ballstoit, how do you feel your ds' blocked nose affected his communication development?

Thanks for all the advice ladies. Today I decided I would phone the SALT department in the hospital and ask where I was on the list. There was no one there so I left a message thinking I would not hear from them again. They called back 30 minutes later telling me he was top of the list and did I want to come in next Monday!! So I think they had either forgotten him or the phone call made them pull thier finger out - either way I am so happy!

Thank you again - I wish I had called sooner and not just trusted them to be booking it

Yay

Hope you find the appointment helpful.

Great news! Be sure to write down all your questions, concerns and things you want to mention and take them with you - I promise you'll forget them and kick yourself later (I'd you're anything like me )

I mean 'if'!! Bloomin' spellthingy...