Support thread for speech and laguage delay toddlers...

[Orangeflower7]

Hi, I have a little boy of 2.5 and we have just today had our first speech and language referral appointment as he is not saying many words yet. I thought maybe other parents might be in the same position and would like to share experiences for support?

It took a few weeks for the appointment, which we were referred to by the health visitor. The therapist told us he has a moderate language delay and has given us ideas of some signs to use with him, she has advised us to keep language clear and simple and we will get a place at a toddler group run by speech and language therapists who will observe and support us. Not sure how long that will take as they only have 6 children in a group but there is an option we can go to the next town if necessary. He also had his hearing tested by the hospital audiologist last week and they said his hearing was fine.

Hi everyone & welcome on board to those who have just joined. I don't have any progress to report or any advice - you all sound like you're alot more on top of things than I am! We are approaching the 2.5 milestone where we said we would see a SALT if dd's speech hadn't got any better. It is most definitely improving & I definitely don't think she has a hearing problem (she shows quite clear understanding of me most of the time), but it's nowhere near the level of her peers and I too am still longing to hear a proper 'mummy'. Feeling a bit low as I suppose I am reluctant for her to be labelled and am probably putting it off as a result, but I know this is silly and selfish. Anyway just needed to let off a bit of steam really.

Hi all, thanks for the welcome. We have no speech therapy for the next 3 weeks due to half term and then I'm on holiday. It's a shame, because it's been going well and I don't want it to affect DS' progress, so I'll keep doing the activities at home and hope he hasn't forgotten everything by the time we go back!

I'm trying to start potty training, have tried in the past but he wasn't ready, and tbh the speech has been such a pre-occupation that it's hard sometimes to think about much else! But I don't want the rest of his development to get behind as a result of his speech so I'm giving it a go. Does anyone have any experience of potty training a child who can't communicate effectively? I'm wondering how he will be able to tell me he needs to use the toilet etc. Maybe I'll try to teach him a sign to use, it's all a bit daunting!

Aw bambelino your description of your heart melting little boy made me smile, I know just what you mean! It's like they are extra cute just to make up for the non-verbalness (not a real word I know!)

No news here, signing still going well, ds has mastered several now. The problem we're having is trying to get him to do just the one sign at a time. Every time he does one he then proceeds to show you his whole repertoire, which, although very cute, kinda defeats the point!
Hope all of you and yours are well

That's adorable bellagio, doing the whole signing repertoire - I can imagine it!

Progress slow & steady for us, but certainly seems to be happening, even it is very slowly, so feeling good about that.
One question - I looked on amazon for the '2 to talk' book and it was £60! Does anyone know if this is the standard price? I may have a look on eBay.
Have you started potty training yet Millie? Our inlaws come to stay for 3 months at the end of the year and I am very keen to have it sorted by then, as dd will turn 3 while they are here. I am at a real loss where to start without her being able to communicate though, and she has given no signs whatsoever she is ready yet. Any tips would be most welcome!

Hi all,
gotobedsleepyhead yeah I have heard others say that book is £££ maybe try Amazon marketplace you might be able to pick one up second hand. I think I might try and grab a copy too, I guess every little helps eh? You say progress is steady, is your dd managing some more words? That's great if so
Still plodding along here, signing going well and ds is starting to separate them. We had "sleep" on it's own earlier!
It's really been helpful to get them on board but I'm noticing he's making a sound with every sign but it's just random "deh" kind of sounds like he says for most things, he doesn't seem to be trying to attempt the word. I told the SALT this but she said not to worth right now as it's still early days with the signing.

Do any of you find your dc use the same/similar sounds for a most
things? For example,
me counting- 1,2,3,4,5
Ds counting-deh, deh, deh,deh,deh !!!!
It used to be Ga, now it's deh!
He also repeats the sounds that he's learnt, for example it's never "mama" always mamamamama, or dadadadada or weeweeweeweewee etc. And yet at other times the sounds are so diverse and different with tone and expression that it is literally like listening to a foreign language.
It's all so complicated, I think I need to stop overthinking it all!
Anyway, night all, here's to all the little chatterers-in-waiting !

hi, can I join you here? My boy is 3.3 years and has always had delayed speech. He's seen an audiologist twice and passed the overall hearing test, but they confirmed he had fluid in one of his ears so sounds weren't getting though. They wanted to discharge him (as his other ear is clearly compensating) but I badgered them to keep him on the books so we'll be invited back for another test in 6 months. TBH, I think the hearing might be a red herring - I had fortnightly speech therapy for a year at the age of 3 as my mum says my problems were exactly the same as my sons (but that was in the 1970s when there were fewer funding restrictions!)

We're lucky to have speech therapy assessment drop-in sessions where I live and I've been going to them every 6 months for the last couple of years since we first noticed he was behind (firstly with any speech, now just with pronunciation - his understanding is perfect and his language is pretty much the same as most children his age - just no one except me and DH can make it out!)

At the last drop-in session (a couple of months ago) the SLT tested him (flashcards) and confirmed his speech sounds were very restricted - uses 'd' and 'b' for most words, a typical sentence would be 'mumdy, beese i ave duddle dow?' (mummy, please can I have a cuddle now). The SLT has asked me to come back in September for a further assessment, but seems reluctant to actually give speech therapy (presumably due to funding, although she told me that at this age, they don't have the focus to benefit from it?).

I wonder whether we should get him help privately. If he is the same as me, he will eventually catch up (I speak perfectly now!) but I don't know whether it was the early intervention that ensured I didn't have any problems at school etc. Does anyone have any experience of delays in this age group?

Welcome Llanarth I don't have any experience but one thing that stood out from your post was the bit about your ds not having the focus at his age, this surprised me because I would have thought he should be old enough to respond to simple directions/instructions?

Thanks Bellagio, that's exactly what I thought - I can't help wondering if she said that just because they don't have enough resources to give the therapy...

Private therapy in my area looks to be about £100 for initial assessment and £60 per hour thereafter so it's not something I want to do if there is no need (i.e. if he will catch up in his own time before he starts school in 2012 anyway). It's not causing any problems for him at the moment - he gets on fine at preschool and is a happy chatty boy, and doesn't seem to be aware of the problem (he always gets his meaning across so isn't getting frustrated).

Maybe I'll go back to the drop-in and ask if she thinks he would benefit from private therapy.

Hey everyone, I had to do a search to find this thread as I had completely lost it!
How is everyone doing?
Slow progress here with ds but I guess he's up to around half a dozen words now, not really using them spontaneously though but he can repeat them if we say them first.
Our group sessions are coming to an end soon and the SALT has told us that he will be getting one-to-one sessions later this year.
The signing has been helpful but we have stopped teaching him any more new ones for now as he seems to only use 2 or 3 of them regularly at the moment.
Hope you are all well and look forward to hearing any news

Hi again everyone. We have now got a SALT who has come to the house and done a session with me, DH and the nanny, and is coming again this week (and will be going to the nursery). We have been given things to do with him some we had already been doing but I suppose it will help to refine things), and she was very understanding with how anxious I am. She said that it is encouraging that he makes a lot of sounds (he sounds like he is talking constantly, but just in another language), and also encouraged me to keep a diary of his progress so I can see that things really are moving forwards.

DS is also having a hearing test this week, on Wednesday, so we will see what that brings.

sleepyhead I can completely understand your worries about being "labelled", and also just wishing so much that he would say mummy. When I say Mama to him he resolutely says Dada back to me!

On the weekend he started to say "go" as response to "ready, steady....". He doesn't do it every time but he defintely does sometimes.

I suppose I just feel frustrated and even sad at times.

I think it's quite normal to feel a bit sad/frustrated sometimes - I know that I have felt the same, especially when I see my dd around other toddlers the same age and see the difference in speech. And I'm sure it's just borne out of worry/concern.

Lots of my friends' little ones really developed loads after their second birthday so it may just all click over the next few months.

My dd is 2.8 now and it is literally only in the last couple of weeks that she is starting to speak more (I'm still not sure how much others would understand though). At age 2 she only had about 10 words and wasn't joining them together at all. We're seeing the SALT again on Friday so it will be interesting to see if she thinks she has developed since May when we last saw her.

One extra tip for things to buy - we've got a DVD by a company called Sookie and Finn. It's just the cartoon story of a day in the life of two little ones with lots of common words repeated throughout. My dd and younger ds absolutely love it.

Thanks for the tip, I have ordered Sookie and Finn.

My son has speech delay. He was 3 in January and we saw a therapist about a year ago. They gave us techniques which helped. In the last six months I feel he has came on a lot although he doesn't say the words properly and I understand him more than most. He is also very good with technical stuff and knows shapes, colours, alphabet, numbers etc so not worried at all in that sense.
I feel guilty because my family seem to think it's the fact I didn't take him to playgroups and stuff as I am very shy. He starts nursery in September but the teachers said that it's nothing to worry about as he will come on leaps and bounds and they will help the children to communicate better.

My DS is 2.1 & has yet to say a single comprehensible word. We've seen a SALT once but she says it's too early to tell if there is a reason for his lack of speech.
I'm sick of people telling me he'll talk when he is ready..............
He understands lots of what we ay to him and we've been doing Makaton for three months which is fabulous. It has transformed his character from a screaming toddler to a cheerful chap. .

I am encouraged by how many people have speech-delayed LOs, it does make one feel less alone/different/must have done something wrong. I am also however also sick of people telling me that he'll talk when he's ready, oh, just you wait you'll be wishing he would stop taking etc etc. It is clear there IS an issue and although I don't want to catastrophise I want to do all I possiby can for him. People just want to smoothe everything over and believe there's no problem because it's easier don't they? Even my DH, who is on the whole being very supportive, doesn't really want to believe there is any significant problem with the potential to endure past the next few months...

Oh well, hearing test tomorrow, we'll see what that says (personally I think he can hear very well).

I have started keeping a progress diary.

I agree wholeheartedly Dudesmummy it is infuriating when people churn out the usual cliches in the attempt to make you feel better, but I guess a lot of people just haven't had to deal with a real speech problem.
Keeping a diary is a great idea too

hey guys

normally post on SN but this is an interesting thread. ds didn't put any words together until 2.5 and wasn't clear at all to anyone but parents until much later - 4 i think. At five his speech is quite clear and he talks in sentences (though he often gets jumbled up when he tries to express his ideas) he still has global delays and we are waiting for a dx of autism but he has come on loads.

recently he has started to be able to tell me a little about his school day if I ask the right questions and can have a little chat with grandad on the phone.

I also recommend the hanen books and my favourite book: The Child With Special Needs: Encouraging Intellectual and Emotional Growth (A Merloyd Lawrence Book) : Stanley Greenspan . This book really taught me how to get down on the floor and play with my child - sounds so obvious but when your child doesn't interact it is easy to either give up or put on a big entertaining show rather boost their communication.

Lingle - just bought my time timer at amazon - thanks for tip

oh good crunchyside, hope the timetimer works well.

Do we know each other - have you named-changed? it's just that the Greenspan book is my favourite book too.

I was a dinosaur related name for while? More of a lurker than poster cos i get too addicted. I prob got the book idea from you too! oh well imitation is the sincerest from of flattery they say!

Only realised today when googling for the book that Greenspan died last year - he was only in his sixties - a real loss to world.

yes. he was a great man.

couldn't write clear prose, but a great man!!!!

My DS went for his hearing test and to see the ENT surgeon yesterday, and he does appear to have some degree of hearing loss from middle ear fluid. He is going to have grommets put in within the next week or so. I am sorry he has to have surgery, but we are all actually quite glad that something was found as we hope this means that after the grommets his speech may improve, and that this was the reason for the delay.

I am however not totally convinced about this, I know he definitely hears when I talk to him (but the surgeon said that he will have been hearing in a muffled way, making it difficult for him to imitate speech). I really hope this is the case. Any way, we will have the surgery and then see. Still going to carry on with the SALT of course.

Do your speech delayed children (those aged 2.5/3yrs) talk to themselves a lot in their own jibberish language? Are they interested in other children?
My DD (almost 3) talks to herself constantly and to her toys. She has little interest in other children.

Hope the surgery brings your son on in leaps and bounds Dudesmummy.
My DD only gets seen by SALT once every 2 months. It seems more of an assessment rather than a learning/support session. She is nearly 3 and due to start preschool in September. She already goes to nursery but TBH it hasn't made a huge difference to her progress with speech.

Hanen book - suggest order from your local library or cheapest here

www.winslow-cat.com/it-takes-two-to-talk.html

My DS (22mo) has also still got glue ear and they've finally managed to get some readings at the audiologist which suggest his hearing is otherwise fine. So we'll be getting grommets too - they suggested temp hearing aids but there is NO way he would wear them, we can't even get him to wear a hat!

Excitingly he has definitely starting staying 'Daddy' and 'Nana', but 'Mummy' isn't happening. The audiology consultant reckons the glue ear will be affecting his ability to mimic but who knows if the problem will turn out to be deeper than that.

Good to hear so many of you are having success with Makaton, will be trying that soon.

so glad i found this thread will b bk later:)