Speech

[rayofsunshine]

About 4 months ago i saw the HV and she suggested he might need to go and have help with his speech, but said give him to february when he will be 2.5. Anyway she came through my till at work on friday and asked again about his speech, well i thought he's really come along well since last seeing but i suppose 'compared' to other children his age probably not as well. I asked my child minder yesterday wot she thought as shes been having a few weeks now and she said without a doubt he needs help, no question at all.
So i shall see my HV today to get the ball rolling as by time shes sorted out the paperwork and ive got an appointment he'll probably be nearly 3.

The thing thats been worrying me quite a bit and i will mention it to the HV, even though i feel silly (although i dont know why), is that when he was being discharged from SCBU, he had a brain scan (as they had never got round to doing one while he was in there) and the doctor said that there was 'flappy bits', words the doc used, which he said could only be a problem if
hes behind at all in his development, and i would just have to wait and see, well the HV is always going on about how late hes been in doing his milestones.

So i will pop round and see if can see the HV this morning and see what she says.

What problems is he having with his speech?

the health visitor just think he should be saying a lot more than he does, the child minder says she cant get any words out of him.

Hi rayofsunshine, haven't any advice for you but just wanted to say that I am in the same boat with dd.

Dd is 2.3 and her speech is starting to come in slowly. She is only just beginning to parrot. Has about a handful of simple sentences eg "what's that", "daddy's hat gone", "there she is", which she uses over and over again - that is a very significant development that happened only in the last few weeks. She goes to nursery so from what I observe, she is definitely behind her peers speechwise.

The nursery have informally agreed with me that she is slower on the speech front but have played it down, saying it takes longer for some children. I completely agree (though it does not stop me being worried). If you read other threads on mn, you will note that there are great (normal) variations in how quickly children pick up speech. I don't think your ds (or my dd) are necessarily in the alarmbells category yet at their age. In fact, I find your cm's comment terribly unhelpful. She is NOT a developmental paediatrician and it is not her place to give such categorical advice. I would be wary of even letting a speech and language therapist (SALT)diagnose dd.

Having said that, by all means access the evaluations available via your HV. Get yourself on SALT wait lists. As you said, by the time the wheels are in motion, your ds could already be 3. My dd has not be called up for her 2 year developmental check yet and this is one thing I need to follow up on now.

BTW, dd has brain cysts (choroid plexus cysts) detected during antenatal scans which were still present at birth - she also spent time in SCBU for unrelated reasons. The doctors were not concerned about the cysts at all and did not ask me to keep tabs on her development. I don't know if that is what your doctor meant by "flappy bits"! She has not been asked to go back for follow-up brain scans. But I do feel dd has generally been slow to hit developmental milestones (except walking) with speech being the most affected. That said, she is also coming along nicely, albeit in her own time.

It is so difficult not to worry, isn't it

hiya blue thanks for ur message.

My DS has always been behind with everything, he was a late walker, took his first steps at 19 months, he was 2 months prem, but my daughter ws 2 months prem too and had not developmental problems. DS didnt sit up until he was 13 months, but i do wonder how much with his is lazy, hes very good at taking us by the hand and he then points to things, although we do our best to try and get him to 'tell' us wot he wants.

I was just a bit concerned about the 'flappy bits's the doc mentioned, as i can remember clearly him saying that they are ony a problem if he has any developmental problems.

Well, temperament has a lot to do with how early our little ones hit their developmental milestones, particularly walking. As your ds was 2 months' prem, his adjusted walking age is 17 months, which though latish, is not I think on the abnormal scale. My dd also has a very physical way of communicating - this leading us by the hand and pointing to what she wants is so her.

But she is slowly beginning to realise that using words gets her further, hence she has been catching up on the speech front in the last month or so. Until it clicks in their tiny minds, I don't think any amount of well-meaning encouragement to use words would have much effect. I certainly never withheld anything from her if she did not ask for it with words.

As regards "flappy bits", is there any way you can go back to the same doctor/hospital that asked you to look out for developmental delay? They could book your ds in for a follow up scan with results interpreted by someone that sounds more knowledgeable . Even if they have to refer you to a developmental expert to make the assessment, perhaps this could short circuit the whole process? I am probably talking out of my b_ttom but I find that squeaky wheel gets the grease, as the NHS does not always act in a particularly joined up way. If you need to put your concerns at rest, that could be one quicker parallel way to access follow up action. I have a feeling the HV side of things may be out of their depth if you go to them with this - but do ask anyway.

I have just booked dd for her 2 year developmental check next week - your post reminded me to get going!

Hiya

Health visitor called about an hour ago, shes coming to see me in 3 weeks then the referral goes in when DS is 2.5 otherwise any sooner it will be sent back. Shes also referring him back to the peadatrian with reference to the flappy bits and they can do a proper developmental assessment. I know as friends have said its a step in the right direction, but i feel we've taken a major one backwards.