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Behaviour/development

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Original poster

Speech delay perfect hearing

13 replies

Wassailywassailywassaily · 14/12/2011 17:47

DS2 (2.3) has two proper words - Mummy and Daddy, he does say Hello Mummy and Hello Daddy but never just Hello. He has lots of sounds but very few of them relate to anything and if the sounds do make any sense and is used with meaning on one day he will probably not use it again the next day. E.g. today he used the word Weewee when I was using the loo and I was very pleased and clapped him but I don't expect him to do it again even if I prompt him.
He has had his hearing tested today and it is perfect.
I have been reading 'It takes two to talk' and using their guidelines with some success, in that he will happily interact with me, DH and DS1 as well as everyone in his nursery but no-one understands anything he says - its just a load of sounds - but he looks at you expectantly when he has said his bit seeming to think it makes perfect sense.
He refuses to use any hand signals - we have been using these for him for months, but he will nod a shake his head for yes and no. He understands instructions and will act upon them with enthusiasm.
He is a sweet, gentle, and sociable little boy who appears to be bright and normal in every other way. In my heart I don't think that he has ASD or any other problems though I could be wrong. I'm just struggling to understand why he can't talk.
We have a first appointment with a SALT in January but I don't know if they will be able to help when he has so few words.

OP posts:

Nonicknameavailable · 14/12/2011 22:43

Hi
Just to let you know a friend of mine's son had an issue with speech delay. She got him checked out by health professionals and provided speech therapy which helped him hugely. He is still very young. I think her son was not talking much till he was 3 years old. Best of luck. x

RandomMess · 14/12/2011 22:47

Perfect hearing really???

I was told on 2 seperate occasions that her hearing was fine etc.

It really wasn't when I had it tested privately - she didn't have a hearing curve it was virtually flat. Low frequencies she was way to sensitive to, high frequencies she was boderline hearing impaired!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Because even in her worst ear she scored only 39 not the magic 40 in decibles in the highest frequency she passed and "her hearing is fine"

She had very severe speech delay, fortunately we paid for treatment to sort out her hearing and all is now fine.

I am still fuming about the rubbish NHS hearing tests though.

scarlettsmummy2 · 14/12/2011 22:54

random- i don't see how that it is helpful to say that he may not have perfect hearing and the audiologist is wrong.

My daughter has just turned three and was just discharged from the speech therapist last month. She also saw an audiologist. I was with her when she saw them and confident that they correctly diagnosed that she had perfect hearing.

Scarlett started speech therapy at around a similar age to your son, and to be honest they didn't do a huge amount, just gave me lots of advice on how to bring her speech on. She is now talking really well, lots of detailed sentences and I am no longer stressed about it. I found singling lots of nursery rhymes together really helped!

i would say, if you are really worried ask your health visitor to make you an appointment with the speech therapist, who will be able to do test your sons level of understanding etc.

scarlettsmummy2 · 14/12/2011 22:57

sorry- just re read your post- good luck with the speech therapist! The most important thing is that he understands what you are saying- the rest will follow.

Toni27 · 14/12/2011 23:00

The SALT will probably first ask can your child listen and understand and interact. It sounds like your child is doing all these things - im not an expert or anything but my little one has had a couple of SALT sessions and I expect thats what they will start with, like they did with us. Just to prepare you for your first SALT session.

Original poster

Wassailywassailywassaily · 15/12/2011 14:47

Random I do appreciate that the hearing tests can be fairly rudimentary however we have never had any cause for concern over his hearing. There is a little bit of glue ear on the right but it is improving and he always hears everything perfectly and frequently mimics what he hears.

The problem is that he will not repeat it. Its like once he has perfected a word he see no need to go and use it again, he just moves on to the next sound and repeats that until he seems to consider it perfect. Probably one or two a day but very rarely the same ones.

Having said this he has no problem with making himself understood and perhaps we do make this a little bit too easy for him.

Thanks for your words of encouragement, I look forward to the SALT.

OP posts:

brightonbleach · 15/12/2011 15:56

have you tried any of the baby 'talking' dvds? I know it sounds daft, but the Oxbridge Baby one (learn to talk i think its called. +its only about 30mins long if you get worried about TV time) really triggered my DS into repeating stuff the nice lady on the screen was saying more than he was repeating stuff we were saying at 18m+, after using that as a tool during that age period (he is now 25m) many many more words are coming out of him plus he will repeat stuff we say now, the DVD seemed to make him more confident, or probably more accurately, he saw it as a game. We have always been able to communicate with him really well so he didn't need to ask for anything, sometimes I wonder if thats why he wasn't bothered with words till recently as well!!

cjn27b · 15/12/2011 17:02

Our DS (3.3 now), had only about 10 words at 2.3. His first hearing test was perfect (private), then he failed 3 NHS ones.

We started SALT (private as NHS wait list was almost a year) at 2.3 and he made good progress. A few days before his third birthday he had grommets for his glue ear and now his hearing is just at the bottom of normal range. He is making great progress since the grommets. BUT, that isn't the full story. His hearing will have affected his speech, but how much we don't know. He also has 'traits of ASD' but isn't on the spectrum according to his paediatritian. So.... What's my advice, based on my case study of one child of my own (and hence totally biased): keep getting hearing tests as glue ear is really common and comes and goes; get a referral to SALT as soon as you can and meanwhile do as much at home as you can (there's a thread on here for parents of children with language delays you might find useful); get a referral to a paediatritian just in case there is something more going on (as the sooner anythings identified the sooner you can get the right support in place).

DS is going to be fine. After huge amounts of anxiety, stress and all the rest we see him progress wonderfully and his speech is coming on really well. He can now put 6 words in a sentence (which he has made up himself, not copied) and every now and then will put two sentence together. He's still not quite up to normal range, but getting there.

jeee · 15/12/2011 17:08

My three DDs all had a 'severe speech delay'. I have a family history of this, so it's not surprising. But it's still upsetting when people helpfully say, "ah, but my LO spoke so early. It's because I talked to them all the time." I always want to say: "Maybe I shouldn't have locked them in the cupboard under the stairs a la Harry Potter."

They all had perfect hearing, and have subsequently caught up - they have never had any difficulty at school. Sometimes a speech delay is simply a speech delay.

cjn27b · 15/12/2011 18:15

I agree with jeee there's a very high chance it's just a delay. However, it's still worth getting to a paediatritian as children are at their most neuro-plastic in the very early years meaning early intervention gets best outcomes. Our DS is catching up rapidly, and as parents (and all extend family) find it almost impossible to believe he's ASD... But, we keep an open mind in light of the healthcare professionals advice and find it reassuring to know we're doing everything possible to support DS in his development.

jeee · 15/12/2011 18:19

Just to add, it's definitely worth getting your son in the system - waiting lists are often long, and if he doesn't need it by the time his name gets to the top of the list you haven't lost anything.

But, having said that, in our area a child has to be two and a half before they'll even put their name down for Speech Therapy.

jeee · 15/12/2011 18:20

Sorry - I've just read that he's already seen a SALT.

TenMinutesLate · 15/12/2011 21:10

I could of written this post - My Son is 2 and a half and barely talks....its just Mum/Dad/No/Yes everything else is just his own language and that now over time I actually "get" what he is saying - I had left it till now as in my head I thought if he hasn't improved by Xmas I'll get him checked out....looks like an appointment to the GP in the New Year is in order...Ive exhausted everything at home...y daughter who is 5 was talking like a little adult long before she was 2 so not sure what went wrong this time!

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