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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Referral to a speech therapist

30 replies

beccaboo · 05/01/2004 22:49

Can anyone help or reassure me? My DS had his two year check today (he's 25 months). HV has referred him to a speech therapist, and also wants him to go to a special creche for two hours every day for help with language development. He isn't talking much, but can say a few words 'mummy' 'daddy' 'Balamory' (!) 'bye bye' 'one two three four' and a few other things. He babbles constantly, she has noted this as "speaks nonsense in sentence structure of sounds". In another part of the test she laid out four fairly uninteresting toys, and when DS failed to pounce on them, she wrote 'fail' on her form. Naturally this has made me feel pretty worried and insecure, should I be concerned or take her comments with a pinch of salt? All advice gratefully received! Thanks in advance.

OP posts:

dinosaur · 05/01/2004 22:53

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

Angeliz · 05/01/2004 22:55

beccaboo, people will be sick of hearing this(as i've said it so much i am so annoyed!), but my dd had her 2.6 month test not so long ao. She is very articulate and amazes me and the H.V said that she was going to make an app for 6 months time PURELY because dd says "cool" instead of School!!
It sounds similar and i know my nephew hardly said a word aged 2, now he is 2.8 and you can't shut him up! There was a "guide" to speech on a thread not so long ago but can't remember where, Anyone?
I am no expert but to me he sounds fine and she sounds like a little control freak but as i say, i am no expert. It sounds a little bizzare actually, i kid you not he seems to say more than my nephew did! Hope you get some good advice and don't get too worried. You know him best++++++++++++++++++++

fio2 · 05/01/2004 22:56

agree with dinosaur take all the help you can get then the problems are rectified quicker. He really doesnt sound like he is having any big problems but if they will help you to sort his speech out now i would take the help. Please dont worry i was we had a s much support here!

Lou33 · 05/01/2004 22:56

My dd was referred age 2, all she could say was mama, dad, and lots of babble. She's 7 now, talks for England. It really helped her a lot. She does have some specific sound pronunciation problems still, but she is having some more therapy for those over the next few weeks. You can email me via contact another talker if you want.

Original poster

beccaboo · 05/01/2004 23:03

thanks everyone - good advice, I hadn't thought of it like that but guess it can't do any harm to see the ST and see what they say? I'm shocked at myself that I feel so angry about it, the poor woman was only trying to help I suppose!! This is a great site isn't it, I can't believe how quickly your responses came through.

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Davrosthesnowman · 05/01/2004 23:03

I agree, take the SLT referral but don't worry too much, you must be feeling gutted though
At least the HV is being over cautious instead of the usual unobservant/not a clue type. She hasn't expressed her concerns on the report in a very sensitive way though but better to be safe than sorry.

Jimjams · 05/01/2004 23:03

Oh well ds2 will be failing as well then- although actually I am getting him referred to a SALT later in the month anyway.

Understanding is far more important than words at this age. If he can follow simple instructions, understands things like my, your, also things like under and on (I;m just comparing my autistic 4 year old with my non-talking but perfectly normal 2 year old here to see what;s important) then I;'m sure he's fine- espeically as he's babbling away. Is he pointing? If he is then you almost certainlu have nothing to worry about.

IME most HV's couldn't recognise a language disorder if it danced in front of them. They are obsessed with speech which is the least important part of communication developmentally.

Chances are by the time your ds's appointment comes through he'll be talking.

fio2 · 05/01/2004 23:06

jimjams if your ds2 is like my ds you will be suprised how quickly the speech does actually come. I still worry though!!!...its my job

Jimjams · 05/01/2004 23:09

yeah he's kind of started fio2. Saying a lot more over the last week. Things like "up there" "faster". Hard to understand but still there.

beccaboo your ds sounds very like my ds2 (who's 2 this month). I do wonder whether he has a speech problem- hence my request for a SALT referral, but I know 100% that he doesn't have a langauge problem - so I'm not worried. He's well and truly "normal" (I don;t count speech problems as not being normal). Chances are though both our boys are just late talkers,

Original poster

beccaboo · 05/01/2004 23:13

Yes, he can point to things in a couple of his favourite books, so that reassures me. Think I agree with fio, worrying seems to be #1 point in the job description.

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fio2 · 05/01/2004 23:13

jimjams, you know mine is late but i think he is so bright!, bet people think i am mad. I just love his singing too...honest it has just come in the last few months - still not very clear but most people seem to understand him. We are having a check up about it next month though to see if he needs a referal! - i am not bothered, it is minoe compared to the other. I know you know what i mean!

Original poster

beccaboo · 05/01/2004 23:17

jimjams, like the distinction between the two, helps to think of it that way... mother and mother in law both insistent that it's perfectly normal, which makes me think maybe it's the way the NHS evaluates children that is part of the problem? wdyt?

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Jimjams · 05/01/2004 23:18

Does he point out things of interest beccaboo, or things he wants? They're more important in terms of development (so don't panic if he can't be bothered to show you the dog in the book ) There are soooo many different types of pointing, and sooo many boring research papers written on it I never knew pointing was such a big thing. To be honest the words he is saying (eg mummy daddy) suggest normal language development.

lol fio. I know we're going to end up with 2 two year checks as he definitely fails. He's a lazy lump! or he may be copying his brother- I used to think that was rubbish- but I have caught him using ds1's words a few times now!

Jimjams · 05/01/2004 23:20

to be honest beccaboo. I don't think HV are very well trained to recognise language disorders. They were going to introduce the CHAT test at 18 months which is very good at picking up children at risk of developing communication disorders. Certianly my autistic son would have failed it at 18 months and NT ds2 was able to do it before 15 months (which was when I tested him- he breezed it). I'm not sure why it wasn;t introduced. The cynics say it was because it was picking up the children but then there were no services to offer them.

Original poster

beccaboo · 05/01/2004 23:21

he points to things in books in response to 'where is the..' questions. Haven't noticed him pointing to things he wants, he mainly grabs my hand and throws it in the direction of the thing he wants. I didn't know there was so much to it!

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fio2 · 05/01/2004 23:23

jimjams i actually think it is quite hard for them to copy when their older siblings are no help! ds copies all dd's words that are not real but not the ones she actually ' knows' typical eh?

Original poster

beccaboo · 05/01/2004 23:23

jimjams, know I'm getting out of sync here, but was is the CHAT test?

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Jimjams · 05/01/2004 23:29

It's the sort of thing you don't notice unless you look for it. Hope you have a nice SALT when you get to see one- they vary- we're lucky at the moment we have 2 very lovely ones (actually we have seen many lovely ones and only one awful one so you should be OK ) Also hope you don;t have to wat for too long.

Did they say what type of creche it is? They've just set up an ICAN (language charity) nursery here- it's meant to be very good. I have a feeling that ds2 will be referred there (it was set up too late for ds1 otherwise he would have gone). We can compare notes The good things baout these creches is that they usually have a SALT attached so she gets to see the children in a normal environment, rather than shoving them in a strange room and trying to get them to perform. I sympathise with the uninteresting toys btw. I rememeber the (crap) SALT showing ds1 boring balck and white pics saying "where's the dolly"? As if he'd be interested in a dolly. SHould have aksed him for the car, lorry toilet or hoover

Jimjams · 05/01/2004 23:31

It stands for "checklist for autism in toddlers", but its a checklist for any language disorder really. It was going to be introduced nationwide and trials showed it worked quite well (it was piloted in a few areas- HV did the tests). But it wasn't introduced.

Jimjams · 05/01/2004 23:39

fio2- ds2 copies everything ds1 does. Which can look fairly hilarious!

fio2 · 05/01/2004 23:42

i know its a shame isnt it?! ICAN are supposed to be brill

Jimjams · 05/01/2004 23:46

Yeah- ds1's (soon to be ds2's) nursery manager had a look round and was really impressed (and she isn't easily impressed). She said the layout was really good, and they have a very nice SALT. ONe of the boys at ds1's nursery with some sort of language problem gos and apparently its really good.

Really must go to bed ds1 is back to school tomorrow. Night!

Original poster

beccaboo · 05/01/2004 23:48

The creche is apparently a facility for 2-3 year olds, they get specialised help with development. She said they used to exist as stand-alone facilities, but due to funding cuts are now located in special needs centres, but in a separate room in the building.

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fio2 · 05/01/2004 23:48

night jimjams ICAN have got a specialist school in nottingham that has beacon status, very hard to get into apparently but people round here still try. Bit far though, but they board too.

Jimjams · 06/01/2004 07:44

beccaboo- a great book to give ideas to help with language development is "baby talk" by Sally Ward. It's not aimed at SN at all- it's good for any child. I'd recommend it as it will give you lots of ideas.

We saw a private SALT when ds1 was just over 2 and she gave us lots of babytalk type ideas (only reaslised when I bought the book much later on) and they really helped.

Oh and the other suggestion is to go on the list for hearing checks. (Just because its a long wait) My friend's ds didn't talk until he was well over 3 as he had glue ear.

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