Ears, Speech and Other Worrying Things......

[IrisGirl]

Hi Guys,
i've posted a few times about my dd speech (or lack thereof), she is 2.4.

anyway after having been told to wait and see, i have had enough and made an appointment at the GP's. GP was lovely and really listened to what i had to say. In the last 6 months she has had tonsillitis 4 times, twice this year so far which has resulted in her being hospitalised it got that bad. This is not what i want for my dd, the poor thing has been suffering so badly. i'm positive the tonsillitis has been having an affect on her speech, and when the doctor examined her, he said she has "dull ear drums" which could suggest a build up of fluid or just congested. we've been given a decongestant to give her for 3 weeks and then another appt to check her ears again.

In the meantime, i've spoken with her HV who is going to do a speech assessment on her and "take it from there" so have a feeling a speech therapist referral is on the cards, which i am absolutely fine with.

anyway, i'm in such a turmoil over her speech, sometimes i think " you know what she's ok, she can do this she's just choosing not to" and other times i worry myself to death thinking she's going to be left behind at school when she starts in January and she'll be a loner because she can't talk very well.

She is saying quite a few words (about 70 or 80...i counted) and can strong 2-3 words together and her understanding of what we are saying to her is unbelievable, she simply just doesn't seem to want to talk. Where is that line between her being a late bloomer with speech and there being a problem.

i'm doing everything i possibly can to help her with her speech, but try not to push her too far as i don't want her becoming stubborn if you know what i mean lol

sorry for the long guys....upset and slightly emotional and frustrated xx

Has the GP referred her to audiology for a hearing test? Might be worth doing if her ear drums look congested and she's had a lot of tonsillitis / colds. My ds (now 4) suffers with frequent ear infections and had one recently - as expected, his hearing was down a little in the ear in which he'd recently had an infection, due to congestion behind the drum. Any hearing problems can delay speech. Ds started to talk late (nothing to do with hearing - he hadn't started all the ear infections then). He barely said anything before he was 2, but then when he did start to talk his speech came on in leaps and bounds. Some children just wait until they have a lot to say before they start speaking! Equally, starting nursery will make a huge difference to her speech - you'll really notice that, I'm sure. Don't blame you for feeling frustrated and anxious but I don't think she is hugely behind in speech, just at the later end of the normal spectrum (I'm a GP as well as a frazzled mum of two.)

thanks mum2benji....very reassuring

i'm just in such a turmoil over this, you wouldn't believe it!! one day i'm thinking she's going to be ok and the next i've got her needing help for the rest of her life lol i know being realistically she's not going to be 8 or 9 or whatever and not be able to string a sentence together, but as her mum i want to do what's right for her and not let her down, which i feel like i would be doing if i didn't try and get some sort of help!! like i've said where is the line between being a late bloomer and there being a problem.

i read about a case in the Lawyer magazine where a lady was trying to sue her playgroup leader for not picking up on her son's speech problems and thought got shoot me now i do not want to be that highly strung over this lol xx

sorry, meant to say no mention of hearing test, yet another waiting and see type of thing! the antihistamine is to be taken 3 weeks so i've taken the bull by the horns and booked an appt for 3 weeks time to see if any difference has been made, but from what i've been reading up about fluid build up etc is that this is only a short term solution, how do i know that 2/3 days or weeks or months after stopping them the problem won't reoccur.

when i spoke to the doctor he seemed to be leaning towards her adenoids being the problem rather than her tonsils (at least that's the way i've read it) as she snores something terrible and does tend to sound quite nasal.... and what i did forget to mention to him is that she cannot breathe through her nose, not sure if that would make a difference or not!!

ggggrrr so many questions and so many thoughts going through my mind!!
(i work in a solicitors and went to meet a barrister about a case today, he mentioned he has a 2.6 year old daughter, well i questioned him like you wouldn't believe ofer her speech lol).
x