Support thread for speech and language delay.......

[jaybirdsinginginthedeadofnight]

I know this has been done before on here, but I couldn't find anything recent and am sure there is someone out there going through similar worries to us. So if you want to share your experiences/worries come join me

DD turns 2 in 2 weeks and has no words, not one! She babbles constantly and has added new 'c' 's' and 'th' sounds to her babbling in the last week. Her understanding seems good and she has her own way of letting us know what she wants (point & whinge a lot). She will have her 2 year assessment next week, I intend on broaching the subject of SALT.

I am sooooo anxious about all of this. DD's cousin is 6months older, and as her speech has developed well she seems leaps and bounds ahead of DD

I am so glad to see this thread I was literally going to post about this today but wasn't sure where and if I'd even get any responses...

My little boy 2years 3 months was diagnosed with sensory processing disroder a few weeks ago by a developmental paedaitrician. I took him with speech delay and a few other 'quirky' behaviours.

She diagnosed SPD but then said as he was 2 he was too young for any intervention and discharged us saying he would be picked up again on starting school in 2.5 years.

I was really upset by this as I don't want him struggling if there is anything I can be doing to help him in the meantime with both his SPD and speech.
She told me there was no need for SALT as he wasn't talking and 'its not like they can force him to talk'

I went back to HV she has referred to SALT they are coming tomorrow actually to see him. But Iam open to any advice tips help and information any one can give me on how to encourage his speaking.

I almost think it's a concious decision for him not to talk - there have been two occasions this week where he hasn't been able to get what he wants to say to me accross in non verbal gestures and used full sentences . In between he doesn't say a word well actually he says one 'WOW'

One occasion his dad was at the door and I didn't see as I was busy with our newborn so he shouted 'mummy its daddy look' and then last night we were playing on his chalk board I passed him the chalk and he gave it back to me saying 'no you do it' me and my dh were :o

Has anyone had any experince of this a child that seems to refuse to speak when maybe they can. Incase it makes a difference he does struggle with new situations and change due to his SPD and we have just had another baby which has taken him a while to adjust to (I still don't think he has fully adjusted tbh) but apart from that there is no other upheaval in his life. Oh actually he was at nursery for 6 months but it was so distressing for him I had to pull him out (on nursery's and hv's advice) but luckily I was able to start my mat leave earlier from work.

sorry to hijack the thread op

Joining! DS2 turned 3 yesterday & has a speech & language delay of around 1 year. He now says about 50 words & has started to put 2 words together over the last week or two (about which I'm thrilled ). He understands most of what is said to him. His words have also started to become a lot clearer in the last couple of weeks & he is using them a lot more often in more appropriate contexts. He is pretty much like a child described here link

I was concerned by his 2-year check so got the ball rolling then. He had group speech therapy at 23 months, referred for hearing test & individual SALT at 24 months, we have had 2 blocks of sessions since then. He had glue ear for at least 8 months between ages 2-3, audiologist saud h'd expect this to cause a speech delay of the same length of time. SALT has referred him on to the community paediatrician to rule out other issues but has also said he is probably just delayed & that delayed language can lead to delays in other areas such as play & socialising.

cat no worries about hijacking, all welcome . Though I've no advice for you hopefully someone else will.

paintyfingers thanks for the link, it's ordered.

gutted that rings true about delays in play and socialising going hand in hand with speech. I think DD can seem like a 'loner' sometimes. But she always wants an adult involved in her play she is constantly pushing/pulling me and DH to where she wants us It's very easy to escalate little quirks, when your LO has speech problems, to something they are not.

I saw another thread on here that made me a bit annoyed about LO's watching TV. I was going to post but after a deep breath and counting to 10 I decided it wouldn't achieve anything! Some were suggesting too much screen time = speech delay. I let DD watch an hour of Mickey a day the other 10 hrs (she naps an hr) she's awake we are out and about, playing in house/garden, or she's at jo jingles etc I have read to her from a few months old and constantly commentate on what's going on, our family are talkers so she is constantly talked to. It'd be easy to blame Mickey for all this, sorry just needed a rant

jay that is tosh about TV! Obviously, too much is a bad thing, but so is too much of anything. I can't see that an hour or so a day would do much harm, and some of it is good for them. The SALT encouraged me to put 'Something Special' on for DS, as it teaches makaton (sign language) and any communication is good communication. I have a rule that, apart from 1 episode of Something Special, there is no TV until after dinner (usually finish about 6-6.30). Admittedly, this has gone a bit haywire recently with the arrival of DS3, but we are getting back to it & we do plenty of other stuff, too

Just wondered if others on this thread are aware that if your DC has a speech delay, you may be entitled to nursery funding (15 hours per week) from 2 years old. You need a SALT to put in writing that your DC will benefit, but it's well worth investigating. Ask HV or at Children's centre.

OK deep breath. First of all, no word at 16 months is not a speech delay. It's well within the norm for a 16 month old not to have words, just like it's within the norm to have a 12 month old who has 30 words. All normal.

Nursery and socialising is great, but it's not going to replace meaningful, one-to-one communication between an adult and a toddler. It will not be as good as a parent or carer sitting down on the floor having a nice conversation with a child, singing nursery rhymes, giving undivided attention to the child. Neither are apps on computers. It enrages me to read 'my son has a speech delay but can point at a triangle on the ipad'. Speaking to your child will help with speech development, and with basic knowledge skills like colours and shapes. Not apps on a bleeming machine. What is a 2 year old doing on an ipad anyway?

There are many websites and resources to support children with speech development issues, and even if you have sessions with a speech therapist, the responsibility ends up with the parents to do exercises at home.

• Show toddlers how to listen. When walking outside, tell them, STOP, Listen, I can hear an airplane. A car, church bells, birds, whatever. Point to your ears. Practice short instructions such as 'where... are your shoes, coat, etc' and reinforce good listening by saying 'good listening!'. Really make a point of supporting their listening skills.

• Speak in short sentences, with enphasis on key words. 'Would you like some milk? Nice MILK, cold MILK. mmmmm milk!' repeat key words, even if it's really annoying to other people around.

• Commentate on what the child does, don't ask too many questions. Think of yourself as a sports commentator. There's no need to lead the play, or to take over what the child is doing, just observe and comment, in short sentences repeating key words.

• make lots of noises such as animal noises, car noises, airplane noises, nee naa, etc. I don't know why it works, but many toddlers will be able to make a Brmmmm sound before they can say 'car' and make a woof sound before they say 'dog'.

• Repeat what the child says, even if it's just babbing. If the toddler/baby says babab boo, you repeat babab boo. It makes the child believe that you are actually listening and understanding what he/she is saying, and that you are having an actual conversation. They will probably repeat the sounds, and that repetition is very important. You do sound stupid and annoying to all the other adults around you, but who cares.

• Encourage toddler to blow raspberries, pull faces, stick tongue out, fill up their cheeks with air, blow in a straw (in a glass of milk, to make bubbles, messy but great fun.). All these help with recognising and developing the muscles in the face.

• Give toddler tools to express themselves. Show them how to point, not all children 'get' pointing, you might need to show them how to do it by modelling it. Use Makaton. Use picture cards.

• Sing lots of nursery rhymes. Repeat the same ones many times a day. After a while, try to skip a word and see if the child tries to fill in the blank. Praise any sound that they make even if it's not correct.

There's my dissertation done, hope it helps.

Well blueberry now I've had time to calm down I feel able to reply to you! I'm guessing you have skimmed this thread and not read it in detail as you seem to have mixed me (OP) up with another posters LO. My DD is 2 and has never said a word I believe that IS classed as a delay.

The suggestion that I think nursery will replace adult one-on-one time is insulting. If you had actually read what I said DD is starting nursery as I return to work, it is necessary for her to go, I don't think my boss would appreciate her running round our department to get some one-on-one time with me. I simply meant from the social side of it, it should help her. FYI she will only be going 21/2days a week.

As for the iPad she uses it rarely maybe once a week she'll play a wee game on it for 5mins, if you had read my pp you would know that I do plenty of activities with DD. I see no harm in her playing an educational game for 5mins, infact it amazes me that she is so clever and able to use it.

I have read endless websites for advice and sought advice from a friend who is a SALT, and am well aware that it is my responsibility to teach her.

As for your list of advice (most of which is common sense IMO) I do ALL those things with DD and more.

I trust it is a relief to you to discover I am bringing DD up correctly. Thanks for your advice all noted. I'm sure the motivation behind your post was sincere but I'm afraid it came across a little judgy, perhaps you didn't mean it that way?

It was the health visitor who said there was a speech, language and communication delay actually.

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post, but I wondered if anyone else had been through this: My little lady is 20 months old and has just 12 words. However, she says these words clearly and has some animal sounds. Her understanding is excellent and she has no other issues. But for the past couple of days, just as she wakes up, she knows lots of extra words. We look through her animal book and she can say goat, mole, mouse even kangeroo very clearly. However an hour or so later she is back to saying them un-clearly again - and that's it, until the next morning. Is this normal or should I talk to the HV?

blueberry it may come as a surpries but most of us whether we have children with delayed speech do all these things already.
Listing these techniques- as helpful as they are intended will not have one jot of effect on many children with a speech delay.

The causes of speech dalay are wide ranging and varied, but for many children ther is not much that can be done- assuming the child is in an atmosphere that is enriched with language anyway.

You cannot teach a child to walk before he is ready, and some children cannot be taught to talk before thier time either.

My late talking children were very aware af their delay and many of these techniques would have put far too much pressure upon an already frustrated child.

I have a 2.5 year old Ds and at his 2 year check I was told to keep an eye on his speech.

He has lots of words but hasn't started to make sentences yet. He understands and responds and takes instructions but can't/won't form sentences yet. What can I do to help him? Other than blueberrys suggestions, which go without saying. At what point do we get help from a SALT?

Saw the health visitor today and she has reassured me and told me not to panic. She has referred my boy to the SALT team - she said I will hear from them within 12 weeks and they will properly assess his speech and language. She has also referred him for a hearing check up to make sure he is OK in that department. I have also got someone coming out to help with his sleeping patterns - as he is an awful sleeper as well! He actually wakes us up more during the night than the new baby - how bizarre is that?

Have ordered a book on the internet called, 'My Toddler Talks' - previously on the thread though someone has mentioned a more expensive book, 'It Takes Two To Talk' - would it be worth my getting this?

No more dummy - I hadn't realised that dummies could cause speech problems and he has just been in a habit of having one since a baby. Feel stupid now - there is loads of stuff on the internet that says don't let your child have them longer than needed - grrr.

Reading every day - he has only in the past month let me sit down and actually read with him. Previously he would slam the book shut every time yelling, 'no'. We have a few picture books and some story books - more have been ordered.

We have a running commentry now throughout the day with me explaining things, he listens and repeats things. I am making sure I now stop what I am doing (washing up/hoovering/clothes sorting/cleaning pet cages etc - it really is endless) and sit down and listen to him when he is telling me things.

Have sourced out some play groups to go to - going to make time and take him out to mingle with other children. I am not looking forward to it - I find it hard to just go up and talk to people. But we are often out and about, he will see another toddler and will go up to them to talk and try and make friends. So he obviously does want some other littlies to play with.

Still feeling quite upset - keep seeing much younger children out and about now and they all speak better than he does. It breaks my heart listening to him repeat things because I can't understand . Sorry a big essay again. A big chin up to everyone else who is going through similar problems .

enormouse children usually start to use 2 words together once they have a vocabulary of around 50 words. It could be useful to make a list of all the words your DS has, and add to it whenever he obtains a new word. I did this for my DS and it helped me to see the progress he was making, and I was also able to judge roughly when I would expect him to use 2 words together - it has been surprisingly accurate

As for SALT, I would get yourself on the waiting list straight away, as lots of areas have long waits to see a SALT. The wait in my area is considered short and it is 18 weeks - that is a long time in the life of a 2-year old! You can always cancel the SALT appointment if you don't need it, or go along anyway, as it can't do any harm & there may be some tips you could use.

gutted thank you. I'll definitely do that. And I'm going to phone the HV tomorrow and get a referral through.
He is very stubborn and has used words, only to refuse to repeat them for certain people so it's hard to gauge exactly how much he knows. For e.g. he has said 'great grandad' when with my MIL and her dad but never said it for me.

I do worry it's my fault but I'm not sure what else to do, have downloaded some of the books pps have recommended to get more ideas. He is well socialised (playgroups etc) and gets lots of one to one time with me and Dp, we have lots of books that he loves and a leaptop.

Blueberry I never spoke to my dd (Still don't much) and she is now 5 and on the G&T register at school, probably thanks to CBeebies.

I doubt the wise blueberry will be back to give further advice. Am glad others found that post a bit odd perhaps the title of the thread escaped blueberry. It really did annoy me, but DD put her arms up to me earlier I lifted her she hugged me tight and gave me a smacker of a kiss, made the blueberries of this world seem less important

enormouse SALT told me that even words only said once count, as it shows the DC know them & they are just storing them away for a later date, while they work on others. I mark in my list if words are less frequent, also if they are said differently eg ds says 'dam' for jam (or anything spreadable) I showed the SALT my list, too

I have to say I did not find SALT helpful at all. Both my children were late talkers, ( 3 & 3.5 before even first words) I found the therapy useless at best. In fact my DD became very upset at the techniques used and refused to go back.
My children did start to talk despite SALT rather than because of it.

Dc1 hit all the speech milestones more or less on time, perhaps a tiny bit early but nothing remarkable.
Dc2 had vocab of 80+ words by 18mo and was stringing 2 or 3 together.
Dc3 never hit a speech milestone ever, made slow progress and started school with limited vocab, poor diction and grammar, needed SALT intervention etc etc

Guess what? I spoke to them all! In fact, if anything, dc2 got the least input, as I had PND after he was born and had another baby by the time he was 1 so was kind of busy

I think as long as babies hear a reasonable amount of speech/get a reasonable amount of attention then their parents should not beat themselves up about slow speech development. Turned out dc3 couldn't hear us properly/much at all (glue ear) so all that talking was (in the nicest possible way) a bit wasted on him. Hard to believe as I walk him to school now accompanied by a constant monologue - it's wonderful to hear.

atthestrokeoftwelve I have had mixed experiences as far as NHS SALT is concerned. The first one yo one therapist he had was great and it did help but was just too inconsistent (down to funding not therapist which was why we started private alongside). Then after two blocks they changed his therapist and it was a disaster. She was terrible with DS and he became completely disengaged (the complete opposite to what everyone else who works with him says)! They were still working on stuff that the private therapist had moved on from weeks earlier, depute the fact DS was now using these sounds in generalised speech. We have had four sessions with her and decided if we were offered another block we would turn it down. As if happens a block still hasn't come up for him yet and as I mentioned earlier the private therapist is now saying he only needs a few more sessions- so by the time one comes up he may well have been discharged!!
The private therapist on the other hand had been the best thing we ever did. I can't even begin to explain the progress that DS had made with her. He wasn't a late talker as such, he always had a lot to say but was unable to articulate the sounds (we believe down to the severe reflux he differed as a baby up to the age of four).

shoewhore I totally get what you mean. I am constantly smiling when I hear the sounds DS is making now and his clear his speech is.

millimurphy just keep doing what you are doing. When the SALT starts they will give you excerises and ideas to use as well. Trust me it will get better

Lots of typos! Sorry!

gutted in light of what you and everyone has said about nhs SALT I've gotten in touch with a private therapist to see about getting DS assessed. Even though Dp wanted to wait for an nhs appointment.

jelly it really helps to hear you had a good experience with a private therapist.

I did find blueberry's post quite patronising. I hate the assumption that DS doesn't talk because I've obviously locked him in a room with no interaction, just a tv and an iPad for company.