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

Sorry had a nightmare with resetting password. Hanbee thanks for message he has come along way with signing and now knows about 40 signs and has made a big difference to our lives. We are learning the toilet sign at the moment which he is getting good at so I can then start thinking about toilet training him
Im glad I wasn't the only one that was gutted when the hearing test came back and we found his hearing to be normal as I was pinning all the hopes on the fact he was deaf as I could then understand why he didn't speak
jay hope you can make some progress at 2 year assessment when my ds had his we where able to get him referred to a paed

Does anyone find their child trying to say a word but missing bits out? If a word has two or more syllables my DS will often miss the last two out or just miss the end off a word. He is trying to talk and I can understand some of his words but we both get frustrated when I don't.

Got my internet book but it isn't much use - just encouraging you to talk and interact with your child. Bit fucking obvious really. I think I need something to help him sound his letters.

No word yet from SALT (health visitor did say it could take up to 12 weeks though). Just frustrated waiting for an inital assesment. Keep reading about worst case scenarios - conditions like apraxia. Then I wonder if he is autistic because he lines his cars up. And I still can't get him to wear his glasses. He also refuses to try and toilet train. And he has another cold. So fed up.

Sorry, that was a right moan. Hope everyone having a good(ish) day and not worrying too much - it is bright sunshine here in Daventry .

Hi millimurphy DS uses to miss out syllables all the time. We did lots of clapping put the syllables in words, so really slowing the word down and listening to how many syllables. Doing it with familiar names is a good place to start e.g. Mum my ( two claps etc). We made a little book too, cut out pictures from magazines or printed off the internet. We clapped out the syllables and put all the words with 2 syllables on one page, the ones with 3 on another page etc. He wasn't always getting the right sounds when doing this but it was a good activity for his awareness of how long words were and so at leat he might be saying the right number of syllables even if not not all the correct sounds at first.

Also singing the jolly phonics so gs was good for helping him with his sounds. You can get them on you tube.

Thank-you JellyandJam .

Well that's it then... DS private SALT has just left after what may well be his last ever session! She's left me with some stuff on generalisation to do with him and is going to give me a call in six weeks. At that point she will just check up on how we are getting on, if we want her to come back and do a few extra sessions she will, if not then that's it... End of our journey...

jellyandjam that's great! Am sure you are pleased with your DS's progress, long may it continue

Well DD's assessment was today. I honestly don't know how I feel. The HV decided that she should refer DD for developmental assessment. Basically the lack of speech together with some play skill issues have ticked enough boxes for the referral. She is not displaying imaginative play yet and would not build a tower out of blocks for HV. Now I know DD can build a tower of blocks as I've seen her do it 100 times! But HV was an hour late DD was tired and hungry so she would not cooperate. But there you go we've been referred so it can take up to 6months and she'll be seen by multidisciplinary team (SALT included).

I'm just a bit numb at this point I had put her delay in play skills down to her lack of communication but I guess if there is something else going on, the earlier it's recognised and managed the better Not looking forward to 6 months of worry and analysing her every little behaviour.

The fact that she won't (I say won't as I know she can) feed herself is also an issue apparently. But left tonight to get on with it she fed herself her dinner! Dunno tired thinking about it at this point, tired and emotional

Oh sorry that you haven't had the news you were expecting to hear jay. The assessment may well just rule anything else out or if there is more going on then they have got to it early which is good.
I remember when DS had his first ever assessment feeling awful when we left as the woman had said that he seemed to have problems with concentration as well and implied there may be more there. In reality I know that she was rubbish with him and he was bored by having to look through 30+ pictures to say wat they were. I still felt worried but after speaking to his preschool teacher she reassured me that there was nothing wrong with his concentration and did had no worries in that area. His teacher was right!

Sorry you will have to wait so long jaybird - I was moaning at only having to wait up to 12 weeks. I know what you mean about being tired thinking about it all the time and also scrutinising every little thing your child does. You know she can do better than what she showed the health visitor though - it is awful expecting them to perform on cue like a flaming seal show. I know my son goes very shy around strangers, especially when they are showing lots of interest in him. Hope you feel a bit better soon.

Thanks milli and jelly, the wait is so long because she's been referred to a multidisciplinary team. Had it just been a SALT referral that would have been 6-12weeks, but HV said we may as well check everything early, rather than wait til she's 21/2 then have to wait another 6months for developmental assessment IYSWIM. I am glad something is being done.

I guess I understand why she is being sent for assessment but I think the conditions and timings of the HV assessment were unfair. She put a lot of onus on imaginative play but the main reason DD doesn't play with dolls and tea sets is I've never bought her any! I looked for her birthday but they all said 3+ on them so that's my fault that that box got checked She does however build slides from sofa cushions and involve a soft toy monkey in her games. The not building the tower was just rubbish as DD was far more interested in the HV bag with the scales etc which she opened to get the blocks out, so DD looked at the blocks when asked to but went back to trying to open the bag! My mum said I never played with dolls etc despite her best efforts coz she loved dolls, but I preferred to be outdoors and kick a ball about. She also said she doesn't remember me doing that type of pretend playing until I was 3or closer to 4.

I have had time to think,DD is as bright as a button and she may be displaying a couple of red flags in her social play and interaction but hopefully once her speech takes off the rest will follow. Meanwhile I'm going to enjoy my beautiful DD. Whatever will be will be, we will deal with it.

Feeling a bit sad tonight. My neighbours daughter is a month younger than LittleElf and her speech is amazing. I know all children are different but I just want her to communicate with me so badly.

Jay, my DD was also raising concerns about her imaginative play, or rather lack of. The speech therapist said it would improve along with her speech as it's all connected, and I'm pleased to say it really has. I hope that reassures you.
And DD didn't build the bridge or tower when asked...there was far too many interesting things in the room to play with at the time

Dontwannabe try not to be disheartened. I felt exactly the same as you, numerous times. She will catch up with her speech, and in the meantime she is probably more advanced with her physical skills than other children. It's swings and roundabouts, I just think speech is the one that everyone notices, rather than if their child can hop, skip, jump etc

Hi jay

I changed my username slightly, because I forgot my username because of this reset thing...but because my DS ASD symptoms are so mild to non-existent he does not get any help. But hopefully when he starts proper school, he will get help.

dontwannabe I have been there so many times. Not helped by my two close friends having DD's 6 months and 12 months younger than DS whose speech was streets ahead of his. Try not to feel disheartened, little elf will get there it just might take them a little longer than other children.

I really hope that our story can give people hope. To put into perspective a little, 7 months ago DS was screened has having the articulation of a two year old (and only just two as well). At this point he was 4.10 so way behind where he should have been. He is now 5.5 years and his articulation is coming out at around 6 years!! I'd say the whole process has taken around 18 months with progress seeming slow at first but once it started clicking once it started clicking into place it was amazing to see (and hear).
They will all get there, keep going.

adrianna was his diagnosis based purely on his language issues? I guess a diagnosis is bitter sweet if he's so mild? Maybe frustrating that he's been labelled but maybe good because he will get support in school etc, I dunno not an area I know a lot about yet! I am resisting the urge to go off to google ASD etc because I can be quite obsessive about things so I think if I look in to it now I will just constantly scrutinise everything she does/doesn't do. And that's not conducive to enjoying DD. I'm just going to concentrate on her speech and language issues and throw my efforts into helping her where I can for now. Then once we've to deal with anything else I'll cross that bridge if I need to.

So, patiently waiting for the Hanen book to arrive to get stuck into that

I just wanted to post to give reassurance to anyone on this thread.
When my son was 20 months old he wasn't babbling or speaking. I wasn't worried about his hearing as he understood lots and reacting to noises, however was worried about lack of speech so ref to dr who ref to a paediatrician who organised hearing check which was fine and then ref to SALT.
At about 28 months old he started to babble.
At 29 months we started to have a SALT come to the home once a week for 6 weeks they gave examples of how to help such as just using one word at a time.
At 30 months he spoke his 1st words and has since continually progressed.
At 36 months he started nursery attached to a school and the SALT came into the school to help the teachers with activities to help DS speech.
Now at nearly 4 his speech is brilliant and can't believe how far he has come in such a short time.
I can't be certain if he would have come on with or without SALT but I think it has helped him in nursery with that extra help. If you have any concerns about your child's speech I would ref to SALT as waiting list is long took 9 m

Oops presses post to soon.
Took 9 months from ref to see a therapist.

Noticed on one post to ignore if they don't speak agree that's just cruel.

Anyway just wanted to give a little hope as I remember the worry and looking for threads with positive outcomes when my DS couldn't speak.

Hi, I'm going to join you all but I'm not sure I'll be reassuring.

DS is nearly 6. He didn't start using single words until 2 amd putting them together until 3. I thought he would catch up and didn't think much of it especially when at his two year check I was told he was fine.

At his fourth birthday party I noticed how poor his speech was compared to his peers so refered him to a SALT. I was told he has disorganised speech but as I knew his understanding was fine.

When he started reception I could see something wasn't right excluding his speech. He couldn't dress himself for PE, found it very difficult to learn phonics, had difficulty counting and writing his name. Was told as he had settled in socially they weren't too worried.
At the start of year on his teacher picked up his problems. Teaching him to write his name took months of daily practise (due to not writing his name for a few days at the start of the holiday he has made mistakes with it over the last couple of days) the same with counting to 10. He is however very imaginative and scored highly on non verbal and verbal reasoning tests. I have worked closely with his teacher to try to help him.

He had an OT ointment last week and I was told he has dyspraxia and also some sensory issues, this explains why dressing is so hard for him and why is fine motor skils are so poor. His SALT is going to investigate whether he has verbal dyspraxia.

He has two high achieving siblings who have never had any of the difficulties he faces and I know that his difficulties are not due to his home environment but I still feel like many will judge me and assume it is.
With regard to potty training I tried from about 2 1/2 and had unsuccessful attempts until at 3.11 DS decided he didn't want to wear a nappy anymore and was dry day and night straight away!

It's so bad when parents blame themselves...... People are hard-wired to look for reasons, hence the stupid "oh I read to him a lot" comments.

It is confusing though. If your child is developing normally, they would learn to talk even if you never read them a book. they might have an impoverished vocabulary but that's a different issue altogether.

So the reason we parents of kids with lnguage problems are told to read them lots of books and talk with them lots isn't because we haven't done this anyway, but because it turns out they are going to need more of this kind of thing than other children. Does that make sense?

Anyway, hearing test then It Takes Two to Talk is a good start.

Hi Jaybird.

Once my son's language took off, the rest did indeed follow xx. Because of the extent of his language delay, it took a long time for his social skills to catch up, but every year the gap gets smaller and now he doesn't really have any problems.

Sympathies re the crudeness of the "tests"... This brings back memories....However, you are very lucky to be referred so early....

Www.teachmetotalk.com is very good.
Hanen It Takes Two to Talk is great because it won't freak you out and you can show it to every one in your extended family whatever their opinion about the reasons for the delay.
ASD books have techniques that are usually extremely relevant to children with "only" language problems, so if you do end up googling I think that's fine, but you'd probably do better to spend an afternoon in Waterstones checking out what's relevant to you.

Thanks for all the reassurance everyone. I have noticed only positives in DD I have to say. My mum was counting with her and DD mimicked the sound of her granny saying the numbers perfectly from one to ten, ok it was uh uh uhhhh's but the tone of her noises matched what my mum was saying. My dad was doing a shape puzzle with her and DD lost interest and took the star into a different room. 10-15min later he said to her where's that star? Straight away off she trotted to wherever she'd left it, brought it back and put it in the puzzle!! So I now can say her understanding is excellent. And she's started making the uh-oh noise, not always in context but it's a start! So feeling more optimistic here So much can happen in 6 months, so positive thoughts all the way........

Hi Jaybird
My Ds was referred to a a Development paed a couple of months ago. It was really informal she took down alot of notes and got him to play with some puzzles and toys to see how he got on but it does take him along time to warm to people. She wants to see him again in 6 months doing a watch and wait with him.
Its always good to see the positives my Ds has made no progress in talking but his confidence is starting to build.

Although ive recently noticed that hes having a problem with his eyes and keeps going crossed eyed so another trip back to the Drs sometimes I think I should live there we always seem to be there!!!!