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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

Speech Therapy - has it helped anyone?

31 replies

mum2twins · 05/01/2005 20:09

My ds (3.5yr twin) has got a speech delay. Alot of people find it difficult to understand him. He has a wide vocab but is not clear. To make matters worse since November he has had 5 ear infections which has meant he is going to have grommits. I am meeting with my HV on Monday and want to suggest speech therapy - has anyone had experience of this and how does it work etc.
Thanks

OP posts:

happynewessbee · 05/01/2005 20:13

Message withdrawn

Original poster

mum2twins · 05/01/2005 20:16

great to hear your ds did so well. My gp has actually said she thinks he should go and fortunately I spoke to the office today and the therapist only currently has a waiting list of 8 weeks - I was expecting much longer. The hv is going to do the referral. What techniques did they show you/him at that age?

OP posts:

happynewessbee · 05/01/2005 20:20

Message withdrawn

happynewessbee · 05/01/2005 20:20

Message withdrawn

roisin · 05/01/2005 20:31

Mum2twins - Speech Therapy worked wonders for my ds1. At age 3.5 very few people could understand him at all, as there were LOADS of sounds he just didn't make at all. He made a little progress at first, but was only having sessions once a month, and the therapist wasn't great.

For us the breakthrough came when we moved house (when he was 5). In the new County he was allocated weekly sessions, and really clicked with the therapist. He made fabulous progress that year.

His speech is still not 'perfect', but he is always intelligible.

HTH

roisin · 05/01/2005 20:35

The therapist will first of all assess your ds, and notice which sounds are the problem ones. Then he/she will note whether he can make these sounds at all, and in what settings (word initial, medial, final, etc.), or whether there are sounds he cannot make at all.

Then she will decide which sound to start work on, and will give him some games to play, worksheets and so on. It is vitally important that you practice as much as possible at home to make good progress. We used to insist on at least 5 mins every day.

It is also possible that he/she may suggest delaying therapy, if he doesn't co-operate well with the session.

Good luck!

Original poster

mum2twins · 05/01/2005 20:36

oh thats great roisin it is really upsetting when people just look up at me and say 'I don't know what he's talking about' when he is trying so hard to talk to them and they don't even reply to him. I have followed all the advice in a book I bought called babytalk but people always say don't correct them just repeat correctly. So I was interested in how they could improve the speech without 'teaching' iykwim.

OP posts:

Original poster

mum2twins · 05/01/2005 20:39

the main ones he does not say at all are F and S. So 'fish' comes out as 'itt' and 'soft' as ott. Terrible when he is explaining that the cuddly fish is a ott itt! I know what he means though. Problem is DD his twin knows exactly what he means and therefore does not do her any favours either.

OP posts:

roisin · 05/01/2005 20:41

Mum2twins - you have done the right thing. Up to a point you shouldn't correct children, or make an issue of it, just repeat it back correctly. BUT for a certain group of children they never learn correct speech sounds in this way, so they need to be actively taught - at the right stage.

Original poster

mum2twins · 05/01/2005 20:44

well I think this is definately the case for my two as no matter how hard I correct they just speak incorrectly to each other. They probably think I am the one who needs therapy Well hopefully the Hv will sort it out on Monday and get us in the system. I helped out in their nursery and noticed even other children have problems understanding him - and so he becomes dependent on dd as his playmate.

OP posts:

EpiffanyFeast · 05/01/2005 20:45

my dd is 2 and was referred about 6 mths ago and was seen within 2 mths of being referred
She was diagnosed with mild delay, but I am still in complete denial
I understand everyone of her 95 words, the rest of the world is delayed IMHO...
Seriously though, they do work with you, give you lots of idiot proof and fun ways to improve the range and enunciation.
Also re the GRommits my little brother had them at age 4 and he was amazing chatterbox afterwards, when he had been prev quiet and almost sulky...
My dd adores her Speech therapist.. a postive experience if you forgive my total denial..

roisin · 05/01/2005 20:48

'f' and 's' missing at 3.5 is not a major problem - but is one they should be able to work on. They are both fairly easy sounds to explain how to make.

[At 5 ds1 couldn't say: s, sh, j, k, g, th, p, f, v, h, l, r, w!]

I'm sure you're right that being a twin makes it more difficult in many ways.

Original poster

mum2twins · 05/01/2005 20:57

actually now you mention it - probably all those on your list too. Maybe I should monitor him and write them all down - will that help the ST. Thinking about how he talks he often misses off all the first letters. DD isn't too great either but she is better than ds so I wonder if they can refer both of them and they do it together. Do you think the HV can test my DD too or will she be looking for me to be the point of reference.

OP posts:

kid · 05/01/2005 21:06

My DD was refered for speech therapy when she was 3. We had to wait 6 months for an assessment but then started seeing the therapist after a couple of weeks.
It worked wonders for DD, she couldn't pronounce 'k' 't' 'f' and some blends (sk, sp, sh, st) (it was hard for her to even say her name)
She attended sessions once a week and then was given 3 months to be reviewed. Unfortunately, when she turned 5 she was discharged as children then have to go on the adults waiting list (if you live in Hackney) On being discharged, they gave us a report saying she still found it difficult to pronounce words ending with certain blends (can't remember at the moment!)
This term, a speech therapist is attending her school and I have already asked for her to be assessed.

roisin · 05/01/2005 21:08

Twins are something of a special case with language development. I would have thought it would be worthwhile getting them both referred, and doing an assessment together. It may well be that the SALT will assess them and only do therapy with one of them; but some of the games you learn to play will clear up the odd bits with the other one iyswim!

You don't need to make a list of sounds - this is exactly what the SALT is trained to do.

Try not to worry about it. SALT is fun!

roisin · 05/01/2005 21:10

Kid - on the adults list at 5? That's outrageous! It's such a postcode lottery.

I'm sure ds1 would have done a lot better if he'd had more regular therapy at 3.5 or 4, but we didn't get it until he was 5.

zebra · 05/01/2005 21:10

DD is 3y+3 months & doesn't do p, h, s, ch, f (does a p sound instead)...more, probably.
And gets r & l & w all mixed up, but I know that's standard at this age.
Should we refer her for speech therapy? I just don't know!

A friend is adament that it was a complete waste of time for her son, btw.

Original poster

mum2twins · 05/01/2005 21:11

zebra - why did she think it was a waste of time?

OP posts:

zebra · 05/01/2005 21:19

I did type it in, then erased, thought I'd bore you all.

Her DS (J.) is in same class with my DS; seems to be my DS's best mate at the moment. At age 3 or so his mum was concerned about his speech, but "they" assessed him as having a social skills disorder, with a consequential language problem. So he was put in for social/speech/group therapy with 2 other children -- one spoke much better than J., but had cognitive problems. The other child had severe behavioral problems and disrupted every group activity. An exercise might be they'd play the sounds of a lawnmower & ask J. to pick out which picture it was in a group of 3; he could pick it out fine ("He's not thick!" exlaimed his mum), he just couldn't say the word. The other boys, one had to think hard to pick out the lawnmower, and one didn't even cooperate to try to pick it out. After 4 or 6 sessions the group therapy was abruptly halted. J.'s speech seems to have sorted itself, at least.

coppertop · 05/01/2005 21:29

Ds1 needed speech therapy as he didn't talk at all (autistic). He had one session a month and we were given games and exercises for him to play/do during the rest of the month. We worked on language as a whole rather than just specific sounds but the result was great. He started to use words of his own (ie not copied) at about 3yrs old. He's now 4.5yrs and apart from a few quirks his speech is now as good as many of his classmates.

kid · 06/01/2005 07:18

My DD will be 6 next weekend, and still can't say certain words. I can't really pinpoint what sound she can't make but I have picked up that she can't say 'ill' or any other word with that sound in it (wheel, feel, hill etc) I was told they are only 2 childrens SP in Hackney thats why they are discharged at such a young age. They are plenty of private ones, but that wasn't an option for us. Will wait and see what the ST says when they assess DD at school.
I actually run a language group at DD's school with a group of 5 children (including DD) its early days to see if there has been any progress

colditzmum · 06/01/2005 11:35

my ds has just been referred to a speech therapist, he is 21 mo and only says two words, doesn't make much of an attempt to communicate either. At this age, will it make any differance?? The HV was just as happy not to refer him, she only did it because I was worried.

coppertop · 06/01/2005 12:01

The waiting lists in most areas are pretty long. We waited 6mths for an assessment and a further 6 months for actual speech therapy. It can be worth getting on the list early just in case. Ds1 was referred after he failed his 2yr development check so 21mths isn't really all that early.

poppy101 · 06/01/2005 12:56

It is not a problem to wait, I have seen many a child at 3 years old in nursery class that haven't said anything. Often the teacher of the class will pick out any problems and will refer on to the specialist bodies. Don't worry too much, your health visitor will advise. When the child is in school many speech problems will not be seen until they enter the main school i.e. reception class. There is often a long waiting list, unless the problem is big.

sinclair · 06/01/2005 16:29

We have found SALT invaluable (but v different situation - DD has DS) but also wanted to give a big thumbs up for grommets - the most important thing we have done for our DD to help her speech (she had persistent glue ear and previously wore hearing aids). My advice (admittedly from a SN pov) is take everything you are offered as soon as it is available rather than wait and hope things will sort themsleves out. Waiting lists where we live are weeks at pre-school age and jump to years at 5 (when the SALT service transfers from health to Education). As ever, follow your instincts...

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