At what age is speech therapy helpful?

[used2bthin]

My DD is only 20 m so early days but the doctor asked me to return in a month if her speech hadn't progressed. Well it hasn't but I am wondering if there is much point going back because we are still waiting for an appointment about her hearing and anyway what can the doctor actually do? Unless she would refer her for speech therapy but is she a bit young for that anyway?

Don't know anything about this but that doctor sounds like she needs a good kicking for worrying you unnecessarily!!! Speech develops at different paces for everybody and 20 months sounds far too early to be identifying a 'problem'.

Oh thank you I thought she may have been being a bit over the top, she is a very thorough kid of a doctor come to think of it so may have just been covering herself. I think her concern was that DD has lost some/most of the words she used to have but then it seems possible that she has temporarily stopped saying them while she focuses on other things? She hasn't said some of them for six months or so though. I go between thinking its so over the top to even worry, to thinking actually she isn't saying nearly enough!

A bit harsh there about the Gp ! they are damned if they do and damned if they dont.

Go back to the GP and ask her what she intends to do about it if she thinks its a problem .

I do agree that a SALT my not look at your DD at this age , it is important to get the hearing test done as if there is a speech problem much of it can be resolved with the hearing.

At least the GP is caring .

As a salt, I would state that most GPs over refer (as do HVs).As a result,departments are swamped with inappropriate referrals that have to be honoured.

Impossible to say on what grounds GP has referred your child but it's true about them being damned whatever they do.

DS2 is 20 months, we just have Mama, Dada, juice, up, down, yes, no, bye, shoes, fish, and alot of chatting (nonsense) and pointing.

If anyone suggested speech therapy I would say no at the moment.

Thanks all, I thought that 20m was a bit young but thought I'd check in case intervention before a certain age was the norm. Moondog, she hasn't mentioned speech therapy as yet I just thought that must be what she meant when she said to come back in a month if no improvement but I could have been wrong? This hearing test seems to be taking ages to come through(she was referred a month ago). The doctor found bubbles in her ear so thought it could be glue ear. DD has a lot of medical issues including a genetic condition which is rare enough that GPs aren't usually very confident about knowing what to do with her so I think it could have been a case of being very cautious as is often the case with DD. On the up side it means she gets careful attention!

Kerrymum I think my HV said similar except maybe she said two years when I asked a while ago at what point they worry.

You might be waiting another couple of months for a hearing test so dont hold your breath !

Go back to the GP you never know if there is a history she may push the hearing test along for you .

JJ DD doesn't say that much, she used to say cat, nose, more or at least she seemed to say them appropriately. But now she just says one phrase/sound for EVERYTHING,constantly, all day long! Oh except sometimes she'll say mum mum or Dada. She does point a lot though and generally I know what she means so I'm hoping she just hasn't felt the need to talk yet iyswim. Bit odd about stopping saying stuff though?

CaptainUnderpants I hadn't thought of it that way. It seems a bit unnecessary somehow but then she did tell me to go back if nothing had changed...or I suppose I could just call the HV.

Just got the hearing test through, its was when we are on holiday, typical! Anyway I rang and changed it and now she is going in July so not too long. Poor thing has then got three hospital appointments in the space of one week, one the week before, three of which will involve quite difficult procedures for someone her age, hope the hearing one isn't stressful too.

In Liverpool it is very hard to get a referral for a child under 3. Which meant I ended up with 36 month old with severely delayed speech having to wait a further 8 months for the initial assessment appointment. Far better IME for a child to have a potentially unnecessary referral than for a child like mine to slip the net. Speech therapy is pretty much uninvasive and unobtrusive, so is not going to do a normally developing child any harm at all. There are all sorts of activities that help non-verbal communication (the precursors to speech and conversational skills) that a SALT can do/advise on with a child of this age.

used2b - when my DS has a hearing test it was pretty low key and unstressful - the doc looked at his ear, then got him to put some wooden men in a boat when he heard certain sounds.

DS1 had a severe phonological disorder and started speech therapy at just turned 4. You need to catch it early enough to make sure they don't have serious problems when they start school but, as others have commented, not worry about it too early as they all develop at their own pace. Bear in mind how long waiting lists are in your area. In ours, it takes six months to get an assessment then a further six months to start treatment so, if you want to start treatment at age four, you need to be referred a year earlier. I'd say it's better to get a referral and cancel it if you don't need it than leave it, then have to wait months when you find out you have a problem (apologies to over-worked SALTS but I'm speaking from a parent's perspective). If you can afford it, a private referral is much, much quicker.

Thanks TotalChaos, thats good, she's ok with having her ears looked in at least and I assume they'll make noises or something to see what she hears. They are checking for glue ear too not sure exactly what that involves but probably just looking in her ear too? Poor thing will think she lives there after that week and a half and the other things are not going to be nice for her. Good point about it being better to have intervention that is not necessary than not have it when it is! Also waiting lists may be long here too I suppose. Poor GP may not have even meant speech therapy! I just couldn't think what else she would want us to come back for as she's already reffered her for the hearing tests.

x post MDI, a year that is a long time to wait! I think I may speak to the health visitor again or ask the GP when we are next there about it. I'm thinking though that if something is picked up at the hearing test then things will move from there anyway?

If a child loses words they really should be assessed further. (and I'm sure moondog will agree with me if she comes back to this thread).

The problem with SALT referrals is that they can take a very long time (DS2 who was known to be high risk for all sorts of things waited a year after a referral at 24 months).

The loss of words did seem to be the doctors concern tbh. And it bothers me too, it just seems odd. The HV said about children stopping one skill while they learn new ones which I thought sounded plausable as I know DD stopped clapping and waving while she was learning to walk but some words she hasn't said now in over six months. Sory to hear of all these children having to wait so ong, it seems awaful when it can make such a difference to be seen early.

I'd go back to the doc, say you're concerned about loss of words and get the referrals. The waits for anything are long and if she starts chattering away in the meantime you can always cancel any appointments.

Yes true. I'm worried that people will think I'm inventing things but that is completely irrational because DD has a genetic condition causing parts of her body not to work so it'd be impossible to fake that or the surgery she needs! And she's got psoriasis so again I haven't dreamed that up but I just feel like the medical proffession will be thinking oh her again more things wrong! Oh poor poor DD she is so happy and lovely. At least she is not too aware of the anxiety that goes on around her. I hope not anyway!

Don't worry - losing words is an accepted reason for a referral - and your GP sounds switched on.

Thanks GBIYJJ good advice.

Thanks LeonieD and sorry to hear you are having a frustrating wait too. I had DD screeching at me n DA which is the "phrase" she uses, all morning now and am feeling slightly worried that this week at least she has stopped saying oh dear which is what n da had originally changed into. She also says in dere which sometimes we interpret as in there but she says it all the time so its hard to tell. She does say mum mum and occasionally da for Dad but she used to clearly say Daddy so its odd. Hope you get the support you need for your DD LeonieD(and others on here who are waiting).