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?

my dd is 22 months and is starting a speech and language therapy group next week. She too has lost words and now relies on "more" or as she says it "MAAAAAAAAAR" and a pointed finger, to communicate. the group is for children aged 18 months to 3 years and I guess its a way to get the children going that just need a little push before they need one to one sessions with the SALT. its a 6 week course run by a SALT called Chatterbox. we were referred by our Dr but I understand it is possible to just put your name down. none of my friends with kids dd's ages were aware of it though so i'm taking dd as a guinea pig as some of her friends don't have much speech either. not sure how widespread these groups are around the county but this could be the kind of thing your gp has in mind.

That sounds really good somethingsticky, I'll google chatterbox and see if we've got the same sort of thing here. Your DD sounds very similar to mine, the yelling one word and pointing. Generally she gets what she wants as I understand her but it must be a bit frustrating.

Hi used2b, I'm also an slt. I agree that you should get a referral to a slt if you are concerned. In most areas, you can refer yourself and do not even need to involve gp/hv. Just phone your local department and leave your details, especially if there is a long waiting list! (your doctor's surgery/hv can give you the number if you do not know where they are).

Is yor dd's genetic condition known to affect language development?

Losing words already learned is unusual so I don't think you should worry what new health professionals think. Slt's are here for exactly situations like this, busy or not!

I think you are very lucky to have a switched on and supportive gp.

Good luck. I hope this information turns out not to be required for your lovely dd. Sounds as though you have enough medical appointments to contend with already.

Couldn't find out if it was in my area, think I found the right SALT group but nothing about groups like you mentioned that I could see but may be worth me finding out more from the Dr in case its something they don't publicise. Thanks for the tip off anyway.

didn't see your post about your dd's condition. seems like she has even more in common with my dd than I though. dd has a condition that inhibits some muscle functions. primarily the extraoccular muscles and the bowel muscles but she also had trouble eating, we had a SALT from the word go as they look at swallowing, so when she lost her words at about 15 months we were already in the system... I find we get referrals for anything and everything and currently we are under 6 different hospitals!! but as we don't know how her development will be affected I'd rather be safe than sorry.

to be quite honest although 20 mths would appear too young to start SALT i wish my ds had gone then as at 3 still waiting

i think the main thing here is that your dd used to communicate and now makes noises to communicate as myn ds did

it is to help them find ways of communicating again and bringing speech back

its mainly because there were words but not now

i wouldnt worry but i would also just grasp any help going as it wont do any harm and if at 2 still having worries can take another yr to get help as it has with us

hope all works out well though it is very worrying but if your being offered all help i would just take it , it can only help her not harm her after all

best dealt with young before they get themselves into too much of a habit to do things my ds still has offf days with whining all day it is so frustrating

Thanks all and desperatehousewife I'm sorry I seem to have posted after you but your post didn't show up for me must've x posted then not seen yours till now. Her condition won't have affected her development, it is a hormone deficiency which means her body can't deal with stress, illness or injury. She's steroid dependant and has to be carfully managed lots of blood testing and also needs an operation because of what the condition did whilst she was in the womb. So she has a lot of medical input and has to be in hospital if she is too ill to keep her medicines down. We moved this January and then in the space of a couple of months she had to be in hospital four times for various bugs as well as all the usual stuff so I am wondering whether she has regressed because it was all a bit traumatic. Probably best I don't dwell on that too much though! But like you,somethingsticky we get referred for everything its like once you are in the system its all there for you and maybe we should just accept help as you all say since its being offered. At least speech therapy is not a stressful thing and is made as enjoyable as possible for children isn't it? Would it be worth me taking her to a baby signing group in the meantime or would that make matters worse because she already acts things out(for example a few weeks ago she was crying and I didn't see what happened so she lifted her leg up to show she had hurt it).?

baby signing would be great i worried this would affect speech but it actually helps speech as they say and sign but will help communicate in mean time my ds managed to pick some stuff off cbeebies something special so was very confused for a while until i found what it was he was saying lol

I've been reading about cbeebies Something Special I'll have to find out what time its on. I may look into baby sign especially if there are short courses of it as DD may enjoy that anyway and at least I'd feel like I was doing something.

Just bumping in case anyone can tell me why it is a cause for concern if a child loses words? Is it purely from a hearing point of view or could it indicate something else? Have made a telephone appointment with the Dr am just wondering...

Bump?

Oh dear Riven a lot of people on here seem to be waiting a long time for it too. My DD probably won't get referred just yet. One reason she was reffered for her hearing test and that the doctor was concerned at all was the loss of words I think. I wonder why it is a cause for concern though?

Sorry, have been out all morning. Quick reply before leaving to collect ds from school and whilst dd is watching 'something special' - she loves it!

Used2bthin - losing language once a child has started talking is not definitely indicative that there is a language problem but as I said it is unusual when children are developing language in the usual way. I suppose in the same way if a child were to start walking and then stop. Children tend to develop words and add to their vocabulary over time. Once they have learnt a range of nouns and verbs, they then start to link words together.

some chilren who spend a long time in hospital do have delayed language development just from a lack of experience of things around them. Crawling around a hospital ward will not be as exciting as crawling around at home with lots of different things to pick up and explore and suck on!

Signing will not have any detrimental affects on a child's language and in many cases is recommended. Many children find signing easier to learn because it is visual and links the spoken word with a visual sign which then helps the child remember the word.

will be back later. Happy to answer any more questions or give you my email if want.

Thank you desperatehousewife that makes sense and I would love to ask more if you don't mind? I could CAT you if thats easier? DD has been in hospital more than most but not really for prolonged periods (touch wood)since she has been bigger. I am trying to contact a baby sign group today no answer as yet. Just wanted to make sure they have other bigger children as their cut off age is 2 years and I don't want DD to be the biggest! You may have seen, I booked a phone consultation with the same DR for tommorrow so I can see whether she wants to see DD now or wait for the hearing appointment. Thats if we don't have to make an appointment before then becasue DD keweps pulling her ear today again and generally doesn't seem brilliantly well. Thanks again anyway and hope to speak soon.

Used2bthin - feel free to contact me sarahandjes AT hotmail DOT co DOT uk

my son lost all speech very quickly but alos lost other skills at the same time - between 20 and 24 months. We got a very quick referal for hearing tests and other assessments.
He was diagnosed with ASD at two years old.

Thanks desperatehousewife that is really kind, I will send you an e mail when DD is in bed later. Pagwatch thanks for your experience, DD only seems to have lost speech as far as I can make out and seems to be progressing rather than losing other skills, like she has recently started with pretend play with dolls and sort of acts things out. Its so hard to tell how long she has been losing words it sort of crept up on me then I realised she is only saying one or two things. I remember the HV seeing her at 12months and asking about vocab and she had six words at least so its somewhere between then and now.