Speech delay drops - E.g Lingo leap

[Bakergirlninteytwo]

Has anyone with a speech delayed toddler tried using any of the vitamin droplets for speech delay that always seem to appear on newsfeeds, such as lingo leap?

I see lots of positive reviews in the comments but you never know if it’s genuine or not
so wanted to get some feed back on here 😁

There's absolutely no scientific evidence that it makes any difference at all, I m afraid it's not genuine and any of those they say saw an improvement could just be seeing what sometimes happens and language suddenly clicks for some toddlers as their natural development.
If you re stuck without speech and language support at the moment, if you don't mind sharing your particular concerns I could try and point you in the direction of some advice or tips?

@1995SENNDMUM ahh thank you. ☺️ it’s awful that there are companies trying to take advantage of parents in these situations isn’t it?
My 2 year old has been under SALT for a while and will continue to be until he’s speaking I suppose. We are also about to start support with a service that used to be called Portage but is now known as the Best Start In Life service. He also has 1:1 at nursery where they do lots of activities based on advice from our SL therapist. I’m also paying for a private sensory assessment for sensory seeking with an OT as sometimes, this can disturb the activities he’s doing during the day. It’s something that’s not available on the NHS sadly. We’re on the waiting list for a paediatric assessment as he’s likely on the spectrum but that won’t be for a couple of years yet. He’s making steady progress all the time and says quite a lot of words and sometimes sentences it’s just not snowballing into full speech and language as quickly as it apparently should be. What has seemed to have happened over night is his interaction with others. He went from barely acknowledging any children to all of a sudden “oh look there’s children, I want to play” and now plays outside games with them and has starting sitting for circle time for the whole time the other kids are. It’s lovely to see. Thank you for your advice xx

Yes it's appalling that places prey on people in this way.
Oh I have a non verbal autistic 5 year old, sadly been through the scenario of NHS SALT discharge (they don't keep on until they speak or catch up from their delay, in most cases I m so sorry) but he's been at Sen school for a few months and is loving life there.
We ve had portage involvement amongst other things but yes haven't ever gotten a sensory OT.

It sounds to me like you ve done everything you possibly can at this point, apart from maybe an EHCP if they don't already have one but with nursery giving them 1:1 anyway it doesn't seem like an immediate thing for you to worry about.
Oh and maybe apply for DLA if you haven't already, otherwise I think you ve done so well to recognise you needed to push for support at this age (many other parents in your position would still be in denial). Well done!

@1995SENNDMUM oh no! I had no idea. My friends little girl wasn’t speaking at all until 3 and she’s now 6 but still classed as delayed because she’s never got up to where she should be if that makes sense? She’s been under SALT since 2 and they are still seeing her at school. I’m not sure if that’s just an individual circumstance or if it depends on the NHS trust your with? That’s awful they discharged you, I’m so sorry. 😞 I’m glad he’s loving school, that’s really positive ☺️ I still don’t really know what will happen in that respect. My sons nursery and HV feel confident he’ll be okay at a mainstream but then again, no one has even mentioned the word autism even though that’s more than likely the case. No one really predict where he’ll be by the time he starts school so it’s just a matter of waiting. I went into denial for a short time when he was 1 and they noticed his eye contact with everyone but me wasn’t great. This has now resolved on its own which is great but he still refuses to make eye contact with anyone he doesn’t know until he’s been around them for a good hour or so. He mainly struggles with communication and maintaining focus. This is improving though and he’s he’s not started spending 5 mins or more on certain tasks at nursery. I think we’ll be starting the process for a ECHP this summer if they feel he needs one, which he highly likely will. I do wonder how verbal my son will be really as he mainly babbles and as I say, the odd word and sentence comes out he’s just not piecing it together yet. If you don’t mind me asking, what signs did you see if your little guy that made you seek support? For my little boy it’s mainly his communication, sensory seeking and lack of acknowledgement around certain people xx

All the signs you ve mentioned really, my son had no eye contact, no shared attention or words at 18 months old and he's always been very sensory seeking.
Things do seem to be a complete postcode lottery with the NHS.

I think that's great timing to be looking at starting the EHCP process for your son, it's certainly a drawn out one.

@1995SENNDMUM yes I remember that time well. 18 months he had a few words but not much at all. He would only bring things to me he wanted to help with never out interest. I think he pointed to something out of interest once ever and that was it. His joint attention is better now but we’ve had to work at it a lot. He uses an open hand to point at stuff but never really his finger. He would tend to take me to it or bring it if he wanted to show it. He loves to squeeeeeeeze when he’s excited which tends to be the majority of his sensory seeking. Which is great because he loves a cuddle 🥰

Hows your little guy come along now he’s 5? Xx

In all honesty we re probably heading towards a moderate learning disability diagnosis for him now he's getting older and he might remain non verbal but his joint attentions massively changed in the past few months so attention autism/bucket time has worked brilliantly for him and he's got a lot of eye contact these days although sometimes he really stares into your soul.
It's tricky to get things the right size for toddlers but it sounds like a weighted lap pad or blanket might be something your son could like and also if you ve heard of heavy work as a concept.

Will that give you access to further support with that diagnosis? You said he’s loving life at this school so it’s great he’s a happy boy. What does he like to do the most? Yes - the bucket activity is brilliant, my son absolutely loves it. That’s what really focuses him to sit down for circle time for the duration.

Yes, the OT im taking him to see sent me list of heavy work stuff to try. I think a weighted vest or wrist bands would be good. I just hope it helps him enough to stop feeling the need to squeeze as much throughout the day. I’ll find out the best things suited for him when he has the assessment I think ☺️

Not really at the moment but for adulthood it ll be necessary for things really. He loves being outdoors especially things like slides.
Advice will vary but I ve known OTs say not to go higher weights than 10% of your body weight so you might struggle with a vest option but bands could certainly be good.