Strange question - I think 21 month ds has a speech delay. Any significance in his inability to blow through a straw??

[MommyD]

ds is 21 months and has about 6 (barely recognisable) words. I saw GP today and have got ds on the list for speech therapy. I remember reading something about one of the exercises at speech therapy being about blowing through a straw. I have just realised today that ds is completely unable to blow (so no blowing out the candles on his 2nd birthday cake )
What's ths link between blowing and not forming words? Can't find the reference I read ages back.... Wanted to know so I can help him more at home. How the hell do you teach a kid to blow? Ta

It's to do with the inabilty to control the muscles in the mouth. You use the same muscles to blow out candles, blow through a straw and makes noises. Your voicebox only makes one noise. It's how you mouth teeth and tongue distort that noise that changes it's sound. Try talking without moving your tongue or mouth. That is DS's problem. Just encourage him to make a variety of noises that stretch his facial muscles unitl he gets an appointment. Good Luck.

Wow thanks, Rainbow - makes sense

... can he be TAUGHT to blow and hence overcome his speech difficulties?

DD is 3.5 and has Down Syndrome so I have been doing facial exercise, oral-motor-exercises with her for a while now.

Does you DS drink from an open cup, if not encourage this and the use of fun straws. I can recommend the water fountains, made by vogue I believe, and sold in Sainsburys,Toys'r'us..

Use musical instruments, party blowers, bubbles, all to encourage blowing.

I even have a little daily ritual of washing dd's face and massaging her face, chin, around her ears while applying cream, at the same time we pull faces, eeeee,oooooo, aaahhhh. You could even do this while brushing his teeth.

Use a mirror, so that he can see himself and you to play fun , copying games. I have even spread chocolate spread and 100s/1000s around her mouth and tried to get her to lick them off.

Encouraging the use of the muscles in fun ways has certainly helped dd, I hope some of this helps!

Thanks Dingle - he has been drinking fomr a cup from 6 months and has been drinking from an open cup since he was just over one - so very good there. He can also drink through a straw.

I picked up a kids magazine for him this morning with an orange recorder on it. That's how I realised he can't blow. Bless him he didn't know where to start.

Why are these muscles lazy in ds? What causes this anability to form words? I have realised that all the words he can sort-of form, are with a loose, open mouth. "EEEE" has never featured in his vocab - hence he says "mama" and "dada" as opposed to "mummy" and "daddy"

DD attended ST and one of the group activities was to suck through a straw to keep a piece of paper to it. They also had to blow pieces of paper along the table.

You have given me visions of me and dd, crawling around the floor, signing "donkey" and making eeee-oooorr sounds! It does help to be mad!

Yes, that's another one, blowing a ping-pong ball, blow foot-ball, blow pens from ELC....

There can be an issue with lip seal and/or poor co-ordination. That's why we ask some children to blow through straws, but it's a specific exercise for specific types of problems. First you need to know if there's a problem, and if so, what it is.

At 21 months, some children do only have a few recognisable words, especially boys in my experience. Good that you got your name on the list, but try not to worry too much.

How will I know if this is indeed his problem?... or if indeed he HAS a problem?

If so, how likely is is that he will eventually overcome it and speak normally?

Should I get him treatment NOW rather than waiting a few months? - I am fully prepared to get him assessed provately.....

you won't know if it's his problem - only a speech and language therapist could diagnose this and there's no way I could diagnose it without seeing the child.

It's not terribly common for speech difficulties to result from this - other causes much more common. Late talking is usually down to other things, often there is no reason at all and it resolves itself spontaneously. No SLT will be able to give you a prediction about outcomes, we can only give you the benefit of previous experience, this is no guarantee.

If he has problems with co-ordination, he won't be able to do other things like stick his tongue out repeatedly, but I'm not sure a child of 21 months would always do this to command anyway.

If there's a problem with lip seal, he would probably have a problem with drooling and spillage of liquids from his mouth as well.

A private assessement is worth considering if your local health service has a long waiting list. Phone them to find out or ask your HV to find out. It costs about 80 pounds for assessment.

Worth bearing in mind that 21 months is very young for treatment. I have never treated a child of this age directly with the methods described in previous posts. It's more about reminding them to swallow. Either way, you should aim to have him assessed before he turns three, so hope that helps you decide whether to go private or wait it out on the NHS

Thanks Mogwai.
He has no problem with drooling or lip seal as I see it and is certainly able to stick his tongue out (not sure if repeatedly)
I suppose my final question is - does the use of the right muscles to make vocal sounds develop in all children over time anyway (and pehaps in some wort of pattern) and perhaps my child is just a little slower, or is it likely that if he is unable to make certain sounds by now, then only ST will help him do it?

It's not usually a case of learning how to use the right muscles. Some sounds are found less frequently in English (like the z sound)and some are less visible (you can see a "b" sound on someone's lips). Children generally learn the sounds in a set order according to a number of factors. By 21 months, your child should be able to make a range of sounds but not all of them by any means. Children are all so different, as you know, so do resist temptation to compare him with others of the same age.

It sounds as though your son has a limited vocabulary rather than problems with speech sounds, though a problem with speech sounds could lead to a limited vocabulary IYSWIM. Yes, by this age I would have expected him to have more words (somewhere around 30-50)but I have known many children with a similar pattern of development who are just late starters and they soon catch up. Provided your child is interested in communicating with you, points at things, requests things, comments on what he sees, he's on the right track. I would recommend a book called "Babytalk" by Sally Ward (about fifteen pounds I think) which should give you some advice and ideas - but be careful to match your son's level of development rather than his actual age, ie, look at the advice and ideas for when your child has just a few words.

Keep your name on the SLT waiting list, cancel it if you are no longer concerned when your appointment comes through (please do phone to cancel, so many appointments are wasted when people don't).

Have you asked your parents about your own laguage development and that of your DH/P?

I only say this because a friend of mine had an older sister who barely said a thing before she was 3 and then began chatting in earnest. Her own daughter was EXACTLY the same. Except that with her daughter they were referred to speech therapy etc and with that - the worry!

You use the same muscles. Your voice box only makes one noise (you can change it's pitch but not the sound). It's how that noise is distorted by your tongue, teeth and mouth that alter the sound. If he is having trouble controlling these muscles he won't be able to change the sound. try talking with out moving your tongue or lips. that's DS's problem.

I thought I added to this last night but it didn't show up until I posted the last message oops!

Also a child can only develop one area at a time. He made find language difficult so he trys less. He then develops motor skills. You may find that he is developmentally behind in his speech but ahead in motor or cognitive development.

DD1 has ST, she was slow to start speaking and is disjointed in her speech, also she couldn't pronounce certain sounds. It was only when we started this that we realised she couldn't make a kissy face, and couldn't copy us at all.
After 15 months she is much clearer in her speech and people do understand her 80% of the time.
Stay on the waiting list: I expressed concerns when she was 2, HV told me to leave it, so I went back when she was 21/2 and was referred, eventually seen regularly when she was almost 3.
Practice all you can with him. It does help.

I'd agree that practice helps, but it's important to know exactly what you should be "practicing". That's all very well if you have already seen an SLT but if you haven't, you could fall into the trap of "trying to get him to speak better or more clearly". Many mums who come to see me have tried this as their first port of call.

Problem is, the wrong sort of practice can lead to frustration and can actually challenge a child well beyond their cognitive development level. The Sally Ward book is excellent, and hopefully you can see an SLT soon.

I am not sure how much a 21 month old should be able to understand, but I think his level of understanding is extremely good. I would say he understands pretty much everything I say to him. It must therefore be even more frustrating for him not to be able to express himself.

Thank you for all you help - I have decided to get one or two private sessions with a SLT to point me in the right direction in terms of what I can do with him at home, see how that goes and then wait for the NHS appt. to come through. It's a plan!

any updates mommyd?

My sister in law (now an adult) did not talk at all until she was 3 - mainly because she was able to communicate in other ways. But once she started, you could not shut her up (unfortunately!!).

Don't most kids start off with "mama" "dada" and then move on to more complicated pronunciations? Mine did.

Some boys from our ante-natal group (2.2yo) are still not saying much, although my DS has been chatting since about 20 months (I put this down exposure to my mum who talks ALL THE TIME).

DS is now 2.2yo and only learned to blow through a staw this week, after he saw someone on TV blowing bubbles in water through a straw! Simply blowing air through a straw was not interesting (or messy) enough to bother copying. He could blow his nose at 9 months, but then when he was older tried to do all his blowing through his nose! (Not very effective for blowing out candles, I can tell you). Nothing wrong, just hadn't figured out the mechanics of it. Blowing through the mouth followed when he accidentally discovered that he could blow bubbles in the liquid in his cup (he did this long before blowing through a straw).

I guess I am trying to say that there might not be a problem and might be other explanations for not blowing/not talking much. It is best for your own peace of mind to get it checked out - but don't panic!

All the best. Do keep us posted.

Straw and Nose I had the opposite problem. All 3 DSs would blow through their mouths when I told them to blow their nose.

The inability to blow through a straw can be significant in connection wih speech delay because of apraxia and dyspraxia (poor muscle control of mouth). But this is very rare. His speech delay is not severe, especially for a boy. My dd didn't talk much until she was pushing two and then she suddenly 'exploded' with her speech. Now, at 27 months, people are always telling me how well she talks for her age! I don't think she can blow very efficiently, even now. But pursue the speech therapy for your own peace of mind if you are worried.

Thanks for messages.

I have him down for speech therapy and have filled in initial assessment form.

His speech has started moving lots in the last week or so. For the first time he is saying "me". He has NEVER said the "eeee" sound before. If I ask him and his brother "who wants a drink?", I get two "me"s instead of a "me" and a grunt! WOW!!!!

His vocab is improving although ALL words are rather unclear at the moment. I am planning an initial private assessment after he turns two (Aug) and prior to any SALT sessions coming through for him (I gather there is a LONG waiting list)

Rather late to this thead I know - but DS1 only had 8 (barely) recongnisable words at 23months! By 24 1/2 months he was talking in short sentences!

DS2 says a lot more than his brother did at the same age - although still nothing 'amazing' - boys often do tend to be slower than girls at talking.