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Original poster

Speech delay. What kind?

11 replies

twinkleto · 03/03/2023 20:32

Hi everyone. I'll keep this short! My daughter is 3.5 and has trouble with speech. When speaking she has the same tone as a deaf person (not meant in an offensive way - just a fact!) and is very unclear in the majority of her words. She also refuses to say anything when we try to ask her to repeat words (I know this goes against all SLT advice, but I can't help it!!!) and will either just ignore or say "I don't know". We are on NHS waiting list for SLT and audiology but it's going to take ages. The rest of her development is fine and she can follow instructions, knows colours, can attempt to count to ten (not clearly but we know what she means).

Firstly, does anyone have any idea what kind of speech delay this could be?

Secondly, any similar stories?

TIA

OP posts:
CrabbyCat · 03/03/2023 20:36

The hearing bit could be glue ear - it can take out some of the frequencies for speech, mostly the consonants. My son could say vowels OK, but replaced most consonants with 'd' because he couldn't hear them clearly. Does she respond if you give an instruction with your back turned : could she be using lip reading to help her?

Original poster
twinkleto · 03/03/2023 21:35

Thank-you for your reply. I believe she can hear ok... no issues with ignoring me if I speak and she's not watching me. However she does have times where she says "whuh da noise????" and I can't hear anything. Whatever that might indicate.

She also has MASSIVE tonsils. Like, really really big. They obstruct her breathing at night and she snores like a wild pig.

OP posts:
Original poster
twinkleto · 04/03/2023 11:51

Bumping

OP posts:
thehappyhaggis · 04/03/2023 12:28

This sounds exactly like my 3.5 year old. Seemed to hear me fine etc... but he did have glue ear. Glue ear can change daily so some days they can hear fine and others not as much. We generally don't pick it up because of this. He was also getting constant colds etc which didn't help. He got grommets and his adenoids removed and it made a huge difference.
We see SALT due to a speech delay and he often misses the start of words. I can't remember the technical term for it! We're focusing on that just now. It seems he's just delayed because of the hearing issue.

We had to pay for his consultations and operation privately because the waiting lists where I am are extensive. We also pay SALT privately for the same reason.

Original poster
twinkleto · 04/03/2023 13:10

thehappyhaggis · 04/03/2023 12:28

This sounds exactly like my 3.5 year old. Seemed to hear me fine etc... but he did have glue ear. Glue ear can change daily so some days they can hear fine and others not as much. We generally don't pick it up because of this. He was also getting constant colds etc which didn't help. He got grommets and his adenoids removed and it made a huge difference.
We see SALT due to a speech delay and he often misses the start of words. I can't remember the technical term for it! We're focusing on that just now. It seems he's just delayed because of the hearing issue.

We had to pay for his consultations and operation privately because the waiting lists where I am are extensive. We also pay SALT privately for the same reason.

Thank-you so much for your reply. Was it an ENT consultant that decided to remove the adenoids? Did your little boy need scans etc to determine this?

OP posts:
Fauviandelight32 · 04/03/2023 13:16

Sounds like there are resonance issues, could in addition to articulation problems or not. Enlarged tonsils/adenoids can definitely impact and the snoring is a red flag. Some kids need surgery to correct. Have you raised this with your GP? An ENT referral would help and the SLT would likely suggest that anyway.

thehappyhaggis · 04/03/2023 17:31

Thank-you so much for your reply. Was it an ENT consultant that decided to remove the adenoids? Did your little boy need scans etc to determine this?

Yeah so we met with an ENT specialist who could tell he had glue ear from physically looking. He had a hearing test which he actually passed so I wouldn't say you should take that as an indicator of any other issues. When the surgeon performed the op she checked the adenoids when he was under and because they were inflamed took them out. They couldn't check those beforehand and we knew that was something they'd be looking at. She said a significant amount of glue when she drained his ear and it would defo have been impacting him. Obviously the tonsils are easier to see so I'm assuming that would be easy enough to do.
Despite his speech difficulties, we have noticed a significant difference in his communication since he had the op.

My friends wee girl had a terrible time with her tonsils and they went private to get them removed as the NHS refused. I think NHS can be reluctant to perform the op.

lorisparkle · 04/03/2023 17:39

How is her general physical development? Ds1 has a speech disorder. He had glue ear when little and has dyspraxia and is autistic so the combination meant he had difficulties hearing speech sounds, making specific lip and tongue movements and had a few social/communication difficulties as well.

The SALT don't recommend working on speech sounds until they are about 6 years old.

We did speech therapy with him and by the age of 8 his speech was considered within the normal range.

Original poster
twinkleto · 04/03/2023 18:49

thehappyhaggis · 04/03/2023 17:31

Thank-you so much for your reply. Was it an ENT consultant that decided to remove the adenoids? Did your little boy need scans etc to determine this?

Yeah so we met with an ENT specialist who could tell he had glue ear from physically looking. He had a hearing test which he actually passed so I wouldn't say you should take that as an indicator of any other issues. When the surgeon performed the op she checked the adenoids when he was under and because they were inflamed took them out. They couldn't check those beforehand and we knew that was something they'd be looking at. She said a significant amount of glue when she drained his ear and it would defo have been impacting him. Obviously the tonsils are easier to see so I'm assuming that would be easy enough to do.
Despite his speech difficulties, we have noticed a significant difference in his communication since he had the op.

My friends wee girl had a terrible time with her tonsils and they went private to get them removed as the NHS refused. I think NHS can be reluctant to perform the op.

Thank-you that is really helpful x

OP posts:
Original poster
twinkleto · 04/03/2023 18:50

Fauviandelight32 · 04/03/2023 13:16

Sounds like there are resonance issues, could in addition to articulation problems or not. Enlarged tonsils/adenoids can definitely impact and the snoring is a red flag. Some kids need surgery to correct. Have you raised this with your GP? An ENT referral would help and the SLT would likely suggest that anyway.

Thank-you for your reply. GP has referred to ENT and health visitor as referred to SLT. Just the waiting list drama. Her snoring is absolutely wild so I'm leaning towards a private ENT appt to try to move things along x

OP posts:
Original poster
twinkleto · 04/03/2023 18:52

lorisparkle · 04/03/2023 17:39

How is her general physical development? Ds1 has a speech disorder. He had glue ear when little and has dyspraxia and is autistic so the combination meant he had difficulties hearing speech sounds, making specific lip and tongue movements and had a few social/communication difficulties as well.

The SALT don't recommend working on speech sounds until they are about 6 years old.

We did speech therapy with him and by the age of 8 his speech was considered within the normal range.

Thank-you for your reply. Her development is where it should be...nursery say there are no worries with understanding and social aspects are normal. However I do feel like her development will be impacted by this speech delay as time goes on x

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