3.5 extremely speech delayed, positive stories please

[iwantsunshine1]

Hi my ds is 3.6 and is extremely speech delayed. We can't have a conversation with him, he can't say what he wants and only has a few 2 and 3 word sentences. His hearing has been checked and he's on waitlist for SaLT. He has a good understanding and points/hand leads to what he wants. Anyone else's child the same at this age and when did they start talking? Was a gradual thing or a language explosion? Thank you

My daughter was classed as non verbal until 5 she's now got verbal diarrhoea at age 8 all she talks about is roblox, she does have various disabilities diagnosis aslong as your arm but we were told she would probably never walk or talk, she now runs and literally talks from her waking breath until fast asleep.

My son is the same age and had quite a severe speech delay but excellent understanding. After a year of wrangling, he finally got a hearing test- all clear.

I started him with a private speech therapist after the all clear hearing test, just before he turned 3, as I didn't want to delay any longer waiting for NHS.

She was amazing - his speech turned around almost overnight. He got signed off after 3 months and before his NHS appointment even happened (they also signed him off).

He's now nearly 3 and a half and his speech is fantastic.

The first thing our therapist advised was cut the extra speech we were using and go back down to 2/3 words. Ie instead of 'let's get our shoes on now shall we' change to ' put shoes on.'

It took a lot of work and concentration to focus in on all the advice but honestly, so worth it.

I don't think it would have happened naturally without the therapy - plus I started him at pre school and they supported the therapist's plan.

Good luck to your son, I hope the SLT works as well.

@iwantsunshine1 can you get a private SALT assessment. My son needed speech so we moved country and got him regular speech therapy from 3 onwards . He is4.5 now still not talking but he hand leads and points and uses objects of reference. We think it may be apraxia in my sons case. I definitely think you should see if you can at least get a private consultation while you wait to get some tips on how to help him in the interim.! Best of luck x

My son was extremely delayed at 2. I had a few members of my family pushing me on this. We went to the council run chatter time which was run by SALT who would then send a fast track referral. We went every week. Then did SALT sessions almost every week until he was 4 when he finally graduated from SALT.

The biggest thing I learned from SALT was to give them a reason to talk so constantly giving choices or open questions eg would you like banana or grapes? Would you like the plate with the panda or the dog?

My DD kept "passing" her NHS hearing test when in fact she was near hearing impaired. So for us private treatment for auditory processing issues eventually then sorted her speech out.

If they have excellent understanding that's a massive plus point.

The words he does say, are they clear and understandable?

@Bansheenothree Hi, i was wondering what sort of speech therapist did you go for pls? I am also thinking to do the same. and how many sessions did you dc have a week please?
Im genuinely worried out of my head and have started the More than words course by Hanen myself but have no time to implement it as Im a lone parent working full time but am trying my best with nursery rhymes and narrating etc atm.

@iwantsunshine1 Hello, some update?

@Dadofboy842hi my son is 4.5 now and has come on leaps and bounds. He’s still very behind and not properly conversational but he can communicate all his needs and is now in the ‘why’ asking phase. It was around 4 he started talking but he never had the explosion I hear about

@iwantsunshine1

so pleased, one of mine remained economical with words, fully verbal but chooses not say too much (unless been drinking, she’s an adult now!)