saw the SLT today - DD (3) diagnosed with speech delay (recept. + express.). any encouraging stories?

[cheapFlower]

hello,

we finally saw the SLT today for DD's (3.1) assessment - her speech and language is significantly delayed. she basically only understands at 1 (and sometimes) 2 keyword level. she is only starting to combine words but talking mainly only in 1-word-sentences though she has a big vocabulary (>200 words). and loads of delayed echolalia.

have been offered group therapy (though we are thinking about private therapy as well). we have been given loads of tips and advice. have also searched this board and found tons of useful tips here.

has anybody been there before? how did your children develop. is there hope that DD will ever be normal (speech wise)? I knew DD was behind with her s&l but wasn't aware that delay was so significant and feel quite down today.

PS: hearing checked and fine; SLT also ruled out any ASD (DD very communicative, good joint attention, eye contact)

Hi-we're in a slightly different situation as ds's vocabulary is a lot more limited- but a couple of years ago he was assessed as 1 -2 word level,expressive and receptive

I am currently getting his statement amended to reflect the progress he has made- he still needs salt,some things are very hard to understand,but he is speaking in phrases and understands a lot more in context-It may not sound great to some,but it IS huge progress and it is continuing

I feel confident that he will be speaking even more in a year's time

It is hard in the early years,worrying how they will progress,but I am sure you will put the effort in to help your DD;you sound as though you are on the case !

Well when DS2 was assessed at 2.11 he has an expressive delay of 14 months and an understanding delay of 16 months.

He was assessed again at 3.11 last month and this has reduced to expressive delay of 9 months and understanding delay of 13 months. I know we have a long way to go but we are getting there. I would really recommend the 'More than Words' course. In our area they only run it for children with an ASD dx, but the book would be so useful for you even without the ASD (its pricey, but I promise it is worth it).

Earlier DS2 fell over - 6 months ago he wopuld have cried his eyes out because that is the reaction he thought he should make. He just said to me 'Im a bit silly' which was so lovely (sounds like nothing but infact its so much progress for him to comment). He has also srated saying hello and 'see you later' to people in the last couple of weeks too.

I hope that gives you some hope - I didnt think we would get to this point ever and it seemed like we were banging our heads against a wall on a daily basis, but it feels like we are making a bit of progess now :)

thanks - really good to hear some positive stories. I find it really a worry not to know how DD will develop and what the future hold.

nobody among friends/family has children with speech delay and I haven't really got anybody to talk to about it (all the people around me think I am just a bit hysterical re DD's speech and telling me that DD is still a baby and will catch up - easily said if it is not your own child).

Dd2 didn't really speak until she was 3.5, she has a dx of ASD with severe language delay. She's now 4.11 and uses 4 word sentances (sometimes more) and understands 4 + words. She had group therapy at a sn nursery as well as music therapy. She also uses PEC's (not as much now).

It is annoying and can be hurtful when people say stuff like that - but I guess they mean well- I just wish they didn't bother-we have had loads of similar comments- and you're right;if it was their child they would feel differently

Hi, ds was similar at three, at nearly seven he is speaking fluently in sentences and has improved enough to be discharged from nhs salt. I still have worries about social skills and sometimes he is a bit unclear and sounds immature, but he has come on so much more than i ever imagined.

Btw a lot of what you google on receptive lang delay can be q doomy, try to focus on practical ways to help your child and dont be too downhearted by what you reas

Yes I agree with TC - dont google because it is very disheartening.

Amazon is your friend :)

It Takes two to talk, from the same people that produced More Than Words could be another one to look up - again its prices, but everyone on here seems to sing its praises.

Also, have you thought about Makaton?

Hi, My son at three, with CP, was at one to two word level. Receptive scores down and a significant word retrieval difficulty. Two SALT's at the time said 'he may never talk in sentences' I was devastated. By 4.5 I couldn't get a word in edge ways and he can still talk for England and presents as an articulate young man, keen to engage with people. His expressive language scores are slightly below chronological, receptive a few years behind and the word retrieval difficulty his most significant problem, last assessment 3-4 years behind, but you wouldn't notice it as he finds other words to replace the words he can't find. Ironically the thing I miss most about him when he isn't here is his constant chatter, I smile to myself now when I think back to how worried I was that he would never talk.
What help are you getting? SALT input is most effective/important in the early years.
Take a day at a time if you can and don't worry but try and make sure you are getting the right input.

already got the It takes tow to talk :)

re makaton: DD can communicate her needs quite well: pointing, telling me what she wants (e.g. "bread" if she wants to eat bread); she can also answer yes/no questions such as "do you want to eat xy". she is also gesturing a lot which also helps. would makaton make sense then?

and no, i try not to google - i am prone to medical student's disease...

6 months on from DS2's initial assessment (ASD, moderate-severe delays in expressive & receptive language,16 month delays at age 3.6,speech restricted to 1 or 2 words, huge amounts of echolalia)

We now have expressive language, proper sentences, virtually no echolalia. He still needs PECS and makaton to help with communication at school (more stressful and distracting environment), but manages fine without these at home. DS has the whole 'steep learning curve' thing,once he decides to engage with something. We also worked very hard with eye contact and asking him to vocalise rather then pointing and screaming (preferred mode of communication)

DS refused to use makaton until he decided to start talking. He's still not keen on using it at home,prefers unsupported verbal communication.

FWIW good eye contact and reciprocal communication doesn't preclude a diagnosis of ASD. It might be worth getting your DD checked by a Paediatrician. I don't want to alarm you further, esp. as you are prone to google-itis, but SL delays with no obvious underlying cause should be checked out by achild developmental specialist (if nothing else then to reassure you)

Good luck, it's hard work but you do get to see benefits (eventually) and when that happens it's amazing.

We sed Makaton purely because DS2 didnt have any way of telling us what he wanted, and couldnt understand a question like 'do you want a drink'. If your DD can do those things then it might not be the best course of action - what has your SALT recommended?

DS could understand signs before he could talk, but like Cognitive's DS can only use them now he has started talking, and because he gets them from his love of Mr Tumble, he knows some rather random ones, like lighthouse and owl, but cant sign biscuit or drink. Its lovely though :)

And I agree that speech delays with no underlying condition should be checked out by a Paed - speak to your GP or HV for a referal.

cheapFlower - my ds2 probably has slightly different problems to your dd, but when he was first assessed at 2yr6m he was about 9 months delayed in receptive and >12 months delayed in expressive language.

He did about 6 weeks of therapy with a private therapist and noticeably caught up in receptive and there was some (although limited) improvement in expressive language too. The therapy involved playing with him in a structured and simple way. For example, the SALT set up a tea party. She would go through naming "teddy's plate", "my plate", "dolly's plate" etc. The idea being to use simple two word combinations - so it would be easier for ds to be able to pick up and emulate them. I was also told that I needed to show him how to play (he was a bit behind on imaginative play too), for example feeding a dolly with a spoon. This gave me opportunities to model the language for him, as well as showing how he too could use language and sounds when playing.

He is now 3y7m and has a diagnosis of Verbal Dyspraxia. His receptive language is now reasonably normal, although it hasn't been assessed again - but he does have ongoing (not severe) problems with speech and expressive language.

Each child with a speech & language problem will be different and some respond better to therapy than others. The delay you describe might be significant at the moment, but there is no reason to assume that it will stay that way; with the right help the gap may well close considerably.

I do know what you mean about friends and family not understanding though. I'm sure they meant to be helpful, but it really doesn't help being told "oh, they all do things at their own pace". I've known a lot of late-talkers and could always sort of tell that they were just late talkers. I knew there was something wrong with ds, but having said that it turned out to not be as severe as I had feared.

@cognitiveDissident - yep, I know that good eye contact etc doesn't rule out ASD and the receptive delay is worrying me more than the expressive delay. have therefore seen GP last week already and talked my head off and he finally agreed to refer her to paed (GP wasn't really concerned about DD...). I am really trying to get all angles covered.

the SLT said that most of the work needs to be done at home by me and DH which makes complete sense. I have been thinking about getting a private SLT as well.

would this be money well spent for a receptive delay (we will get group therapy on NHS)? or is it better to focus on the thinks we can do at home?

For receptive delay the unfortunately named 'Teach me to listen and obey' (!) DVD is really good ...

here

We've gone from no real expressive language (about 10-15 labels) & receptive capacity of a 9 month old at 3 years to bottom of age appropriate at 4.2 years. Still a way to go with social & conversational language but ds talks constantly now & receptive is actually testing better than expressive. He was pretty much un-testable though it took 4 months of ABA before we could get him through a CELF test (I think he tested 6th centile for expressive & 0.1st for receptive at that point). It is amazing how easy it is to miss a significant receptive delay - ds was expert at picking up non verbal cues.

His clarity has improved beyond all recognition in the last 2 months. What makes him stand out as delayed/disordered atm is his slightly unpredictable (!) pronoun use, apart from that he just sounds like a slightly immature nt 4yo boy. They are predicting that he won't need much support beyond 6yo but who really knows - we're thrilled with his progress & feel optimistic generally.

We started Hanen, signing (did Signalong) & visuals for people & places (there are some good threads started by Lingle on here) when ds was 2.8, then started ABA focusing on speech & language a couple of months later. He pretty much dropped the sign when he got up to 3-4 word sentences although he still likes learning new ones (we sign with 20mo dd2).

I have read about ABA here every now and then. thought it would be mainly used for ASD?

is it also useful for speech delay? and how do you go about to get ABA/learn ABA?

just looked at the DVDs - any idea which one is better - 1 or 2?

we got both 1 & 2 - but ds moved through 1 quickly but I'm glad we started there. I think with language it is always better to start as the same level the child is at otherwise they just switch off e.g. if they at 1 word level you aim to talk to them at 1 (certainly no more than 2) word level.

ds has dual diagnosis of ASD + language delay/disorder but we started ABA/VB (can be used with anyone to teach anything) before he was diagnosed. We've never done a full time programme & focussed primarily on speech/language e.g. atm we're working on why/because inferences amongst other things. Whatever you do though you'll have far more impact on dc's language development than any professional because you'll be the one spending most time with them.