Advice on Speech and Language please

[bunnyhops]

My ds is 4 and started reception class in September.He is currently undergoing sppech and language therapy and has had 8 sessions so far but has not uttered a word in any of the sessions.He has not spoken at school ethier.

At home he knows a number of words but finds certain letters like J and S difficult to say.
He does not speak in sentences.
His understanding is excellant and his motoring skills are fine.He can write his name and sisters name without copying them.
His memory is excellant also.
He is still in nappies and refuses to use the toilet,he has a fear of this and I wondered if anyone else has similar problems and if his delay in speech is any way connected to delay in using the toilet.

He has not been diagnosed as yet although their was talk of possible Dyspraxia at one session but too early for the speciallist to say.I have been reading up on autism and wonder if he has a mild form of autism.

I am very confused about all this and not sure what to think.When we go shopping he sometimes plays up and runs around moving things off the shelves and shouting loudly.Is this another sign or just normal behaviour of a 4 year old.

Any advice would be greatly appreiciated.

Bunny,I'm a salt.
Also have a (just) five year old with comm. difficulties.
It wouldn't really be appropriate for me to comment extensively but the areas you describe as causing difficulty are classic ones of some sort of language disorder (1which you knew already of course!)

You need to be discussing this at length with your ds's salt.
Have you had a written report/assessment yet?
How forthcoming is the salt?

Mizmiz ,thanks for your reply.The therapists are very good and think they are getting somewhere with ds as the sessions go on.
Their second opinion report concluded that they thought ds had a severe phonological speech sound disorder.Also that he seems aware of his difficulties and is reluctant to attempt speech.They recognised his good eye contact and clear communicaitive intent and could interact non-verbally.

His attempts at speech at home are forthcoming and he talks all the time in his own way.

Just so upsetting that he finds it difficult to talk outside of the home.

I know bunny,I know.
My dd finds conversation extremey difficult and outside the home it is nearly non existent.

If you are interested, I have posted quite a bit on S&L issues on the Special Needs section.
You can search in the archives (see top of page) for them.
Maybe ask the salt about suitable reading matter too.
It is so helpful to everyone when the parents are clued up and motivated-makes a massive difference.

Is he enjoying school?

He loves school Mizmiz,and is very confident and keen to join in.
It is heart warming to hear that the other children don't even notice he does not talk,I was afraid he would be ridiculed.

Oh that's great-massively encouraging!

Thanks Mizmiz.I was so pleased he fitted in so well.The HV I used to see made out it would be difficult for him as she was always commenting on how she had never heard him speak and said it in such a worrying tone.But I never had any doubts that he would be fine.As they say "mothers just have that instinct" .
It's such a shame that the HV did'nt see that before putting all those negative thoughts into my head.

I will have a look at the archives,thanks again Mizmiz.

He sounds similar to DD1 who started seeing SALT when she was just 3. Her speech was very poor, though everything else was excellent.
18 months later she has almost caught up with her peers on a speech level. She still has probs with some sounds, and with blending letters but not too noticeably.
At her last appt the SALT did say that verbal dyspraxia was the most likely dx.
At school she is in the top set, is above average in writing, though struggles sometimes with phonics.
Really, just saying thaT SHE SOUNDED MUCH LIKE YOUR DS, BUT HAS COME A ALONG WAY, AND NOT TO BE TOO DUSHEARTENED, and good luck!!!

Thank you so much Littlerach for putting my mind at rest.I know the signs are positive and ds loves to learn.

So pleased for you that your dd is doing so well.

I have 2 boys with autism. Both had disordered language development in the sense that their spoken language developed much faster than their understanding. Ds2 (2.9yrs) started speech therapy earlier this year. He can now speak in full sentences but finds it difficult to understand instructions, questions etc.

Ds1 (now 5) was still in daytime nappies until he was 4. He had a real fear of toilets for a long time. Even when the fear went away he just didn't seem to understand what was expected of him. In the end the thing that worked was using a Social Story. Do you have any idea what it is that he is frghtened of exactly? eg the noise, smell, fear of falling in etc? With ds1 we had to start with a potty chair and gradually get him used to toilets.

Thanks for replying coppertop.
My ds has the understanding it's the speech that he finds difficult and tends to use sounds or hand gestures to communicate.He also uses the same word for lots of meanings.

As for the toilet training I think it may be the thought of falling in and the balance of sitting on the toilet.We have got a step and a seat that fits into the toilet but he will not use it.
We look into the potty chairs you have recommended.

I can't help feeling such a failure as friends and relatives seem to have it sussed and I feel I have failed him.Others make it sound so easy.
Which makes me wonder if the problems he is having with the confidence to speak is connected in anyway to his reluctance to use the toilet.
Just grasping straws really.

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bunnyhops

I have a ds (now 5) with a speech and language disorder. He went into the School Nursery (half-days) at just 3 and only had single words, not many of them - and the ones he did have were difficult to understand. He was potty-trained though.

He has been working with an excellent SLT for two years and has made very good progress. He now speaks in sentences and most people can understand pretty much all that he says.

I just wanted to post a message of encouragement for you really. I never thought my son would be as intelligible as he is today but hard work and staying positive have paid off. I too have wondered if I didn't talk to him enough when he was a baby or something - but don't go down that road, there's no point - and if you weren't a great mum you wouldn't be so concerned about him or on here trying to find ways to help him.

I once met a mum whose son was a similar age to my son (going on 4 - about to go into Reception if I remember rightly). She told me that her son also had Speech and Language problems and that he was not yet potty-trained. They had an appointment to see a paediatrician just to check that it was purely a Speech and Language issue. Apparently sometimes other things can be involved. So maybe ask your GP/HV/SLT to refer you if feel that would help to reassure you.

I remember our SLT saying that our son's receptive language (understanding) was fine and that that was the main thing. Expressive language problems are more easily corrected, I think. So that's a big positive.

Good luck. We worked with out son for ages and made very slow progress - but after about 18 months there was a huge leap and he has covered a lot of ground in the last 6 months.

As regards the phonics, our SLT firmly believes that phonics is the only way to teach reading, and I agree with her. We used Jolly Phonics in Speech Therapy and I have used it to teach my son to read and he can read very well. His nursery teacher told me that if he couldn't produce a sound, just to say it for him, so he learns to correct sound-symbol correspondence.

There are really helpful posts on the Education thread by "Catflap" on reading and Jolly Phonics. These websites are also useful:
www.jollylearning.co.uk
www.rrf.uk.org
www.syntheticphonics.org.

It sounds like he is doing really well at school, both academically and socially, so again all that is really positive. Have you asked the school if he is entitled to any extra help because of his speech problems? And have you applied for DLA?

Just seen this chocolategirl.Thanks so much for your advice.You have pointed out some very valid and interesting points.
The school did mention they would look into applying for extra funding for ds but have not heard anything about this as yet.
I have been advised to look into DLA and am awaiting some information to be sent to me.I would'nt have thought to apply for DLA ,to be honest I don't know much about it.

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I'd never heard of DLA. My HV told me to apply because I could use the money to help pay the private Speech Therapist.

I underestimated how long it would take to fill in the form! But when I thought about the questions it brought home to me what problems my son might experience in life... Somewhere there is a website that gives helpful tips on filling in the forms. It has been posted on here before and will probably come up if you do a search. If I find it, I will post it - but that will probably be tomorrow not today. Sorry!

I would definitely apply. They can only turn you down... and if you get it you can use it on Speech Therapy, books, cassettes and loads of things like that that you can use at home with you son. LDA (Learning Disabilities) is an Educational Catalogue (they have a website) with lots of Speech and Language resources - like picture cards for verbs, etc.