Good news and not so good?

[sugarfree]

I've posted before about ds3's speech delay and am delighted to post that about a month after starting Makaton he is really really coming on.
Today he said 4 new words! (we're doing really well to get 4 in a month)
So now my problem is this,his pronounciation is very indistinct.I'm not expecting him to say them perfectly by any means but thinking about it today,I can't think of more than a handful that he says clearly.90% are an approximation or made up altogether.
I know he 'hears' and he passed his hearing tests at birth.He doesn't have reccurrent ear infections but did have meningitis at 6 months.(he's 2.8 now)
Do you think it is worth getting his hearing tested again to check he is hearing the full range of sounds that he should? Can I 'demand' a referral from the G.P or will we need to have it done privately?
Thanks oh knowledgeable ones!

Why can't we ever just be happy with progress,there always seems to have to a 'pay-off' and swapping one worry for another??

sugarfree - great that ds is making progress. have you ever considered that he may have a problem with his speech rather than his hearing?

You mean an issue with his mouth/tongue?

yep could be

my own dd has language problems but quite a few of her friends in the SALT unit she is in have speech. Many of them were delayed at first and then when the speech did come it was unintelligable.

Now I am not saying this is the case with your ds, it may well be hearing, glue ear etc but worth thinking about.

My friend whose dd is the same age as your ds and who has v delayed speech has been told that it is because of the shape of her mouth. The Speech Therapist seems to think that once she gets older it shouldn't be a problem.

Cheers guys.Wouldn't the SALT have picked that up at his initial assessment though?

You could be right, sugarfree. I know that that's what happened in my friend's dd's case.
What does that SALT say about getting his hearing retested?

Still waiting on another appointment to come through Bogwobbit,this'll be his third since October,but I gather that thats quite good compared to the help some people get.

Good luck with the appointment Hope you don't have to wait too long.

sugarfree - brilliant with the makaton.... my dd1 has down syndrome and so facial structure does play a part in her formation of her words. I guess dh and I are more attuned to her speech and so can work out what she is faying - especially if she is still also signing that word BUT what we have found is we tend to repeat what she has said - using correct pronunciation and over time her diction has become clearer. SO it seems the more she says the word the clearer it becomes.... her tongue/mouth shape etc gets used to it iyswim.

Still - if you are worried get it checked out - then at least you can rule that out if his hearing is fine and move onto another suggestion.

So,now how do I go about a hearing test?

I'm fairly sure it's not an issue with his mouth. For instance,he can say 'N' in "NO!" but not in "MOON" ("moo").

Maybe I'm just being over anxious and it is just a maturity thing.

My dd2 is like this and her SALT thinks she miss hearing the end sounds but she does seem to have fluctuating hearing (waiting to go back to hosp again).
She also has trouble around the sinus/tonsil area and she dribbles still (4.10) and snores.
A referral can come from the HV or GP or SALT (we have had all three at different times) should be able to get one without much hassle.
Good Luck

Cheers Nikkie.