Speech Delay - Any tips?

[JammyGeorge]

Hi ,

Ds2 has just turned 2 last month. He doesn't talk. He makes a fair bit of noise but nothing comprehensible.

The only word he has consistently said is 'mam' with the odd flurry of different words which come and go. All in all I'd say he's got no more than 10 words.

He seems to talk very nasally and almost talk without opening his mouth. Like a mutter, he sounds like one of the characters on timmy time if you've ever seen it.

I've rang the health visitor and she's busy but is sending out a early years something or other person to do some bookwork? My family keep dismissing my concerns, oh he'll be ok etc but if the wait for speech therapy is very long id rather get the ball rolling. I'm also concerned he's starting to get frustrated and throwing tantrums because he can't be understood.

Does anyone have any experience of this? It's not something I know a great deal about, obviously I know speech delay can be a sign of autism, are there any decent websites to look at? Is pursuing it via the health visitor the right thing to do or should I see the GP?

Also, everywhere seems to say the sooner you get speech therapy started the better, is there a big different between starting at 2 or 2.5 years? I have found a good looking private speech therapist that would come to our house but that's mega bucks, which I will pay gladly but I'm unsure.

Oh I'm just unsure about it all I know I need to start getting advice from somewhere so I've started here!

ok

1. get a hearing test sorted (GP can refer you)

2. self refer to SALT (you usually don't need a GP or HV to refer). Don't waste time or wait until after the waiting lists can be very long (we waited almost a year) .

3. if you have concerns re autism, then do the M-chat and take results to GP and demand a referral to a developmental paed.

Do you have any other concerns? is his understanding? can he follow instructions? does he communicate otherwise (pointing? bringing you things to show you?)?

3

www.m-chat.org/mchat.php

Thanks choc, will look at that now.

I think he's as bright as a button.

I can say put your plate in the sink and he potters off and does it, things in bin, go and get your shoes.

He's constantly bringing me toys and is quite cuddly and smiley.

We've also started looking at books and if I say where's the XXX he points at it.

He just doesn't seem to be able to physically speak. It's the strangest thing. His mouth his closed and he's muttering.

I'm going to google the SALT service in our area I thought I needed referring by someone.

I will also pursue the hearing test. He can definitely hear and responds to him name but maybe he can't hear very well.

Thanks again choc.

I've just googled the local salt people and you are right you can self refer the forms are on there so I'll get it done ASAP.

I've done the mcalt form and it came out low risk.

brilliant. still get a hearing test sorted just to rule out any hearing issues.

Yes I'll get onto the GP tomorrow about the hearing, defo something to rule out.

Our ds only had 10 words at two (consistent sounds for a meaning count as a word; most of my ds words were animal noises like moo, baa). Three years later he has had grommets for glue ear and has hypotonia. Not autistic. He has had a lot of SALT but nearly all of it was private until earlier this year when I upped my complaints. He started school at a language unit but should be back in ms in a couple of years. His speech has also come on massively and while still has problems he can mostly make himself understood.

Two is a difficult age for tantrums anyway (terrible twos) and lack of communication does mean the tantrums last longer (ie until they are older). I found they eased as ds could start to make his wishes understood.

I agree with the advise offered above. Nasal speech may also be affected by adenoids so it would be good to be checked by ENT.

I would do all of above and maybe get a private assessment. Mine was £100. Then you can show to the nhs if they fob you off. Until then, keep private to yourself as it shouldn't exclude you from nhs, but some people do like to play games

Good advice above. Def get hearing problems ruled out asap, GP caN refer to an audiologist. Some areas have speech and language drop ins, which are a quicker way into getting a referral to the speech and language service than via GP or seeks referral. After being fobbed off and passed around the houses, we got DS' referral soon after his 2nd birthday. At the age of 3 he got a verbal dyspraxia diagnosis (you might want to read up on this a bit to see if you think it fits your DS). Good luck

That's supposed to be self referral, not seeks referral! in our area, the speech and language service won't accept a referral for pre school children until you have established if there are hearing issues and attended a speech and language drop in! It's just a case of finding out what hoops you have to jump through. In the meantime you can do various things to encourage speech and language development like simplifying your language, slowing down when you are talking etc. also doing games with single sounds and encouraging your DS to look at your mouth while you say b,b,b or d,d,d. Trying to get him to copy animal sounds may help. Sorry but if brain dump!

Can he stick his tongue out?

This site> www.teachmetotalk.com- will explain everything.

Oh thank you for all this, I'll read back through write it down and research! I can see a trip to the doctors with a list of things to eliminate coming on. There is one nice helpful GP who I think would sort me out.

To answer one question yes he can stick his tongue out, I'm sure there's no tongue tie.

Thanks so much for this I don't even know what androids, grommits etc are! (Off to hit google)

I don't know what adenoids are either apart from you can have them taken out (like tonsils)! Glue ear is when thick gunk builds up behind the ear drum and blocks the transmission of sound. This is very common. Grommets are little tubes inserted in the ear drum to drain the gunk from persistent or recurring glue ear. The grommets normally fall out within a year or so. Glue ear can also affect the quality of sound heard which is why it can affect. speech.

Ah, he has had a couple of ear infections earlier in the year.

He is also a very 'croupy' baby, every time he has a cold or bug he makes the croup noise when crying.

Another avenue to pursue. Can a GP see glue ear or does it need to be ENT referral?

No, you need ENT referral so they can check with a tympanometer -- best to go through your HV in most areas, I think.

audiology did the tympanometer (sp?) test with us when we had our hearing test.

If you have an ENT appointment to query hearing then you normally get seen by audiology as part of the appointment. You see an ENT doctor after the test who will look at the results. If you are just referred to audiology you may or may not need another appointment to see ENT if something is wrong. Given your ds nasal speech, speech delay and history of ear infections you are probably best asking for an ENT referral.

Nearly every child will get episodes of glue ear at some point, there is nothing to see and nothing to be done unless it persists. Children tend to grow out of it. The problem is it affecting hearing for prolonged periods when they are learning to speak.

I think 2 is still quite young. My oldest was the same at that age and he is 10 now with a massive vocabulary and doing well at school. My youngest was speaking more at 18 months than my eldest was talking at 3! They are all different so please don't worry too much. SALT won't do much until they are older but it is worth getting his ears etc. checked out.