Speech delay + more

[Zara8790]

My son is 29 months old. He says single words/ can count to 20/ABCs sings songs well/ interacts with his little friends / family well/ He can say Up and Down. Flash cards he’s clear most of the time. Says ‘I’m upset’ or ‘what happened’ when he’s crying. He loves games like red light green light/ duck duck goose.

At home, he struggles with telling me what he wants. I’m thinking he’s got an expressive delay. Or he struggles to referring to himself. He can call us Mummy/Daddy. Calls for my mum etc

He can follow instructions really well - and will point to things he wants followed by a single word. He sleeps through the night most nights

He loves being outdoors and does well in new public places/restaurants. He only has a tantrum when he’s overtired/hungry which I probably do too. Even those are manageable at the moment.

Health visitor had no concerns at his 2 year review.

I became concerned about his speech when he was 1.5 years. Only because his friends talk way more than him. I know each child is different and I shouldn’t compared but I did.

But, he could say single words and imitate farm animal noises. I used to always ask nursery if there’s any concerns and they never flagged anything up.

Just as I was happy with the 2 year review reassurance from the health visitor - nursery have said he has ‘red flags’ they only hear him babble and he plays by himself most of the day.

I had to show videos of him how he interacts at home. Two different kids. When I showed them videos of him singing/counting - they dismissed it as repetition and memory. Also, a red flag. (His key worker used the word red flag various times) At home he has stopped babbling - it’s just words he’s saying or acting like Ms Rachel.

They’ve assigned a SEN key worker with him. I spoke to my health visitor again explaining all this and they have no concerns and said give him time.As the 2 year review was only done a few weeks ago. Nothing would change.

My GP has said they won’t see him before he’s 3 as he needs more time.

I have a private speech therapy appointment booked for him in a few weeks as nursery are keen to get something on paper to move forward.

I just wanted to hear from other parents in similar situations tools/resources that help. Compared to other kids in his nursery - I see it even more now he’s not as vocal.

Sorry, for the long scattered message. My mind has been 0-100 these past few days.

Speech therapy usually like for a hearing test to be done first, just to check there are no hearing problems impacting speech. Glue ear was the cause of my son's speech delay. I would ring the health visitor and ask to be referred for one. If they say no then try the doctors to be referred.

My son used to get frustrated trying to tell me what he wanted so I created magnets which I put on the fridge with pictures of his favourite foods on. This way he could point to the picture of the food he wanted. This helped us both. I also created other posters and pictures around the house to help us communicate.

I would highly recommend pippin the speech delay app. It has a course on which takes you though step by step what you can be doing at home to help with speech development. Might be worth trying whilst waiting for your speech therapy session:

https://www.pippinspeech.com/

It's hard to tell from what you have written whether this is a child with a mild expressive delay and who is more reserved at nursery, or whether ASD is something you should be concerned about. (And I'm not an expert, just a mum with an autistic child.) Your DS sounds really happy and engaged with you, and both of those are huge positives.

In some areas, nursery can refer to NHS speech and language. Could you ask if this is a possibility? I agree about seeking a hearing test.

You say nursery has assigned him a SEN keyworker but what are they actually doing to help? Are they planning 1:1 speech interventions, using signing with him, doing structured turn taking with other children (though he's only just about old enough for this), attention buckets? They don't need to have anything "on paper" and shouldn't be asking you to pay for private therapy to give him an Individual Support Plan, with goals and ways to help him meet them.

@LucyBrown88 Thank you so much for your reply. The magnets sound like a good idea to try and will look into this! I have downloaded the app and go back and discuss a hearing test/ glue ear. My GP did ask if I’m worried about his hearing but I wasn’t too concerned at the time.

@BusMumsHoliday thank you so much for your reply. I agree, another friend has asked me why nursery aren’t doing a referral. When I asked nursery what are the other options - she replied we just sit in frustration with the parents until the child is 3- that’s when referrals then happen.

At the moment, I’ve cried more tears for how nursery have been - the lack of empathy. I even looked into changing nurseries but my son does like it there. But he won’t be there for pre school.

What you’ve mentioned about the interventions they can do, I’ve requested smaller groups. They said they do try and he does engage better in the smaller groups. I know it all depends on staffing levels but there’s literally no plan atm. I have asked them for more updates on his day as the app doesn’t get updated and on collection they tell us ‘he’s had a good day’ - considering there are more children in his class that are on the same pathway , I thought they’d give me a break down on what they are doing/ what they do with other kids. I will mention what you’ve wrote in this message such as attention buckets.

Even when I’ve confirmed that he’s going to speech therapy privately. There response was great we can start gathering the documents and notes needed for SEN referral when he turns 3.
He turns 3 - in 7 months, kids change on a daily basis. I feel like they’ve already diagnosed him without any medical input/ assessments taking place.