Speech help

[MuffinToptheMule]

I have a friend whose son is not really speaking yet. He has a few words, maybe a maximum of ten and he is 3.5. He has many tantrums which are obviously not because he is being naughty but because he is very frustrated and can't say what he wants.
My friend and his partner have just begun to realise that the child should be speaking a bit more and they are on a waiting list for some sort of appointment for his speech, but it will take a while for an appointment.
Is it possible for them to start other forms of communication like PECS with him before he has his appointment? Or is there anything I could suggest to them that may help? I think they are all very tired now and any sort of help would be good.

Is he at nursery? Do they have any kind of speech and language help there if he is?

I guess it varies from area to area, but we had a great speech and language therapist in our area (surestart) who you could arrange to see through the health visitor. Usually no wait. She also used to visit all the playgroups etc and got to know everyone very well.

Sorry not much advice but didn't want it to go unanswered. Good luck to your friend

i took my ds straight to gp when i noticed he had limited speech

gp made things move so much quicker for me

i found keeping asks small so you want drink

i was told to keep conversation 3 words and to repeat everything i was doing so my ds could understand the actions to the words

speak to nursery see if they have a senco that could help with things to encourage speech etc

also see if any sn groups near by they run courses makaton sign therapies for children to help encourage speech and interaction

also courses for parents to help and find other ways of helping

do they have other concerns with him at all does he have any obsessions, how does he interact at pre school do they have concerns at all

im not sure how he interacts with parents or whether he requests things but i was encouraged to play games such as building a train track and handing my ds one piece at a time and saying more every time i handed over a piece and it encouraged him to say more before he got another piece

also did the same with help if he wanted help id say help and then eventually he could ask help

if he wanted a drink id say juice or water and encourage him to say but even if just pointed oh "name wants water"

does he put words together do you know what words he can say?

They could start with something like makaton which works towards speech. In that you are taught a sign - some are very common sense even what you would mime eg - imagine asking someone if they wanted a drink using sign language - well that is the sign for drink.

The idea with makaton is to facilitate speech if that capacity is there - in that you do the sign and it is just key signs in a sentence to enhance meaning and then you also speak the word.

My dd1 used makaton for a while to help her communicate. SHe started with an approximation of the sign and then did the sign clearly and then speech and sign and then she dropped the sign. She often signs if she thinks we are not understanding what she is saying. They may be able to access some training also.

we started with things like more/eat/drink/bed/bath and then went from there.

Makaton is easy to do - can get a couple of little books and as long as they are speaking with the signing that is the important part. It is also important to use the signs for the important part of the sentence.

makaton info here

Their ds is in nursery full time as both the parents work. The nursery hadn't picked up on a problem. I think I'll suggest surestart to them. Thanks

i used pocket book 1 and 2

My dd1 was about 12 months old when we started and she picked it up very very quickly.

the nursery would also be able to use makaton as well - so easy to learn. I know my dd1's nursery used makaton with her.

i'm surprised in all honesty that a nursery didnt pick up that he was so limited with his speech

maybe get them to keep a diary of his behavior over aw eek or so so it can be seen in writing as they may just be not really paying attention

see if he requests or interacts with other children it would be worth doing as all this will be asked by SALT or other professionals and the fact nursery hadn't noticed anything wont tell much for any of the other questions they'll want to know

main one was does ds request
how does he interact with children
does he play with or alongside
does he try to talk to the other children

maybe they could request that nursery can keep an eye on this and note down what he does day to day

I second makton if youphone your localspeech therapy department you can ask them if any makton courses are running localy,I did my course well in advanceof seeing anyonelonglists here to

Agree with bubblagirl that nursery should have picked it up. Also agree that Makaton would be good - there are a couple of children with Downs at my DCs school, and all the teachers use it - it's very easy to learn and good to use it to reinforce words as you say them.

Ask for a hearing test too. Glue ear can cause speech delay.
Am also v surprised that nursery have not noticed this and made any comments--it would be different if he was 2.5, but 3.5...

if they take him to gp if they haven't already its routine with speech delay to have ears tested as well as being put forward for appropriate help so may be best to go straight to gp with concerns

i say gp as mine was so helpful never ever saw our hv if it wasn't for gp we wouldn't have got anywhere

Thanks for all your replies. He doesn't really interact with other people as such, I think it must be hard for him since he can't talk.
When he is with other children he doesn't really acknowledge their presence and prefers to play by himself, normally with trains or he currently likes pieces of soft material.
I will look into makaton and when I've read about it a bit more then I will suggest it to them. Thanks again

have they taken him to gp for further investigation to make sure there is nothing else that may need attention

the thing that gets me here is the not interacting with others i know many children who have limited speech and do interact and play with others

playing alone and not acknowledging others is a concern for me as my ds was and is the same

i'm not saying he will have ASD but i think the nursery have been poor in giving any help to concerns about the poor boy and this is also a big factor as he will got o school soon and if not interacting may need some help before then to encourage his social skills etc

his till young enough to get a lot of help in before then but a yr isnt very long in terms of time so having no help for these issues would be a shame i think get to gp see paed who can check child over hearing will be checked and then the appropriate help can be set up

the poor boy will only benefit from such help nursery don't seem to be doing much to help him they can be given things to do within the nursery to help with socializing and interaction etc