Question about DS-22months...speech problem? *Another Update Pg5*

[luckywife]

Sabeking DS seems to understand a lot of what we say. If we ask him if he wants to take a bath or brush his teeth, he'll head right for the bathroom. I can ask him to hand me a towel and he'll walk right over and get one. He doesn't try to make sounds he hears outside or on TV, such as a train whistle. If he wants something that he can't reach most of the time he will whine and point and sometimes will make a sounds like "DEDEDEDE" but that's it. He had probably 3-4 ear infections when he was really little and a few times had fluid in both ears. Our doctor just looked at his ears about a week ago and said they were fine. I wanted them checked for infection because recently he has started sticking his fingers in his ears and poking at them really hard like they're hurting. Right before he starts poking at them, he'll whine/cry and then I notice him jabbing at the inside of his ears. Could be nothing, but it had be concerned.

 

[LMC]

Please make sure that you express your concerns over his coordination! Children make such huge progress with therapy their first 3 years so you need to take advantage of every little bit you can get. Make sure they don't just limit it to speech; tell them every concern no matter how little it may seem. It may clue them into something that you would not have thought about.

John V: Congratulations on the new GB!

 

[Sabeking]

Luckywife I read your post and have a few observations. Again I would not try to diagnose a child without knowing his entire medical history or see him in person. First let me say that boys tend to develope language later than girls. This is not ALWAYS the case but seems to be more prominent. Ear infections as well as fluid can definately have an impact on language development. Even if the infection is not there fluid can cause a temporary loss. It causes the eardrum to be flacid and not function properly. Again, that is temporary. The positive part of what you said is that you are stating that he is receptive to directions and commands. I am assuming that you are saying he can process the information that you are giving him. Is he able to say parts of words for example... instead of snake, he would say nake? How does he communicate with you besides pointing?

 

[luckywife]

Thanks for your input everyone!

The way DS communicates with us is usually with pointing, grunting or like I said, whining/crying. He can say little pieces of words but not very many. I don't even know if someone other than myself or DH would even know what he's talking about. I have learned to understand his "words" because I am at home with him all the time. He has picked something up the past few days, which he pronounces "Shom" or something like that. I caught on quickly that he was asking for a popcicle. I only realized it when he saw me open the freezer and started pointing to them and saying the word "shom." I always make a point to say the word correctly to him...."do you want a popcicle?" And then I will give it to him. He has a few other "words" that I have yet to figure out. When I ask him to show me or tell me again he gets very upset and irritated. Honestly, I can't blame him. I know it has to be hard on him not being able to say exactly what it is that he wants/needs. My hope is with this evaluation, they will be able to shed some light on all of this so we can get him the help he needs and deserves.

 

[mom2alix]

Originally posted by kimwim8
I would definitely ask for the hearing test. DS was 18 months when we realized that he was starting to talk, but very garbled. The dr. found that even though he wasn't getting a lot of infections, his ears were constantly filled with fluid. He had the tubes put in right away, and was talking 100% clearer after a couple days. It was like a whole new world for him once he could hear.

One of my best friends had this same experience with her son. He seemed fine except his speech was REALLY garbled (compared to all the other kids in our play group). Once he got the tubes in his ears, he was speaking clearly almost immediately. Her doctor told her that he had been hearing, but everything sounded like he was under water. Since that's what he heard, that's how he talked. Those tubes in his ears were like a miracle.

 

[luckywife]

mom2alix That is so funny that you would mention that about your friends child. I recently read something similar about how this child could hear but everything sounded funny so that's why the speech wasn't right. I thought of that today and told my friend about it and even wondered if maybe that could be going on with our DS since he's had more than his share of ear infections. We'll see what happens. I can't wait for the day that DS can actually communicate the way I know he really wants to.

 

[padams]

John-Congratulations on your newest grandchild!

As for the speech issues, DS #1 was a lot like your son at 22 months. He mostly communicated by pointing, grunting, and saying his favorite word "no". DS #2 arrived when DS was almost 23 months. By #1's 2nd bday, he was speaking clearly in full paragraphs. It was like a light switch had been turned on. Our ped thought that DS was suddenly "forced" to speak to get what he wanted because mom was busy with the new baby.

Try to make sure your are giving your son every opportunity to speak for himself. I know I had been guilty of getting the crackers out of the pantry just because DS pointed at them and grunted.

DS#2 had recurring ear infections as an infant and toddler. I wish we had put in ear tubes earlier than we did because it affected his speech. He sounded as if he was underwater, which was how the world sounded to him. He is 6, and still doing speech therapy for articulation issues. My lesson from #2 is get the evaluations done for speech and hearing as soon as you have any concerns.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

 

[Oh Kay!]

luckywife,

as a mother of a speech-delayed child, I am very glad that you took the action. I only wish I had the support you are receiving when I had doubts about my son's speech--everyone from DH, grandparents on both side(did I mention my MIL is a kindergarten teacher?) and ped pooh-poohed my concern. Good luck and hope all goes well with the evaluation.

Kay

 

[Princess Steph]

If you are concerned at all have your child undergo an evaluation through early Intervention. EI is free to children with need, up to age 3. Speech therapy, Occupational therapy (does he have trouble coloring or holding a fork?), and Physical Therapy- for the clumsiness, will all be addressed. I worked 3 months as a PT in EI and it was amazing to see the improvement in the children with just a little help. The speech deficit does not have to be a hearing problem. Sometimes children just have weak muscles that help them form words, so talking is difficult. With the proper exercises, it will improve. Good Luck!!

 

[luckywife]

The evaluation will be tomorrow in our home at 11:15 so I'll make sure to post an update once we find out what's going on.

Princess Steph as a matter of fact, DS does have trouble holding a fork. DH and I were just discussing this earlier today. I don't know if it could mean anything, but I will definitely mention it tomorrow.

Thanks again everyone for your opinions and advice. MUCH appreciated.

 

[Pinnie]

Good Luck tomorrow.

I am a former *PPI* (Pre-Primary Impaired) teacher that is currently teaching an alternative Kindergarten for our public school district. I have about 9 speech and language impaired students this year.

Early Intervention IS the key here. I have had TSLI's (Teacher of the Speech and Language Impaired) often cite studies to parents that said that occasionally children with poor speech and language skills have difficulty readiing because of they often don't hear/pronounce the sounds correctly.

Good luck to you and please keep us updated.

If you have any questions regarding the IEP process, please feel free to PM me!

pinnie

 

[LMC]

I think "shom" is probably the word "some". As in I want "some". Since he is having difficulty holding a fork it sounds like his motor skills are probably delayed too. My DS did not walk until 15 mo's did not speak much until after 24 mo's. He also did not climb, run, jump, swing until age 3 1/2 yrs when we put him into some PT. So needless to say he was a bit behind and still is. We can't make up for lost time we can only make sure we are doing all that we can here and now.

 

[maddiemom]

luckywife...I am a speech therapist. I PM'd you with my suggestions.

 

[maddiemom]

Oh... I should have read through all the replies. Now I know you have an appt with EI. Good luck with that. It is definately the right thing to do!

 

[luckywife]

The lady from First Steps just left a little while ago. She was very nice and helpful and spent probably an hour and a half here. The true evaluation for DS will be on October 5th in our home. She suggested we have him evaluated in all areas so on the 5th there will be 4 different people here to evaluate him. In addition to that, I have to take him to have a hearing and vision test before the 5th. I was asked all kinds of questions today about what DS can or cannot do. It really made me look at all of this from a different perspective. All along I had been thinking of basically speech problems but I seemed to answer no to most questions, which could indicate a few other areas of concern. Of course, it could indicate absolutely nothing, but we would much rather be safe than sorry and just have everything looked at now.

I wanted to take time to thank ALL of you for your help and advice. So much great information was given to me, I don't think I would have known where to turn without it. I will keep updating you on what's going on with him once he has his evaluations.

 

[castlegazer]

Thanks for the update. Its been enlightening to me too.

 

[binny]

Originally posted by kimwim8
I would definitely ask for the hearing test. DS was 18 months when we realized that he was starting to talk, but very garbled. The dr. found that even though he wasn't getting a lot of infections, his ears were constantly filled with fluid. He had the tubes put in right away, and was talking 100% clearer after a couple days. It was like a whole new world for him once he could hear.

I was very sceptical of how they could possibly test the hearing of a young toddler, but they did it using visual aids - it was amazing.

Good luck, and keep us posted! And feel free to PM me with any questions.

this is exactly what happened to us!!
Never an ear infection but couldnt keep her balance very well or wasnt speaking. Turns out that the fluid was putting so much pressure on her inner ear that not only could she not hear ( 35% hearing) but it was messing with her equilibrium!

She started walking 2 days after the surgery and running the day after that!

My regular doc just Poo pooed me and said " she'll catch up" I posted here and by the urging of wonderful Disers ( I will be forever grateful!!!) we took her to a Pediatric ENT who diagnosed the problem in 2 minutes!

Now she still has some delays and some issues ( may or may not be linked hearing they dont know) she is SO much better at 5 years old. She has been in the early intervention program for 3 years now and next year will start regular Kindergarten with her peers.


Again, I urge you to take her for a second opinion. That sounds SO much like what happened to us.

I will be praying for all of you!
God Bless.

 

[binny]

there is a book out there called " Like sounds through water"

It describes so much of what my dd went through

 

[mbb]

Just so you know, you may be feel a little bit more overwhelmed tomorrow - the "adrenaline " from anticipating the visit wears off

That's normal

And so is doubt, fear, guilt, relief, and yep, even a bit of anger thrown in...
...and then the aniticpation for Oct 5 visit will start

A home visit/evaluation is great because the professionals who are coming to your home will see your little guy in his most comfortable environment.

Ya done good, mommy!!

Feel free to send me a pm, if you'd like to "chat"



PS Congrats Grandpa!!

 

[Pinnie]

Thanks for sharing your experience today. I am sure you are overwhelmed and that is normal! It is good to read that the evaluation sounds comprehensive.

Please keep us updated after the evaluation is complete!

pinnie