Question for parent w/ a child w/ a speech delay with a younger sibling.

[MSSANDRA]

Thanks everyone for the advice.

I have decided that I am going to send him to this preschool my older DS teacher recommended. Apparently this preschool works w/ the intermediate unit as well so I figured that would be good. I signed him up for 3, 1/2 days. Also signed him up for a mommy and me preschool that meets for a hr once a week. The preschool won't start till DS's 2nd birthday so I am just going to go and call early intervention as well in the mean time and get an eval. Hopefully he doesn't need it.

I just wish I wasn't so upset about this. I know that he will learn and make strides and that I am doing everything humanly possible. It's just so frustrating.

Again thanks for everyones thoughts and support!

Perfect choice!!
As a preschool director I see o lot of sibblings with the same issues, It is NOT your fought. We also see many 2 year olds make hugh gains after only a few weeks in preschool!!!

 

[LUVDZNY2008]

I am a Speech Pathologist & I work exclusively with the birth-3 population (with Early Intervention). First off, it is not your fault that your younger child is also language delayed. It is not uncommon to see more than one child in a family with a language delay, especially if they are boys.
My recommendation of you is see how the preschool helps your son, but not to wait too long to have him evaluated by EI. By 24months a child should be using 2-word phrases frequently, and using 3-word phrases occasionally.
Now, although school might help with language development, if there are any oral motor/muscle concerns (not sure if your older child had this), then your son might benefit from speech therapy.
Good luck to you.

 

[Leajess99]

I would recommend having your younger child evaluated to include having his hearing tested and possibly even talking to an ENT about trying tubes. It very well could be that the child cannot hear due to fluid or whatever other reason. My youngest had a severe speech delay and was released from speech at the start of Kindergarten. She still has some issues but i work with her on them because she is not severe enough to qualify for speech again.

Please try not to feel like a failure because things happen. The only way you could fail your child is to ignore the possible issue. It seems that you are trying to be proactive. Like I said it could be a need for tubes in his ears. I did have a friend that has a child who has never had an ear infection but because he was showing signs of hearing loss/problems they tried tubes and he was a brand new child. His speech grew significantly and now she misses the quiet child. lol

 

[JamesMom]

I can so relate to the OP situation, but in reverse.

My DS6 when he was 18 months was referred to Early Intervention for speech delay. Weekly session in home helped him to catch by 3 years (when the county program stops) testing at 30 months. He went to regular church run preschool and is now a thriving talking and reading 1st grader.

My DS4 is severely speech delayed. When he was 18 months I thought he was like brother and really didn't get proactive until 22 months when he still wasn't saying 'ma' or 'dad'. Early childhood came to the home with a lot more personnel. I enrolled him the same preschool my older son went to, but had to leave due to behavioral issues.

Appears that what I thought was normal crazy toddler behavior was actually something else. Weekly visits with OT, PT, Psych and speech lead to a diagnosis of Sensory Integration Disorder (on the cusp of the Austism spectrum). By 3 years old he was testing verbally as a 15 months old (still not saying 'mama' at this point). He entered the public school half day special education program with PT, OT and speech that Sept. He was saying maybe 30 words. By the end of the year his vocabulary had grown to roughly 100 words (poor diction) and finally said 'Mama' at 3.5 years of age.

He is now, at four, in his second year of special ed and the progress is amazing. The SID symptoms are not entirely gone, but much more manageable. His vocab is now up to about 200 words and he speaks in short 2-3 words sentences and uses pronouns. Progress, indeed!

Hang in there, get help from your community.

I went through phases where I blamed myself - not enough attention, flash cards, whatever. It is not your fault! Get professional help and lay off the guilt (hard, I know).
God bless and PM if you want to talk.

 

[figment3258]

My oldest has a speech articulation problem and she is now almost 7 and we do private speech therapy. I was worried about my youngest she did not speak many word until just one day when she was almost three and I can hear that she does not have the problem as her sister. We home school our girls and they do just fine. All kids will come along in their own way it just takes them some time. Hope this helps.

 

[auralia]

my daughter did't say much more than ma ma da da and wall-e when she turned 2, but now she is 2 and a half and WHEN SHE WANTS to she can say just about anything, but if you want her to talk she won't do it.... it isn't you every child is different, also she couldn't eat solid foods until she was almost 2... she puked on everything until just before her second birthday because of an over actave gag reflex so they think this might have delayed her speech some.

 

[CLR4321]

I would read up on info from the American Academy of Pediatrics as far as what speech milestone a 22 month old should be at. If you are concerned that your child is behind that milestone, I would suggest making an appointment with your pediatrician to evaluate him.