Speech Pathologist for my 17 month old?

[ClarabelleCowFan]

I took DS17months to the Dr yesterday for a sick visit (suspected ear infection but those were clear) and in talking with the Dr she seemed to be concerned that DS isn't really saying many words.

DS will jabber constantly and can understand and follow instructions (pick up your cup and take it to Daddy) but he just seems to have no desire to speak specific words to communicate his needs.

Funny thing is that he used to act like he was saying more like Mama and Da and Ab-bah (his sister Abbey) and Sissy (his other sister Jess) but now all he says that is remotely clear is "joos" for juice.

The Dr gave us the number of a Speech Pathologist to call for a consultation. My girls all talked pretty early (and haven't stopped since!) but DS is my first boy and I guess I always just thought boys did things at a different pace. DS walked and ran at 10 months so he did that early.

Any experience with this? What exactly does the Speech Pathologist do with a child this young to encourage them to talk? Is it really that big of a deal that he isn't talking yet??

 

[An_Island_Girl]

I could have written this myself about my DD4 when she was about that age. At the recommendation of her pediatrition we had a consult with early intervention, and ended up having weekly home visits by a speech therapist and a weekly play group as well. At the time I wasn't all that concerned, and figured that because she was a real early walker that she was just putting motor development before speech... Well thank goodness for our Pediatricians' recomendation, as she now is a "talks all the time/ non-stop" kid (she still can not pronounce the R sound, but we are working on it ayt pre-K with the school therapist now).

At least get an evaluation... they may say he's right on schedule, or they may have some great tips to help him move along a little faster.

It ws mostly "play therapy", as she would bring small toys like farm animals, dolls, a mini grocery store, etc. Our therapist would have our DD make the animals talk to each other on the farm, pretend to shop having to ask for the items if they were behind the counter, etc. She also introduced some basic "baby signs" as she called them (sign language for words like please, more, thank you, etc.)
The biggest help for our DD though were the "touch cues". You can look these up online also, but it is essentially touching the part of your face that makes the sound (place your finger alog side your nose for the letter sound N, touch the middle of your lips as you make the M sound, etc.) These worked great in the beginning to help our DD know what part of her mouth hd to move to make the sound. It sounds a lot more complicated than it is, but once you start using ther touch cues, you find that you use them in your conversations with your child all of the time.

Good Luck!

 

[aheape1979]

I am a Speech-Language Pathologist and worked with preschool children for the first 6 years of my career. Let me also preface this by saying that for the past 3 I have been working with geriatric clients.
I am a HUGE promotor of early intervention. I have seen firsthand children who have been greatly affected for the better through early services (2 of those have been the children of close friends.)
I would definately at least have the evaluation. My youngest is the same age as yours, and I was a little worried up until about the past 2 months. She has blossomed in her language abilities in a very short amount of time. If she had not, I would have been having her evaluated!

 

[quasar4legs]

If it is any comfort my son needed speech therapy for a stutter (different issue, I know) and it was his favourite activity in the week. He and I both adored the speech pathologist and she made all the sessions fun and had a great range of toys. He now has less disfluency than the general population so I am certainly glad we did speech therapy as soon as it became evident there was a problem.
I agree with those that felt it was worthwhile getting an assessment.


Good Luck
Trish

 

[adoptionmomma4]

My DS's started speech when they were 2 and 4. For us age did not make a difference. Both boys’ speech improved almost immediately after starting. Both boys attended for about 9 months (1-hour once/week). My younger DS did spend this summer going to R-ME (army) camp to work on R's (which are now perfect) and we will be starting again soon for L's. Other than that the speech he received at age 2 was enough. Speech pathologists are amazing! The therapists we worked with were the most kind and patient women I have ever met. Both boys loved speech and could not wait to get there. I can not say enough good things about it.

*I do wish I could have started my older DS sooner. He never had any peer problems because of his speech, but it was frustrating when no one could understand him. Unfortunately he was not placed in our home until age 3 and there was a waiting list a mile long.

I would suggest the OP also to at least have the evaluation. They are a wealth of information.

Good Luck!

 

[wlwilliams9]

At 18 months, my DD didn't speak a word! No mama, dada, NOTHING! She would babble and point if she wanted something and I would always try to get her to tell me what she wanted, she would just cry instead. I talked to her doctor and based on all of the developments my DD was making, she said give it a few more months and then we'd revisit before seeing a speech therapist. She was right! At 20 months, my DD started saying all kinds of stuff, even forming mini sentences. It happened all of a sudden, we were at Target and my DD said, "Mama, Emmy get ickers!", which of course means, Mama, Emily gets stickers! I was blown away and started crying! That was six months ago, and now I can't get her to shut up!
Hopefully, your DS is just waiting to use his words, try not to worry (yeah right, you're his mom!) With or without the therapist, I'm sure your DS will be chatting away soon!

 

[delmar411]

I'm not 100% sure it is necessary to get him into early intervention. My younger DD did not start speaking 'real' words until she was 3. By 3 I was honestly worried but a friend told me to get down at her level and speak very clearly and very slowly at her so she could see me forming the words. I did that for months. DD thought I was nuts I think! LOL But it worked! And she's my only one who wasn't an early talker so it was just how she was hard wired to learn I guess.
So maybe give that a whirl to see if that helps at all. Although 17mths isn't that old and our ped told me that DD needed 50words by age 2 or else there might be a problem. Only they counted all her made up words as words so I guess those count too? DD had a complete made up language that we all understood but it was not english! She would have made a great twin.

 

[lucigo]

It costs you absolutely nothing to have your child evaluated, and will give you peace of mind if it turns out he doesn't need services. If, however he does need help, the best thing you can do for your child is getting him in as soon as possible. You mentioned that your child used to say some words and doesn't now. It might be nothing, but it also could be something. You also asked what they do with kids so young at therapy. My son started speech at 18 months. He also walked at 10 months, and would say a word for a while and then just stop saying it and move on to something else. Unlike your son though, mine did not have the receptive language skills yours does, he didn't answer if we called his name, and wouldn't follow verbal directions. Anyway...He went 3 days a week for 30 min. It was fun for him. We have a couple of speech therapy sessions on youtube if you would like to see them, or you can search on your own, there are others too. I have one from when he was very young if I can figure out how to download it. The first sessions were things like blowing bubbles and teaching him "pop" and making little plastic frogs jump and saying "hop".

You have nothing to lose, good luck!!!

 

[summerrluvv]

I'm a huge fan of getting intervention early on if necessary. You can go through your State's Early Intervention program or you can just pay out of pocket (or through insurance) to see a regular speech therapist. I would opt for EI though since they will do a complete evaulation that includes other areas where there could be a potential delay or issue that you don't realize.


I had my son evaulated for speech at age 2 and it turns out he needed a lot more than that and no one picked up on it since they weren't things that would stand out to the average joe at that age (inluding myself).

Good luck!

 

[melancholywings]

I would check with your health insurance and what they cover. We had a teacher recommended an evaluation for my then 4 year old.
The evaluation suggested speach therapy - only all the waiting lists were 6 months to a year and half. We called everywhere and got on all the waiting lists, then lucked out a few months later and got in. Then after all that insurance would only cover a very small amount of the sessions, I want to say like 5. As they didn't consider speach therapy vital, we did it for a few months paying out of pocket (and seeing no improvement) before learning that we could do a free program with the public school system. They did their evaluation, said she was fine and just needed time. The school was right.

 

[kami2199]

Hugs mama! Kam didn't walk, talk or do much of anything until about 18 months. Has Mason had many ear infections? Seems like once the tubes went into her ears she took right off. Go to the consultation but try not to worry too much about it. D hasn't had any ear issues and the developmental differences between her and Kam at this age is unreal. Just my experience but something to think about. And send me some pics of my future son in law already! And don't forget those beautiful girls! Have a good weekend, hope B is feeling ok.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Thanks to everyone! It is so nice to know we aren't alone. There seems to be a correlation between early walkers and speech delay. I wonder if some kids are just more in tune to motor skills and less to speech as a toddler.

I'm a huge fan of getting intervention early on if necessary. You can go through your State's Early Intervention program or you can just pay out of pocket (or through insurance) to see a regular speech therapist. I would opt for EI though since they will do a complete evaulation that includes other areas where there could be a potential delay or issue that you don't realize.


I had my son evaulated for speech at age 2 and it turns out he needed a lot more than that and no one picked up on it since they weren't things that would stand out to the average joe at that age (inluding myself).

Good luck!

Thanks. The Dr did also give us the number of the state's program and said she used them when her own 2 year old DD wasn't talking. She said it was a good place to start.

I would check with your health insurance and what they cover. We had a teacher recommended an evaluation for my then 4 year old.
The evaluation suggested speach therapy - only all the waiting lists were 6 months to a year and half. We called everywhere and got on all the waiting lists, then lucked out a few months later and got in. Then after all that insurance would only cover a very small amount of the sessions, I want to say like 5. As they didn't consider speach therapy vital, we did it for a few months paying out of pocket (and seeing no improvement) before learning that we could do a free program with the public school system. They did their evaluation, said she was fine and just needed time. The school was right.

We are lucky that we have military insurance so they cover a good bit. We just need to find out which programs/therapists will take our insurance.

Hugs mama! Kam didn't walk, talk or do much of anything until about 18 months. Has Mason had many ear infections? Seems like once the tubes went into her ears she took right off. Go to the consultation but try not to worry too much about it. D hasn't had any ear issues and the developmental differences between her and Kam at this age is unreal. Just my experience but something to think about. And send me some pics of my future son in law already! And don't forget those beautiful girls! Have a good weekend, hope B is feeling ok.

Mason has had a TON of ear infections but none in the past 2 months (thank goodness). He has probably had 10-12 in the first 15 months of his life. I specifically asked the Dr about that and she said that as long as he was able to understand us and follow directions that he could hear us just fine and that shouldn't affect his speech. She also said she didn't see any scar tissue on his ears - at least the areas she could see with the otiscope.

B is enjoying his Percoset after his knee surgery and looking forward to college football today. The kiddos are doing well. Thanks for asking!

 

[mjkacmom]

Call either your school system or health department for early intervention. Within 30 days, they will send out a team to evaluate your ds, and if he meets the criteria, you will receive free or low cost therapy. Your state is required to provide this service, and it's great! Ds5 qualified when he was 18 months old, and we had a ST come to our home for an hour a week, and he was talking within a few months. A lot of insurance does not cover ST (we tried to get private therapy also, but it wasn't covered).

 

[della]

Three of my five kids needed speech intervention prior to preschool. We went through the local early intervention program and I can't say enough wonderful things about the program!
The strides made by my children were amazing. I will forever be grateful to this program.

 

[JamesMom]

Both of my boys were referred to County Early Childhood Intervention services for speech delays at their 18 month check-up. My oldest (now in Kindy) enrolled in the program at 22 months with a speech level of 12 months after testing. He left the program at 3 years at a 30 month old level. He has since caught up just fine.
My youngest entered the program at 28 months (I waited to see if he would just catch up on his own following his brother), but still not even a 'Mama' so in the County program he went - he had weekly speech therapist appointments and bi-weekly occupational, pyschologist and physical therapy appointment in home at a minimal cost (sliding scale for us $20 a month). He had sensory (borderline autism) issues, too.
At age 3 he had to leave the County Program (age cut-off) and tested at the public school. He was tested at 15 months and accepted into their special ed Preschool program. He attends 3 hours a day, Monday -Friday (same school/time as big bro) and he LOVES school. He has learned some sign language to compensate. He totally understands what is said to him but just can't seem to express himself. And, thankfully, he has outgrown most of his sensory issues so autism is no longer in the cards (whew!).
Anyways, there are plenty of resources available. And this speech thing seems to be something the kids eventually catch up on.

 

[LisaNJ25]

Thanks to everyone! It is so nice to know we aren't alone. There seems to be a correlation between early walkers and speech delay. I wonder if some kids are just more in tune to motor skills and less to speech as a toddler.



Thanks. The Dr did also give us the number of the state's program and said she used them when her own 2 year old DD wasn't talking. She said it was a good place to start.



We are lucky that we have military insurance so they cover a good bit. We just need to find out which programs/therapists will take our insurance.



Mason has had a TON of ear infections but none in the past 2 months (thank goodness). He has probably had 10-12 in the first 15 months of his life. I specifically asked the Dr about that and she said that as long as he was able to understand us and follow directions that he could hear us just fine and that shouldn't affect his speech. She also said she didn't see any scar tissue on his ears - at least the areas she could see with the otiscope.

B is enjoying his Percoset after his knee surgery and looking forward to college football today. The kiddos are doing well. Thanks for asking!

I would have him go for a hearing test just to make sure. My now 3yo got a cold at 19 months and his tonsils swelled up.. they never went down. after few months I finally got a referall to the ent.. Dr never said anything about the ears looking bad. Sure enough he had hearing loss and did not have a history of ear infection. He ended up getting the tonsils out, adenoids out and ear tubes in year ago this week. He just started speech therapy last week. I went though my insurance and he is going 2 times week. The early intervention with the school system said they will not help with his diagnosis. Also it would of taken months to go though them for an evaluation.

 

[SylviaL]

My 20 month old daughter was just evaluated by a speech pathologist and a developmental specialist last Thursday. Developmentally, she is fine. Her speech, however, is that of a 12 month old. So, now I'm searching for a speech therapist. I am going through our state's early intervention program but my service coordinator told me that it may take a few months to find a speech pathologist because many are not taking new appointments.

I had her evaluated because it worried me that she has been saying the same 6 words for several months when she should be learning a few words every month. Also, we recently discovered that DS5 has severe hearing loss in one ear. His speech was delayed and we now wonder if he would have benefited from early intervention. They are both seeing a pediatric ENT on Thursday. Neither child has had ear infections.

Good luck.

 

[Narnia]

I have had a few of my kids lag behind in speech(3 of 5). For my DD the speech path had a parents workshop. I learned a few tricks that helped:

If you child plays at a younger level his/her speech is most likely going to be that level.

For a child to learn to say words they need to hear them a lot. Think of the brain as a bucket and words as balls eventually it will over flow! lets say you want her to learn go: ( while playing with his car)Bobby look at the car go! go car go! vrmmm go car! go!. Or you could make up a song ( to the speed racer tone)go car ! go car! go! amazingly kids love it when words are put to song. playing high interactive games with songs where your DD can fill in the blank are good too like:The grand ol duke of York he had ten thousand men, he march them up to the top of the hill then he marched them down again when they where up they were up and when they where down they where down and when they where only half way up they were neither up or down
I lift my dd up and down. She had to say up then I'd put her up. At first any verbal response was reworded.

Wonder why kids pick up bad words easier then normal ones? It's the way they are said. If you emphasis a word most children will want to learn it. BABY, You have the BABY, oh BABY is crying, kiss the BABY ,night night BABY.You'll think your nuts repeating things but it works.

I'd give it 6 month and see how your toddler is doing. If shes say words like joos for juice that's great she's on her way right now she's really young and she'll pick it up.

 

[jensen]

When my DS was a baby he suffered from a lot of ear infections... I basically took him to the doctor every 2-3 weeks to get a new prescription. Finally, when he was 2, we did tubes and that ended the infections. But, he wasn't talking at all - like 12 words or something. Since he was our first child, we didn't realize he was that far behind, and we could understand him... anyway, the doctor said we needed speech therapy... I didn't want to do it because, you know, I didn't want to admit my child wasn't perfect. But, the docter didn't even give me an option, the ST called and we set up an appointment. DS was about 28 months old when he started speech therapy and they did it pretty intensively - 3 times/week. Within 4 months, he was speaking at his age level, but since the therapy was paid for up until his third birthday, we kept going. On his third birthday, she did her last session and told me that he was speaking at a 4 year old level. It was like a miracle!!!! His therapist said he was the perfect client because once his ears were cleared up (from the tubes) he had no physical or mental limitations, he simply needed the education. I highly recommend to any parent to get that speech therapy early!!!!

 

[Kriii]

I'd definately recommend the speech eval asap (and yes, I'm an SLP). If there is no real problem, all you've done is confirm this and will sleep better at night. If there is a problem, then addressing it early is best. The brain is developing fast at this age and you don't want to miss a good window of opportunity. I could write a book about kids who come to kindergarten 2-3 years delayed and struggle all the more to catch up.