Any one have kids with speech delays?

Connie - posted on 04/17/2012

I don't know what doctors or therapist say in other states or even cities but the infant/toddler development program we have says that most kids should have at least 25 words by time they are 18 months of age and they give a list that is on the internet that gives the most used words that kids pick up on. My oldest son was not saying anything accept no by the time he was two and his doctor said that he was showing some signs typical of a child with Autism so we had him checked by a specialist and he was put on the Autism Spectrum! Two of my other children have been speech delayed but one of them is talking up a storm and our youngest will be 2 in August and she is still not picking up a lot of words yet. I do have her is the infant/toddler program and they come over two times a month and then I will have her in the Early Headstart program next year..

Kathryn - posted on 04/16/2012

My son turned 3 today! and he has been in speech therapy for a little over 1 yr. He started making sounds and then some words but then lost them. This is why I advocated for EI to test him. He was of course delayed. A developmental pediatrician diagnosed him with Verbal Apraxia (my pediatrician still felt we was just fine because most kids do eventually talk but not Apraxics.) I was told the earlier you get speech, the better the prognosis. DDon't let anyone talk you out of starting early! There is no downside to speech except cost and if you go through EI, it's state supported. They do a lot of floor based play therapy and now that Cooper's 3 he's drilling with cards and other formal tools. He went from absolute zero words and no sounds except "uh uh uh" and screams to communicated to 5 word sentences 70% intelligible to outsiders in one year. And he was not a model student as he didn't want to sit still bbecause he's so active and the speech work was hard for him. Good for you to get on this fast! Your daugghter will do great with you advocating for her!

Lisa - posted on 04/09/2012

hi i do understand what u going through my little boy will be 2 next month and he says mummy and grandad and he babbles alot but i get frustrated as he point and and go ur ur ur all the time but if u ask him to go and get the ball he understands what we say but he just wont talk he starts playschool next month so hopefully he will start talking but if he doesnt then they said they will help him with speach therapy which i dont mind if it helps him to talk but i have been told that boys are lazyer then girls

Michelle - posted on 04/07/2012

Thank you. I suppose I am not worried but for reassurance for myself am waiting for the answer I want to hear from someone else so I know I am not alone. I am going to wait and see what he does and then I will put him in school. I will try to let my daughter not answer for him but rather get him to speak for himself. I am goo g to buy a kids Fisher price tape recorder also ans see if him talking ot babbling in it will be incintive to get him to talk. Who knows. Thanks guys I will keep you posted in a month on his progress. I really appreciate the support.

Joanne - posted on 04/07/2012

Enc your daughter not to speak for him. It is hard because they seem to be able to understand each other easier than we do. Spend time working with him on speech. Enc him to make sounds doing fun things with it and see what happens. I would give it another 4-6 months before I would get concerned unless there are other issues.

Jessica - posted on 04/06/2012

My daughter, now 2 1/2, has been in speech therapy for about a year. Like yours, she understood everything but could not say much. It has worked wonders! Stick with it. I promise it's totally worth it!

Jeanette - posted on 04/06/2012

At what point should one begin to worry? My 14month old, doesn't talk. He points, mumbles and growls. His older sister often talks for him.

Dawn - posted on 04/06/2012

So glad to meet you, Tiffany! (: I'm a mom of 4 girls. 2 of which have gone through speech therapy w/ much success. They are now speaking clearly, reading, & enjoying school! My youngest however, has recently been diagnosed with "Developmental apraxia of speech". She'll be 5 next week. (: If your little girl hasn't been fully diagnosed with anything yet, I wouldn't be too concerned. She's still pretty young. The best thing you can do is trust what the therapist is doingfor her,....and ALWAYS ask LOTS of questions. I would also suggest keeping a record book of things your child is saying & doing. I know it's stressful, but you'll all get through it just fine. ; )

Michelle - posted on 04/06/2012

He doesn't take a paci and he doesn't have any trouble doing anything. He does drool though but no doc seemed to think it was odd. He has had ear tests and he is fine. I don't want him behind but the school care starts at or after 3years old. I don't mind that and it is free through the school. I just cannot get the boy to talk. I just want to be sure the if he needs the school help 3 is not to late and he will not remain behind. This is my biggest fear. What is everyones thoughts about that? My grandma who is 75 watches him and sometimes I feel this is also why he is behind she cannot play with him like us and the Tv gets the most of his time during the day. Daycare is just so expensive.

Kelly - posted on 04/05/2012

well my son only knew 5 words at age 2 and the dr said at2 the children should know AT LEAST 50 words. So well by 3 yrs it may be to late to get some help. Its TOTALLY better to get help now.

My son is almost 4now and he is still in speech but doing GREATI TOTALLY recomend it :)

Kelly - posted on 04/05/2012

well my son only knew 5 words at age 2 and the dr said at2 the children should know AT LEAST 50 words. So well by 3 yrs it may be to late to get some help. Its TOTALLY better to get help now.

My son is almost 4now and he is still in speech but doing GREATI TOTALLY recomend it :)

Natasha - posted on 04/05/2012

shes just not ready all kids are different i have three and they all did something different just be patient and fyi if she takes a pacifier thats it i took my sons paci away and he wont stop and nick jr helps alot

Alicia - posted on 04/05/2012

American Sign Language videos.. its called baby signing time they have it on nick jr now..

Joanne - posted on 04/04/2012

Does he have any trouble eating? Drooling? those are things that can show muscle weakness, which can cause speech delays. Therapy at that age looks like play. You really can't sit a young child down and make them repeat sounds over and over. Ask the therapist for things you can do at home. Is there an early intervention program where you are those are often free covered by the school system or insurance. If there is any way to keep it up I would she will do so much better in the long run.

Michelle - posted on 04/04/2012

My son is in speech therapy. 8 visits and no response. He has no other developmental issues and is right on par for everything else. He follows commands and does chores even. He is 27 months and the second child. I don't get a lotof advice from the therapist shejust plays with him. I cant afford to keep him in it. Should I wait for pre-k? I cant afford daycare and don't have friends with kids. I think the interaction would be best for him does anyone else agree with this I don't know what else to do..

Joanne - posted on 04/03/2012

One thing that we did just to ease Ryan's frustration was to learn some sign language. It was just basic stuff, but once he was able to get more of his desires across it was amazing how that helped everything else.

Donna - posted on 04/03/2012

I am raising my 4 1/2 yo grandson who does not speak. We have had early intervention and he now attends ACLD pre-school. Matt has been diagnosed with Childhood Apraxia of Speech. Has that been mentioned? I ask because no one diagnosed Matt last summer I heard about Apraxia from my dad's neighbor!!!! Matt, now, he has been "officially" diagnosed by the Speech teacher at his school.I have a website that contains some links. Please feel free to take a look and maybe see if any of the info seems to fit your daughter and then you will be armed with some pretty powerful information to take with you to your Early Intervention therapist!! Best of luck and let me know if it helps! I am also always available to talk if you need someone!

http://www.posthope.com/matthew-childhoo...

Donna

Joanne - posted on 04/02/2012

We are in therapy 3 days a week and my son had NO words at 2, he was able to make a "grunting" type noise, he now has more words than I can count, but we cannot understand them all. Be faithful in working with her at home and you will see progress. Don't let others speak "down" to her and you will be amazed when things start clicking. There will be a day you will say. "and I was worried about her not speaking" Hard work early makes all the difference.

Tiffany - posted on 04/01/2012

Veronica...at what age was your child diagnosed with apraxia? Maybe I should ask her therapist about that since she understands everything. It seems that she says "mmm" for everything, which is better than nothing but maybe that is the only sound she feels she has under control. But she says other sounds in isolation so not sure. I do praise her for anything verbal to encourage more sounds . I've been working on cup and baby for 8 months now. The only true words she says are "mama, dada, and hi". Her goal is to label one object when asked "whats this?". It is A LOT of work and time to invest but it is worth it to help my child!

Thanks everyone for the comments and support! I really enjoy reading your stories!

Ashlee - posted on 03/31/2012

hello. my son had speech delays . we had to get him in speech therapy. and we also got a referral for subsidized day care at they ymca becuse of his delay. we went through wee talk as well. and it helped amaizingly! it takes some time but is worth it.! once you start seeing improvement its just esculates very rapidly! he is 6 years old now and is doing great in school !

Alexis - posted on 03/31/2012

My 21m old is the same. He's been in the state's EI program (Speeh therapist comes to house) since 18m. It's definitely helping. Good for you for being proactive and getting help early!

Barbara - posted on 03/31/2012

My son was diagnosed with Apraxia in the fall. He has been going to speech therapy twice a week and now has 2-3-4 word phrases. It is so much the work at home too! This last week he said the word "want" perfectly and more than once and also "milk" Two words that we couldnt get him to say at all. I think that you have her getting services it is awesome the earlier the better she will get caught up quick. It is scary, but so managable. Keep with it it will be tough but so worth it. This is one of the toughest things I have ever dealt with. Take care Good luck.

Karen - posted on 03/30/2012

My son is two years old now. He has been in speech since he was 18 months old. Speech does seem to help, but you have to continue the things the speech therapist does with your child at home. My son has speech twice a week for 35 minutes, which is not very long. This is why as a parent, you need to continue the process. I try to take 20 minutes everyday out of my busy schedule (between work and school) to make my son ask for his toys or food. For example, saying "open" if he wants to the package to be opened. At first, the speech therapist had him just say the "o" sound, now he has to say the word. It is a slow and long process to get them to say phrases and sentence, which my son is still not doing yet.

Veronica - posted on 03/23/2012

I have a son that will be 3 on the 3rd of April and I started him in therapy when he was a couple of months shy of 2. At that time he wasn't really saying any words. His ped. wanted me to have him tested at 12 months and i decided to wait because at that time he was saying mama but then he quit saying anything, so I had him tested and he qualified for speech therapy. He has made sooo much progress, it is slow moving but he now does have some words. My so has Apraxia, which is basically where he understands everything you are say/asking him (he scored very high in that part of the testing) however, when he trys to say something is just get mixed up and he can't get what he wants out. They say that practice makes perfect...sometimes we have to work on one word for weeks until it finally sticks. Best of luck to you and your child sometimes it is a long road but in the end it will be worth it. And good for you for taking the steps that are needed to help your child and not waiting until she was older. at least now if there is a problem they can correct it before she falls to far behind the other kids her age.

Danielle - posted on 03/20/2012

Here's a (partial) success story for you (it's still in progress).... My now 8 yr old barely spoke at all until after he was 3. He'd say a word 1x, then not again. It didn't help that he has 2 older sisters that were happy to speak for him. After finally getting him evaluated at 32 mos, then having to transition to the 3-5 age group organization, he didn't start speech therapy until about 40 mos. He just turned 8 on 3/18, is still in speech therapy, but is very understandable & now speaks non-stop! There are times I wonder why we ever prayed that he would speak more! He was also just evaluated at school & is being put in a mentally gifted program because he has an IQ of 158 (at or near genius level). His progress started out slow, but around 5 he started making big jumps & that's when he started talking more. He needed to be comfortable that he could make people understand him before he really started speaking.



I also have a 9 yr old daughter who spoke non-stop & actually spoke pretty clearly until just before she turned 3 & started school. About 1 mo into school, she picked up everyone's speech errors & her teachers & I noticed we couldn't understand her anymore. We gave her 1 yr to self correct, which didn't happen, before we started speech therapy. She is also still in speech therapy for a few specific sounds, but is very understandable.



Speech therapy works great, but part of how much progress you will see (or hear) depends on the personality of the child. Hang in there. Your daughter is still little!

Ellen - posted on 03/15/2012

My daughter is 14 know an didnt speak untill she was three just have her go to therapy. Make sure she get help in school with a speech patholathisist in school. Because she would have a hard time in spelling. They do have these special ed teachers an stay on top of it. She will grow out of it.

Liz - posted on 03/14/2012

My little boy is 2 and a half very soon and he doesn't talk at all - unfortunately we've been on the wait list for speech since he turned two and we're still waiting :(

My boy also understand things, but not a lot of stuff.



Good luck, I hope it works for her

Angel - posted on 03/08/2012

Mine did in a way... By that I mean that she was so spoiled by all of us that all she had to do was point and " uh" or wine and someone would get her whatever she wanted so she baby talked a long time after she should have . She is almost 5 now and talking ( like she doesn't shut up lol ) :) the child walked at 8 months and knew her alphabet and numbers before 2 , she knows sign language ( alphabet and some common words) and she was reading at 3 so there is nothing wrong with her if anything she is scary smart lol I wouldn't worry :) Einstein hated to talk And e turned out ok ;)

Samantha - posted on 03/08/2012

She will be fine be patient with her and yes speech therapy helps . My daughter had the same problem but is getting there, she is now 8years old. Dont put pressure on her and dont shout when she cant say a word it makes them go backwards and my son only started speaking at 2years now he jibber jabbers like nobodies business and he is about 34mnths so dnt stress ! Best wishes and do try not to give her too much yoghurt I saw that it affected both of them speech wise after having some their speech slurs and stay away from sugars

Christiine - posted on 03/07/2012

i have a 2 year old who will be 3 next week and he can barely talk he cant speak sentences or most works

Christine - posted on 03/07/2012

yes therapy is great my grandson who lives with me and is

2 1/2 has been having speech therapy for six months now has greatly improved it is worth it. he is only now just starting to put 2 and sometimes three word sentences together while i understand, most of the the time, what he says, others do not keep at it it dose take time but it is worth it in the long run

Charlene - posted on 03/05/2012

my son is nearly 3 and can't say a word. However speech therapy has done wonders for his communication skills. He can sign beautifully (and makes up many of his own signs which is always... interesting!), he listens very well and pulls together separate ideas into a whole. (for example, remembering seeing shadow 'monsters' in Curious George and then pretending that something similar in the house is that same monster). Speech therapy helped him a TON (once he got to liking his therapist) and really helped us communicate. I also suggest strong start/head start, or an equivalent program with lots of children interacting and some structure; that also did great things for my son. Hang in there! It gets better :)

Memorie - posted on 03/04/2012

Speech*

Memorie - posted on 03/04/2012

My daughter will be two on April 12th and she talks a lot, but in her own language baha. She can say kitty cat, no. yeah, wow, mom, dada, and a couple other words not much though. I'm not too worried about it because I didnt talk when I was little and my cousin didnt talk until he was 5, but he is considered a genius. She is really smart and knows how to show us what she wants or needs. So were not sending her to speach therepy or anything yet because a couple people in my family were late talkers and we are all fine :]

Christiana - posted on 03/04/2012

My son is 22 months and I speak Greek to him but all his cartoons and songs on the internet are in English .When he was born I sang to him in English and still do . He also understands english words like no, juice, I love you, baby ,Domino ,cheese and he says some of them but not all . I feel like I have confused him :( . He wakes up in the morning and lifts his hand to his face and babbels. I can not understand him. I go along with it and say yes , wow ,how nice and show that I understand him with excitement . I know he understands and says a few word (english and Greek) but when will he turn that babel into talk?

AS - posted on 03/02/2012

Hi. Both my kids had speech delays. You are very wise to get therapy so soon. I didn't even know they had it until 3 months ago. We're a bilingual family, so my kids did something called 'code switching'. They used the grammar and logic of one language and the vocabulary of the other. Often, kids like this are mistaken for having hearing issues because they don't respond to questions or instructions.



My older one was fortunate to have a preschool teacher with a Masters degree in Early Childhood. She resolved my older ones issue in a really peculiar fashion. She taught my older one how to read first, then my kid figured out how to talk by remembering the sentences she read. It was funky, but it worked.



My little one is in a public school working with another preschool with a Masters in Early Childhood, and my kid has access to an entire TEAM of specialists, one is a woman with a Master in Speech Pathology. Her techniques are quite different from older daughter's teacher.



Everyone uses different methods. Is your child in a private or public place for therapy?

Mara - posted on 03/01/2012

My daughter was the same way she started therapy 3 months ago and shes talking a lot more I really think it helps she was 24 months ols with a wrod vocabulary of 6 to 8 words now she repeats everything lol

Sal - posted on 02/27/2012

My daughter is 2 1/2, she has speech delay. Speech therapy helps but it takes awhile. We as parents have to put alot of effort.

Christy - posted on 02/21/2012

My daughter Christa has a diagnosis of severe Autism. Christa is 5 and is non-verbal for the most part and hasn't really made leaps and bounds with PECS, I understand completely. Keep your head up, therapy's a good start :)

Bethany - posted on 02/12/2012

My first dd had 5 words and could not say mama at 18 months old. We had her evaluated by first steps (our local federally funded early intervention program) at that time and she was diagnosed with a severe speech delay. She got at home therapy weekly for 18 months until she turned 3 and they also got her into a playgroup with other developmentally delayed kids that she went to once a week for 10 months. She had slow but sure progress until about 2 months before she turned 3 and then had a huge growth in vocabulary. During the process she was diagnosed with oral motor low muscle tone as her main problem with speech. She still was extremely difficult to understand and still is now at 4 years old. She started preschool the day after she turned three and gets weekly pull out therapy and also in class therapy. She unfortunately is still very hard to understand and she gets frustrated easily when trying to get us to understand. The more people are around her the more they understand her. Her vocabulary is on the level of a 3 year old and she speaks in sentences but sometimes you have to make her do it. Our younger dd on the other hand is extremely advanced in speech she is 16 months old and has over 100 words and speaks in phrases and most people can understand her. They are all different I guess.

Katrina - posted on 02/12/2012

You're doing the right thing. If your daughter is in nursery, see if there is any professional who can provide additional speech support, or if they're able to bring them in. My son had problems too and with the help, everything has amazingly improved. A big thanks to everyone involved.

Gina - posted on 02/11/2012

My daughter started speech therapy in december at the age of 20 months. She had a vocabulary of roughly 5 words and understood everything we said. She could even follow simple two step commands (pick up your socks and put them in the hamper). She is now saying 'up" when she wants to be picked up, "down, on, off, woof, meow, juice, sock, hat, sleep..." and several more. She still won't say "milk" and is sometimes hard to understand, but she has gained so many words in the past 10 weeks or so that it is amazing! we have a long way to go, but every week it gets better.

I will tell you that it can be one step forward two steps back, especially if your daughter gets sick, or is learning a new skill at the same time (change in routine, or later, potty training). She has not "forgotten" how to speak, but is busy processing the new info and will pick up where she left off.

Also you may hear your daughter repeat a word for days on end and not hear it again for months. Again, she hasn't forgotten how to say the word, but has found a new word to practice.

I wish you and your daughter good luck!

AokisMa - posted on 02/11/2012

I have a baby cousin with delayed speech. She would pronounce "balloon" wah-loon... "tweet" instead of street... Those were the ones we deciphered, there were plenty we'd have no clue about yet she'd repeat them, so we knew she was trying to say something... But she was only 2 then. Although she has 2 older sisters in home with no speech problems, she is 5 now and has received therapy. Now she speaks as if she has an English accent on most words, but we understand her. And I think she likes it when people ask her what country she's from. LOL

Amy - posted on 02/10/2012

I have 3 children now ages 8, 6.5, and 4 yrs of age. My older 2 have been in ST since the age of 2 and my youngest has been in it since the age of 18 mo. They all have a speech and language disorder. It isn't crazy just cautious. The rehab place I take my children to is great yet its amazing at how many children have issues of all levels. My oldest was diagnosed with CAS (Childhood Apraxia of Speech at 2 yr 9 mo. of age). My older 2 also were developmentally delayed and have other issues as well. Don't give up and best of luck.

Tiffany - posted on 02/08/2012

The speech therapist said the same thing yesterday about asking what she wants and waiting for a response. I think my early response to get interventions stems from the fact that I am a special education teacher and feel that I can provide her with more than I currently am. Thanks for the support! And yes she calls me"mama",

Amy - posted on 02/05/2012

My son started speech therapy last year at 18 months old. He was the same way, if you asked him where is nose was, he would point to it but not say it. I have noticed a big difference since putting him in speech therapy. Not a big deal, some kids just talk later than other but I put him in therapy because I didn't want to wait until he was 3 just to discover there is another problem. A friend of mine has a son and it was suggested he do speech at about 18 months. She elected not to because she thought he was fine and would talk later. Now he is 3 with problems and she regrets not getting the help.

MeMe - Raises Her Hand (-_-) (Mommy Of A Toddler And Teen) - posted on 02/04/2012

My 15 month old can say Mom but won't. LOL He will say Daddy, Sissy and Saddie (our dog), honestly I think he likes teasing me. When he slips and says Mom, he looks at me with a little devilish smile and runs away! LOL

Yune - posted on 02/04/2012

hi,my son is 2years and 6 months nw and he still dont call me mum or his dad.but he can call our maid by name.i dont know if this is a big problem,did your daughter call you mum or really doesnt name a thing?

Jacqueline - posted on 02/03/2012

I have 3 children who have all had different levels of speech delay. My youngest, wasnt saying much, because I didnt let her. Wow, thats funny to hear from the language pathologist! Bubbles are a good motivator to start with. "Bubbles, pop pop" All kids will ask for more bubbles! Instead of asking do you want "said item", try "what do you want?" and allow the time for a response before you try to guess, or give the answer. Once they realize the power of speech, it opens magical doors.

MeMe - Raises Her Hand (-_-) (Mommy Of A Toddler And Teen) - posted on 02/01/2012

My daughter had to take speech therapy from kindergarten to grade 5. It helped her a lot and she really enjoyed it. She has ADHD, she also had large adenoids which were removed at 3 years but due to her constant sinus infections, her hearing was impaired. Her ADHD didn't help much but now she is 13 in grade 7 and even though she still has problems pronouncing some letters, it isn't too bad... Your daughter will be fine...



BTW - Now I can't get mine to be quiet, even for a minute! LOL