Comments on: How we knew – Speech Delay

By: WENDY

WENDY — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:38:00 +0000

I HAVE THE SAME ISSUE, WHEN WILL MY DAUGHTER TALK.

By: Debra

Debra — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 02:29:54 +0000

Your post couldn’t have come at a better time for me. We just had our 14-month-old son’s early childhood intervention evaluation two days ago, and they determined he does have speech/communication delays. We’ll get our service plan from them this week.

I had a friend tell me “Moms always know” when I told her I had a hunch my son had a hearing problem. Sure enough, the fluid from his first two ear infections had been hanging around for months and was causing him to have mild to borderline moderate hearing loss. He had tubes put in last week, which should improve his hearing significantly.

Because of those months with middle ear fluid and muffled hearing, my gut told me my son wasn’t quite on track for speech. Those people I did talk to (except for the original friend I mentioned) told me they were sure he was fine and they knew so-and-so whose child didn’t talk/gesture/etc. until much later. Again, sure enough, I was right – he does have a delay. (Interestingly, similarly to Jimmy’s use of the word “hi”, my son said “uh-oh” for a few weeks and then it disappeared into thin air.)

Best of luck working with your son to get him the help he needs. Moms just know, and you knew something wasn’t right. Continue to trust your gut – you’re your child’s best advocate. Please keep us posted on how Jimmy is doing.

By: Laura @ Mommy Menagerie

Laura @ Mommy Menagerie — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:10:29 +0000

As a child psychologist I have worked in developmental therapy, and let me tell you, it all sounds familiar. You are rare in that you were early to suspect something, since it has been my experience that most often the parents are the ones making the excuses (he’s a boy, he’s smart-like they can’t go together, it’s because of a bilingual home, daycare… something) and then the diagnosis comes late. And it’s true that the earlier the better, also to rule out possible underlying problems that may be causing a speech delay.

But I agree with other comments that I have yet to live in a school district that did not have early intervention for children until they were school-age. Head Start and programs like that are around, I hope that you can find them! Good luck!

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:43:52 +0000

You say that he attends an early childhood program in your district so why are they not providing him with speech, occ therapy ect. Once he ages out of early intervention the school district should be responsible for this. Obviously it varies from state to state. Does he currently have an IEP?

By: Catherine

Catherine — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:51:47 +0000

I can’t believe how much the USA health system sucks. We have free speech therapy, physio, hearing tests etc… You do have to go on a waiting list but if you are on top of it (like you were – you knew very early that something was not quite right) you can get the therapy when you need it.

If you have health insurance, they will cover a percentage of the therapy fees. We don’t need permission from our health insurer.

I’m glad your little boy has had the help he needed. I am also glad we live in Australia and my girls have had/are having all their therapy at very little expense (and stress) on our behalf.

By: Amy

Amy — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:38:01 +0000

I feel your frustrations completely. My son said, “Mama” at about 9 months then by 2 years old he only had about 15 words. I was finally able to get him into IU speach program at the age of 3. He is now 4 and we still have a long way to go. It is such a blessing to finally have people on our side helping our son communicate. For so long we felt so helpless and alone.

By: Natalie @ Like I Was Saying

Natalie @ Like I Was Saying — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 01:22:51 +0000

I can’t believe how similar our stories are, except that I didn’t have the insurance issues b/c I went straight to Early Intervention.

In my state, when you turn three you get turned over to your school district’s intermediate unit. They have a preschool program and fill that gap for services until the child reaches school age.

They have to be tested again to make sure they still have a 25% deficit (in my state), but if they do they just continue on with any type of therapy through the IU. And, it’s all free since it is a service of your school district.

I think my biggest frustration was not being able to convince my pediatrician that there was a speech delay. This was my third child and I was pretty certain something wasn’t right…but we had to wait until he was about 26 months old before I could get anyone to agree me with. Of course, the speech therapist immediately saw the delay and identified the problem.

Good Luck!

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:42:04 +0000

My nephew is 2.5 years old. At 2, he was taken for evaluation as he was not talking and he used to say a couple of words. He is higher on all the other developmental things but just won’t talk. He will point to things and sign some things but he just won’t talk. He is starting to babble when he gets excited and he said one sentence because his 16 month old brother says it (“i did it”) all the time. But other than that, rather similiar. I may only be his aunt not his mom but we are very close so I understand your frustrations. We can’t get him the help he needs either.