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Two unrelated questions about possible speech issues--small update


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My mil has pointed out several times that my almost 5yo dd says /d/ for /g/. Ex-doat instead of goat. Should I be concerned?

Also, my almost 2yo ds says only one word. He says "Sha-ow". Our dog's name is Shadow. He doesn't even say mama or dada, but understands everything we say and will follow directions. Should I be concerned?

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Here is a chart of when most kids get different sounds. Is the "g" sound the only one she doesn't have? Does she have the other sounds that are on the chart for her age and before? http://www.sltinfo.com/speech-sound-development-chart/

Thanks for the chart! She also has trouble with the /k/ sound snd says "Tate" for cake. Otherwise, I think she says the others right. But I actually never noticed the missing g sound until mil pointed it out. :-/

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You can try to help develop the g sound. I had to help my dd with many sounds. She had significant speech issues and couldn't speak until she was 3 yrs old. I had my dd lay down flat on her back and made the sound 'g' with her several times because it comes from the back on your throat. It helped my daughter learn the sound but it took practice.

 

If all other sounds are okay then I think this can resolve quickly with a little practice. Don't worry if it takes time.

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2yo wouldn't concern me at this point.  ETA: I read too quickly the first time.  One word at almost 2 is a bit disconcerting.  He might just be on his own timetable, but I think I'd want to know that for sure.  Does he sign at all?  My DS2 didn't talk much at 2, but he was very clearly communicating with signing.

 

5yo.  Well, you might want to get a speech eval.  My oldest son just wasn't getting his "r" sound and some others very clearly at about 7, although he wasn't hard to understand, so I got him an eval, and he ended up in speech therapy for about 18 months, and he sounds much better now.  Because we loved his therapist, we got DS2 (then just turned 4) an eval, and he ended up getting therapy from the same therapist for about 10 months, but for a different issue than DS1.  DS2 did the "doat" for "goat" sort of thing, and she gave him some ways to fix that.  She did say that earlier is better than later, but it depends on the kid.

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They both have well visits coming up in January. Do I wait until then for the pedi to recommend a speech therapist, or should I do something now. And what do I do? See the pedi or call therapists? And is there a way to do this through the schools so it's free?

 

Happypamama--he doesn't sign, but he makes it very clear what he wants. :-) He grabs my hand and takes me to the fridge, or hands me his cup when he wants a drink. And he doesn't babble, if that makes a difference. He just points to whatever and says "uh uh uh".

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Yes you can typically get an eval through the schools for your  5 y/o if you  don't have insurance that would cover it. The 5y/o wouldn't concern me as much, but if there are some articulation issues they could be taken care of probably within a month or two. My daughter is 6 and still working on her "r" sounds.

 

For the 2 y/o he  should still qualify under early intervention. Depending  on the state you're in you could even have a therapist come to the house. As for  what  they'll do to make him talk, a SLP can first of all check to make sure there aren't any physical barriers  to speaking. For my daughter with low  muscle tone they  would spend time blowing bubbles and doing  other things to encourage her to use  her mouth muscles. 

 

They'll also  give him things to talk  about and engage him in a way he wants to talk to them. My kids love their  therapy time to them  it's like getting a great break to play with someone other than Mom.

 

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. DD has been in physical therapy since 6 weeks old  so I've  done the early intervention program in 2 states. Now they're both in speech and DD still has PT and DS is in Occupational therapy as well.

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I would call early intervention for the two year old.  The eval will include a hearing test.  This is the first rule out with young ones with speech problems.  Depending on the state and on your income, EI may be free.  We had to pay a slight copay.

 

Both of my boys received evaluations and ST through the local public school.  The evals and therapy were very high quality and they cost nothing.  The quality of therapy varies depending on the therapist, but this is true of private therapy, as well.

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What is a speech therapist going to do to make my boy talk? And are these issues hereditary, because I have a dd in between them age 3. Should she be checked out , too, while we're at it? Lol

 

Yes, it can be genetic.  The therapy will depend upon the reason your son isn't talking, but it should look a lot like play as kids learn best by playing.

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Intervention when they are young, like the 2yo, tends to make it easier to help them. I would be very concerned for a 5yo to still be struggling with those sounds. But then, perhaps it's because I have two boys who have both had speech problems. My oldest I waited to long to get help and we are still working with things. My youngest I had in when he was 2. He had a Psycho-Educational assessment done over the past two weeks and the psychologist was shocked that he had needed speech therapy. He talks slowly, but his enunciation is excellent now.

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I would have them both checked out.  My dd had/has both of those issues- she only had one word at around eighteen months, and now that she's six she still has issues with several sounds, including saying t/d for k/g.  Her issues turned out to be the result of a genetic disorder that causes (among other things) low muscle tone.  Regardless of the cause, your kids might both benefit from speech therapy. 

 

Here are some things we did at home to help:

 

When dd was eighteen months old, we started her on fish oil.  Her vocabulary improved drastically within a short time.  I can't prove it was the fish oil, of course, but a lot of people have had similar successes.  Fish oil is great at supporting brain development.

 

To help your five year old, you can try having her use a straw when she drinks.  Using a straw (and using it correctly, don't let her just stick the very tip in her mouth) helps strengthen the back of the tongue.

 

Buy a package of tongue depressors on Amazon (they're really cheap) and help her practice her k/g sounds by gently holding down the tip of her tongue so she can focus on using the back.  You can also have her lay over an exercise ball to help the tongue fall into the correct position.  That didn't work for my dd, but it helps a lot for some people.

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My DS was in Early Intervention for gross motor skills, and I think their little rule of thumb was 20 words (or signs, or a combination of words and signs) by 20 months. Our EI therapists are great at engaging little ones and encouraging them to express themselves (or do whatever they are supposed to be working on), and giving parents tools to continue all of that at home. It is all play-based at that age, or it should be!

 

Don't wait until January for your DS. Start right now. The waiting period and evaluation period may take a while, depending on your state, and you don't want to lose that valuable time.

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My DS didn't really speak until he was about 3.  I remember asking his doctor about it, and the doctor told me if he still wasn't speaking by 4, then we'd do some tests.  DS started speaking not too long after that, and he didn't start with single words.  He started with sentences.  :D  We just had to wait for him to have something to say. And now, at 11, I can't get him to STOP talking! LOL...

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They both have well visits coming up in January. Do I wait until then for the pedi to recommend a speech therapist, or should I do something now. And what do I do? See the pedi or call therapists? And is there a way to do this through the schools so it's free?

 

Happypamama--he doesn't sign, but he makes it very clear what he wants. :-) He grabs my hand and takes me to the fridge, or hands me his cup when he wants a drink. And he doesn't babble, if that makes a difference. He just points to whatever and says "uh uh uh".

Okay, that is good that he does engage and communicate! He might just need some more time to develop his speaking skills, and all might be fine, but I do think that you will feel reassured one way or the other by getting an evaluation.

 

Check your health insurance for coverage. We could have gone through the school, but I didn't want to mess with them, since at the time, my son was below reporting age, and I'd prefer to stay off the school's radar when possible. We talked to our family doctor, and they referred us to someone in their network, who took our health insurance, and she turned out to be wonderful, just completely lovely and helpful, and my boys adored her. Plus, being at a private facility instead of the school, she had a nice waiting area for me and the other kids. For your little one, Early Intervention might help, and it have heard that maybe Easter Seals will too. But I would call your pedi and say that you'd like to discuss speech therapy, and they can set you up with the necessary referrals and evaluations, I think; at least that's what I would do.

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I called Early Intervention and told them my son needed a speech eval. They are sending someone out on Friday at 1:30pm. She asked me what time would be good, and I said anytime but 12-4 because that's when the kids will be napping. She said that was actually a good time for her to come because the eval was mainly talking to me as the parent. Do they really not even need to see him to decide??

 

Also, EI said they would send me papers in the mail regarding my dd since she was over 3. So, I'm not sure how long that will take. I had her lay (lie??) on her back and when she does the /g/ sound comes out perfectly, but she refuses to do anything else. She is a perfectionist and I can't let her think anything is "wrong" with what she does. lol.

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I called Early Intervention and told them my son needed a speech eval. They are sending someone out on Friday at 1:30pm. She asked me what time would be good, and I said anytime but 12-4 because that's when the kids will be napping. She said that was actually a good time for her to come because the eval was mainly talking to me as the parent. Do they really not even need to see him to decide??

 

Also, EI said they would send me papers in the mail regarding my dd since she was over 3. So, I'm not sure how long that will take. I had her lay (lie??) on her back and when she does the /g/ sound comes out perfectly, but she refuses to do anything else. She is a perfectionist and I can't let her think anything is "wrong" with what she does. lol.

 

My experience was that in the initial evaluation for EI, the majority of it was a lot of questions for me: Does your DS do this? Can he do that? There was some of it that involved having the child do certain tasks, but a lot of it was questions for the parent.

 

IIRC, there were two appointments involved in the initial evaluation. One involved a nurse coming and weighing and measuring my DS and asking about his gestational age. They also brought a portable hearing screening device to that appointment.

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