Which fish oil/DHA/EPA for speech disorder?

[Gwenny]

I've been reading about how omega-3 fatty acids can sometimes help kids with speech disorders, but I'm confused about which one. I have to wait a few months to get my son (age 4) an appointment with a good speech therapist and want to at least start on fish oil. I figure it won't hurt, and maybe it will help. In the book, The Late Talker, it says to use ProEFA (ultimate omega complete omega) from Nordic Naturals, but I don't see the same one in their product list. I suspect apraxia if that helps at all.

 

Please give me some good sources for this and if you have tried it yourself, I'd love to know if it helped or not.

 

Gwen

[ChristusG]

Really? I have never heard about this. I'll be watching this thread though. DD6 was a late talker. I got her into speech therapy at 20 months old and she "tested" out at 3 years old because her vocabulary became normal. However, her articulation was not good. So at 4 years old, she went into speech therapy at the local public school and has been there ever since. I feel like she's not progressing so I'm pulling her out and I'm going to address the issue at home, myself. I'm interested to hear about the fish oil.

[Dandelion]

Interesting! I hadn't heard about this connection either... DS was in speech therapy for 1.5 years for articulation issues - still not completely resolved, but we decided to pull him out and work with him at home on the rest.

 

Not sure whether it meets your specific criteria, but I HIGHLY recommend Coromega's Omega-3 squeeze packets. They are YUMMY! Both DS and DD love them (they always want seconds!!). They contain DHA and EPA and have "a clinically proven 300% better absorption than regular softgels". Here's their website: http://www.coromega.com/ We buy ours at Whole Foods (the orange/chocolate flavor) but you can buy them online as well.

[Pink Fairy]

Our speech therapist recently recommended fish oil as well. We went with Carlson's.

 

ETA: I don't know if it helped or not, but I'm sure it hasn't hurt. My little guy has made tremendous progress in the last month, but since I've only given the oil to him a few times (I'm terrible at remembering to do it), I can't say for sure if it's made an impact yet.

Edited June 7, 2010 by Mamabegood

[Goldilocks]

Our speech therapist recommended "Speak" from www.SpeechNutrients.com. It is fish oil and Vitamin E combined. It is formulated very differently than most fish oils because of the amounts and ratios of the Omega-3 Fatty acids.

 

I wasn't able to get much of it into my 2 year old. It doesn't taste very good. However, the little bit that I did get in helped him go from only speaking one syllable words to attempting two syllables. (Or at least this happened about the same time he was taking the fish oil).

[fiddledeedee]

My 4 year old has apraxia, and I read the same thing about Nordic Naturals. I had the same confusion as you did, but finally read the answer.

Nordic Naturals Omega 3 6 9 Jr.'s are the same as the ProEFA, they just changed the name. You can order them online, or maybe find them at your local health food store like I do.

 

Good luck :001_smile:

[newlifemom]

Really? I have never heard about this. I'll be watching this thread though. DD6 was a late talker. I got her into speech therapy at 20 months old and she "tested" out at 3 years old because her vocabulary became normal. However, her articulation was not good. So at 4 years old, she went into speech therapy at the local public school and has been there ever since. I feel like she's not progressing so I'm pulling her out and I'm going to address the issue at home, myself. I'm interested to hear about the fish oil.

 

Have you considered if there may be an OT component? The reason I say this is b/c ds was making no progress and ST recommended we get an OT consult. We did and he did OT 2x week for the next year. What a difference. FTR, he was dx'd with Sensory Integration Disorder. I don't know how or why it is related to speech, but it is.

 

As for the oil. I have been negligent and they have just been taking the gummies. I have to get back to that, but dr has them on very expensive calcium/Vit D supps and, well something's gotta give. :tongue_smilie:

[Gwenny]

Have you considered if there may be an OT component? The reason I say this is b/c ds was making no progress and ST recommended we get an OT consult. We did and he did OT 2x week for the next year. What a difference. FTR, he was dx'd with Sensory Integration Disorder. :tongue_smilie:

 

I've read about OT and Sensory Integration Disorder, but they don't seem to fit. He seems great at gross motor skills (rode 2 wheeler without training wheels on 4th birthday), and fine motor seems good too (strings little beads on string with big sis). He does have a funky overhand pencil grip though. In every way, he seems completely normal, except that he can't talk. He understands everything you say.

 

Gwen

[FaithManor]

I am not a speech therapist so I can't say with any certainty, but I think the biggest benefit, at least according to ds's therapist, is for children with sensory integraton dysfunction.

 

Ds had this and was not only late talking but though his vocabulary became quite HUGE in a short period of time when he began speaking, his speech wasn't clear and he did not want to enter into conversation with anyone but his siblings, dh and myself, my parents, and the principal of the school where I taught. He adamantly refused to speak to our pediatrician and I had to record him talking so I could prove to the ped that he did speak. I did some reading on S.I.D. and also on the late talking issue (Einstein Syndrome was an wonderful book for us and helped us lay out a plan for ds). We put ds on "Learning Factors" which is pretty fishy tasting. It was a formulation of salmon oils, cod liver oils, borage, and evening primrose oil. It was not all that palatable but thankfully, ds wanted to please me so much that he would take it without a squawk. I let him wash it down with grape juice. I would help him thoroughly brush his teeth afterward and then he'd get a small handful of chocolate chips - the reward for taking it so willingly.

 

For us, the difference was absolutely startling. Within 30 days, we had a new kid. But, I was also doing OT with him at home. At that time, there was only one licensed OT/PT therapist in Michigan that was an expert in S.I.D. and the waiting list to get in was over one year and the initial evaluation was $800.00 not covered by insurance. She was very kind and emailed a number of great ideas to me and a couple of books. We read the books on S.I.D. and then implemented many of the ideas in the "S.I.D. Kid Has Fun" book. DS went from being a a very neurotic child with hang-ups about everything from the seams of his socks, to panic attacks from loud noises such as sirens, unaffectionate, etc. to an outgoing, fun-loving, easy to raise child. Once his S.I.D. began improving, his speech came along rapidly. He saw a speech therapist twice per week for 20 minutes at a private school and after every group practice session, she would give me a list of things to practice with him at home. We practiced every day, three times per day, and it was considered part of his "homeschool" work. He was four at the time. After one year, R, L, and Ch were his only sounds that needed remediation. She gave me some great ideas on remdiating ch and R at home and told me that with R, it is still considered normal to struggle with R until the end of third grade or 9.5 years of age. If the child hasn't figured it out by then, they go back for more speech therapy. She was convinced we could remediate the other two sounds in the home.

 

He is now 10. R is still a little bit of a problem and sometimes his speech maneurisms seem a little "young". However, he is very understandable and his conversations are maturing rapidly. We've moved and don't have access to the former speech therapist. Our local public school refuses to provide him with s.t. unless we enroll him. We thought this was illegal since our taxes pay into this system. But, judges in our district and appelate court have upheld the schools in refusing to provide services to homeschoolers. A private therapist costs $60.00 per hour and we have to drive an hour each way to get to one. So, we just keep plugging away at home.

 

Ds only took the Learning Factors for 1.5 years. After that, we just kept him on a healthy diet and since I buy a lot of organics and our family are avid fish eaters (which I serve a lot of), we discontinued use of it once we'd achieved the desired results. However, both ds and one of his brothers are really struggling with dry skin no matter how hydrated we keep them. Both prefer a rather low fat diet and a local nutritionist thinks that their skin conditions would benefit from another round of oils plus vitamin d. So, we purchased Carlson's vitamin d drops and cod liver oil. The vitamin d drops are not a problem. The cod liver oil isn't all that palatable but we are working it into the routine.

 

Faith

[fiddledeedee]

I've read about OT and Sensory Integration Disorder, but they don't seem to fit. He seems great at gross motor skills (rode 2 wheeler without training wheels on 4th birthday), and fine motor seems good too (strings little beads on string with big sis). He does have a funky overhand pencil grip though. In every way, he seems completely normal, except that he can't talk. He understands everything you say.

 

Gwen

 

Read up on verbal apraxia. If he's talking little or not at all, there's a good chance he has it. If so, he needs to be in speech therapy now, he won't outgrow it.

With the Nordic Naturals, we started when my son was 2 1/2, two days later he started progressing in his speech. Prior to that he had maybe 10 words and limited sounds.

If you haven't started, something like Signing Time DVD's are good to teach sign language. Your son needs something to communicate with.

Boys are more likely to have apraxia than girls.

 

Good luck!

[Debbie in London]

Nordic Naturals Omega 3 6 9 Jr.'s are the same as the ProEFA, they just changed the name. You can order them online, or maybe find them at your local health food store like I do.

 

Good luck :001_smile:

 

Are these chewable?

 

Thanks,

Debbie

[Gwenny]

Read up on verbal apraxia. If he's talking little or not at all, there's a good chance he has it. If so, he needs to be in speech therapy now, he won't outgrow it.

With the Nordic Naturals, we started when my son was 2 1/2, two days later he started progressing in his speech. Prior to that he had maybe 10 words and limited sounds.

If you haven't started, something like Signing Time DVD's are good to teach sign language. Your son needs something to communicate with.

Boys are more likely to have apraxia than girls.

 

Good luck!

 

 

Verbal apraxia is exactly what I think it is. Videos on youtube (not a diagnostic tool, I know) of kids with verbal apraxia sound exactly like my son. One and two word phrases can sometimes be understood, but anything longer sounds like a foreign language. We did Signing Time almost since birth (great success with his sister and signing when she was little) and he knows over 100 signs. He has been phasing them out as his speech improves. Our problem is now he has more to say than basic sign language can express. He is a surprisingly happy kid considering how little of what he says can be understood. Thankfully, I am great at figuring out what he is saying!

 

I found the Nordic Naturals at the Vitamin Shoppe down the street so I've already given him the first dose. Thanks for telling me about the name change, I never would have figured it out.

 

Gwen

[Gwenny]

Are these chewable?

 

Thanks,

Debbie

 

Yes, they are chewable, but not like I expected. I bought them today and my husband did a test chew for me. He said the gel caps "pop" when you bite them, but you then have to chew on the plastic-like gel cap. He said it didn't taste bad, but chewing on the gel cap (like a vitamin-E capsule) was disturbing.

[OrganicAnn]

Just wanted to say that if you eat grass fed beef and walnuts you'll get omega 3 naturally. I don't know if it is in the amounts you need.

[kathkath]

omegabrite is another. they have a kids one called tutti frutti that my son likes but my daughter tolerates.

[fiddledeedee]

Sorry, I thought I read that your 4 year old had NO words. I felt bad for him! That's awesome on the signing, my little guy would have nothing to do with it. I'm glad you found the vitamins, and it sounds like you are doing good.

 

I don't come on here often, I was glad to have something to help with!

[Debbie in London]

Yes, they are chewable, but not like I expected. I bought them today and my husband did a test chew for me. He said the gel caps "pop" when you bite them, but you then have to chew on the plastic-like gel cap. He said it didn't taste bad, but chewing on the gel cap (like a vitamin-E capsule) was disturbing.

 

Thanks.

[Mama2Three]

Yes, they are chewable, but not like I expected. I bought them today and my husband did a test chew for me. He said the gel caps "pop" when you bite them, but you then have to chew on the plastic-like gel cap. He said it didn't taste bad, but chewing on the gel cap (like a vitamin-E capsule) was disturbing.

 

The capsules may be disturbing to some people, but my SID son loves the pop and the chewiness of them.