Speech therapy for my son?

[A home for their hearts]

I'm beginning to get concerned about my ds speech. He will be 4 in April and I still think he talks a little babyish. He really didn't start talking until this summer so I know he is behind, I'm just not sure if it is something I should worry about. There are still words that he says that I can't understand at all, and sometimes I wonder if he understand me when I say things to him. Sometimes I have to repeat myself multiple times and it still seems like he doesn't get what I'm saying. Is there anything I can do with him at home? Where would I go to have his speech tested?

[momofkhm]

Start with the peds office. It could be as simple as a hearing issue.

 

When my ds was 2, we had him tested. Hearing came first. I knew he heard just fine. Then speech was tested - he was 6-12 months behind in receptive speech (what he understood) and 12-18 months behind in what he could say. He started out in therapy once a week, then every other week, then once a month. It was all over, he was caught up in 6 months.

 

I was in Bible Study at the time this was all going on. A friend and her mother were there with me. Both of them said the same thing: the sooner you get started, the quicker speech comes up to normal. The friend was behind in speech and didn't start therapy until she was 6 or 7. It took her more than a year to come up to normal.

[Herding Cats in NC]

I can only offer my personal experience...

 

Have you ever had his hearing checked? Does he not understand what you're saying, or could it be he can't hear you clearly? I'm asking because both of my older two children had fluid in their ears that simply would not go away, and both ended up with tubes. When they tested him, ds (about 6 at the time) showed a 40% hearing loss. Dd, who was about your ds's age, only showed 30% loss, BUT her speech was very delayed. Most people outside of the family had a hard time understanding her. Once she had tubes put in, we started speech therapy. She flew, just flew through it because she could finally hear the differences between the sounds. Personally (and, please, this is meant gently), I don't think there is much you can do at home until you determine the cause (or rule out causes) of the delay. I don't think speech therapy would have been anywhere near as effective for my dd if she didn't have the tubes.

 

What I can definitely say is that I'm sorry you're going through this. Even though it was "just" a speech delay for my dd, I remember that it was very stressful at the time. Good luck!

[Melinda in VT]

First, I agree with the poster who said that the sooner you start speech therapy the quicker your child can get catch up.

 

Second, the problem with receptive speech raises a red flag for me, and I'd want that evaluated as soon as possible. I don't think that will improve on its own.

[Claire]

I'm beginning to get concerned about my ds speech. He will be 4 in April and I still think he talks a little babyish. He really didn't start talking until this summer so I know he is behind, I'm just not sure if it is something I should worry about. There are still words that he says that I can't understand at all, and sometimes I wonder if he understand me when I say things to him. Sometimes I have to repeat myself multiple times and it still seems like he doesn't get what I'm saying. Is there anything I can do with him at home? Where would I go to have his speech tested?

 

Your doctor should be able to make a referral to a speech pathologist for a complete speech and language evaluation. This should be covered by your medical insurance. Your doctor should also make a referral to an audiologist to have your son's hearing tested.

[Quiver0f10]

I, too, recommend an eval asap. Your pedi should be able to get you on the right road. I regret not having my son evaluated sooner and recieving ST sooner.

[Hillary in KS]

I'm probably echoing everyone here, but I'd start with a hearing test first. Our ds had similar issues. We visited an audiologist first, and she ran several simple tests that gave us an indication of what was going on. Even if there had been no hearing issues, it would have been good to rule those out.

 

After that we asked our ped. to refer us to a private SLP for an evaluation. We were sent to the local Easter Seals organization, who did a thorough 2 hour evaluation of both articulation and language skills. It was the best thing we've done for our ds. After 4 months of speech therapy he is MUCH more understandable.

 

We've been trying to get him help since he was 5. School evaluators and doctors just told us to wait until he was in 3rd grade - he'd outgrow his issues. Finally (he just turned 7) we decided to just DO it, have him evaluated, and more forward. He's made tremendous gains, but I wish we'd done this two years ago, instead of waiting for others to get on board with us. :)

[Lori C- Texas]

We have been dealing with this with our youngest for years. We started speech therapy with our now almost 5 year old when he was 20 months and not talking. They tested his hearing and said he could hear fine. He has never had an ear infection in his life but he could still not talk clearly. He would only grunt. He is now talking but no one outside the family can understand him. He goes to speech therapy 2 times a week and we are hoping he won't have to go anymore after this school year. He is currently going to one of the public schools for therapy because we can't afford private speech therapy but will not qualify for these service once he becomes old enough for kindergarten. But the ps should be able to give him an evaluation for free. At least that is how it is in Texas.

[Darcy in FL]

We just went through this during the last year. My 3 1/2 yr ds has speech problems. The pediatrician ordered the hearing test and speech evaluation. A speech therapist actually came to our home to do the evaluation (our insurance covered that) but since they couldn't find a "medical reason" for the speech issues-they wouldn't pay for private therapy. But he did qualify for services through the school system and now goes to speech twice a week at our local elementary school. It's making a big difference and we've only been going a few months. I'd encourage you to get an evaluation done and go from there! HTH!