Amber in AUS Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 Possum who is 2 in 2 weeks is speech delayed. We have been seeing a useless speechie provided by the state for a year. Her advice is read books and he will get there, umm, it's not happening. I've been phoning around many of the private speechie's both locally and in the city for the past month and there is a long wait to see anyone, 3-6m. In the meantime we need to start doing more. Are there any books you can recommend that i read that might give me some techniques or methods or advice on what i can do for him? Are there any ipad apps that you can recommend that we can use together with him? We have a language rich home, i play 1 on 1 with him, we read books, i've been teaching him some signs as the frustration level continues to rise. He does not have a formal diagnosis of anything. The suggestion is his delay stems from his prematurity, born at 25w. Many thanks for any help, advice or suggestions you can offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merry gardens Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 I have no experience with the particular speech problem you mention, but we've had our share of speech issues here. A couple speech resources I found helpful are Therapro http://www.therapro.com/Speech-Language-Communication-C307802.aspx and MommySpeechTherapy http://mommyspeechtherapy.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 (edited) Amber, when you say he's speech delayed, what are the symptoms? Does he have communicative intent? Is there a big gap between his *receptive* language and his expressive? You want to figure out if it's actually a developmental delay (meaning receptive and expressive language will be pretty close) or apraxia, because apraxia is motor control and needs to be treated differently from other types of speech problems. If it's apraxia, none of the regular stuff you find online for home speech therapy will apply. Edited September 15, 2012 by OhElizabeth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 As far as what you can actually do, well it does depend on whether he has communicative intent. If there's a big gap between expressive and receptive, then what you do is structure his world and help him use what speech he has. Speech he has could be something as simple as the sound /a/. Do an inventory of all his sounds and see what he has. Then you just increase your verbal interaction using that. Do you want milk? Say /a/. Do you want more cereal? Say /a/. You want to read a book? Say /a/. Say /a/ for next page. On and on and on, everything requires whatever speech he has. Yes, there are lots of speech apps. Try searching iTunes for ABA apps. I downloaded a lot of them free back when ds was that age, even before I had an ipad, hehe. They basically just flip through pictures. Or google apps for speech therapy. I don't use them really, but my ds is very kinesthetic. When he was that age, the therapist would do something simple like set up a finger painting craft and have him use what speech he had to get what he wanted next. Yes you can mix sign and speech interchangeable in those sessions. So it's not so much that you need something special as you increase his use of language in whatever he's doing. My ds, like I said, is kinesthetic, so they would play turntaking games with balls rolling down slides or cars racing down slides and have him use the speech he had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eoffg1 Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 Amber, the non profit group CASANA has a lot of helpful information. http://www.apraxia-kids.org/ Also if you happen to be in Qld, their is Max's House. http://www.maxshouse.com.au/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynful Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 Baby Babble: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=baby+babble My son is delayed in talking too. We've had this DVD, made by pediatric speech pathologists, for about 8 months now, watching frequently. He loves it and just lately has really started taking off with copying the sounds and starting to say words. He's 21 months now but only just in the last 2 weeks has started saying about 10 words consistently. He's always been able to let us know what he wants but he just has never been good with sounds. Signing has been amazing for us. I never bought into it until this dvd. Anyway, I wouldn't call this a "fix" but it might help. You might even be able to find it on youtube. I found the whole 2nd dvd on youtube. Good luck, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber in AUS Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 Thankyou so much everyone. I will check out all of those links today. Amber, when you say he's speech delayed, what are the symptoms? Does he have communicative intent? Is there a big gap between his *receptive* language and his expressive? You want to figure out if it's actually a developmental delay (meaning receptive and expressive language will be pretty close) or apraxia, because apraxia is motor control and needs to be treated differently from other types of speech problems. If it's apraxia, none of the regular stuff you find online for home speech therapy will apply. OhElizabeth I'll try and answer as best i can. Initially i thought he was deaf. He seemed to not hear things. We had him evaluated and he had grommets put in at 9mo. He had fluid related hearing loss and his hearing was perfect after having the grommets put in. When he had his 12m corrected evaluation his expressive and receptive language were that of a 10m old. He was actually 15.5m at the time so there was a delay of about 6m. At the time he could not identify common objects, ball, car, doll etc and he wasn't doing much other than babble and some occasional mum-mum-mum, da-da-da, ba-ba-ba. At the time we were referred for speech and we started seeing the local speechie who i think is useless. Initially she said, he's not that far behind and given he couldn't hear you for months and was so premature, it's to be expected. Just keep reading etc. So we did all that and then she suggested that maybe he was still having hearing problems, so we had him checked again and the audiologist who i love said he is perfect. Back to the speechie and she still says he will get there in his own time. I expressed my concerns with his ENT who said medically there is no reason why he shouldn't be talking. I requested a referral to speech pathology at the children's hospital but he has referred us to a developmental paed at the children's hospital instead. I have been told before that they don't believe there is any cognitive impairment. He certainly seems to be just as bright as my other kids. Right now he understands most of what you say, can recognise common objects etc. His receptive language has caught up in leaps and bounds! As for expressive, he doesn't have any words, he makes lots of noise, mostly vowel sounds or nasal kind of sounds with a closed mouth. He does say /f/ when pouring a kettle or making other water type sounds. He hardly ever does mum-mum-mum, da-da-da or ba-ba-ba now. He does want to tell you things. He will take me by the hand and show me what he wants. He will sign food or bath. He does become frustrated when you don't get what his problem is because he can't just tell you. I managed to get a call back from a private speechie late yesterday. She is an ex-uni lecturer and came recommended by Deaf Society (i've been calling everyone!) She said she might be able to fit him in for an evaluation in the next month, but doesn't have openings for therapy sessions ATM. I'm assuming she will look at apraxia as a possibility. I just can't wait for him to say Mum! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Sometimes a developmental ped will catch the apraxia, so it's not necessarily a bad thing to go ahead and do that eval. Apraxia has characteristic patterns of jaw movement, so an experienced person can see it even when the dc can't talk. He can also check the dc for low muscle tone (oral and overall) and other things, refer you off for OT if needed, etc. I suggest you increase your sign language use. The Signing Time videos are exceptionally good and would increase his ability to communicate dramatically. Therapists will often merge speech and sign in the early sessions, and sign, because it is a language, works the language portion of the brain. It's worth the effort and sounds like it would make a big difference for him. If his expressive language doesn't keep up with his desire to communicate, you can end up with discipline problems, social withdrawal, and just a lot of frustration on his part. The signing can help with that. You also want to require him to use the speech he has. It sounds like he has a number of sounds. Get him to use those any time he wants something. Want a toy? Say /a/! Want a glass of milk? Say /a/! So speech is not just his initiation but every. single. time. he wants something. If he wants something, he has to vocalize. If there is a motor control element (not just a delayed timetable) to this, then it's actually going to be *hard*. That's why requiring the speech is so important, because it helps him do what he doesn't want to do. They're not masochistic and naturally want to take the easy way out. BTW, your regular ped should be able to check for low tone, and the dev. ped definitely can. If he's low tone, you might check into carnitine. I give my ds coconut milk, with seems to have a dramatic affect on his sensory-seeking. I also give him flax oil. Some of the omega 3 can have a dramatic affect on speech. When my ds was that age, his speech literally TURNED OFF if we forgot to give it to him. So, for whatever reason, it can definitely help and is something to look into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber in AUS Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 Thankyou so much! We have already started ramping up the signing. I will implement having him make sounds to get things. I'm not sure how that will go as he doesn't currently repeat anything i say, but we will start doing it. Thankyou for the tips on the supplements i will look into the ones you mentioned. Possum is a sensory seeker too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embassy Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 The http://www.helpmychildtalk.com/ website gives strategies and some activities you can do to help promote expressive language development. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Thankyou so much! We have already started ramping up the signing. I will implement having him make sounds to get things. I'm not sure how that will go as he doesn't currently repeat anything i say, but we will start doing it. Thankyou for the tips on the supplements i will look into the ones you mentioned. Possum is a sensory seeker too! My ds couldn't imitate either. It's why regular speech therapy doesn't work if there's a motor control problem, because they may have no ability to imitate or do something simply because they're shown a flashcard. With the therapy we've done (PROMPT, not available in Aus I don't think, sorry) we actually put our hands on him and MOVE his jaw up and down. The therapist knows the points to touch to tell the brain what muscles to move. So she puts him in the situation where he's trying to say the target and she gives the input that helps the brain make the connection and do it. In your case, I'm just saying use what he has. If he has vowel sounds, let him use that. Well good luck and I hope you find a therapist to help you! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellers Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/artikpix-full/id356720379?mt=8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber in AUS Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 In your case, I'm just saying use what he has. If he has vowel sounds, let him use that. Well good luck and I hope you find a therapist to help you! :) Gotcha :) Thanks, i really hope that we can find someone quickly. We are going on wait lists all over the place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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