My 2 yr old (28 months) did not speak until she was 14-15 months old with help from speech therapists. After splitting her up from her brother who is 20 months older then her, who was very domineering, to her own child care center worked wonders. She went from no words, to about 30 words, to well over 100 words.
Now I am really surprised by the way she uses her words. She cannot pronounce the "P" sound in the 1st syllable. Like puppy is "hu-ppy" or "Hopcorn" for popcorn. She also cannot say the T, so toes are "hoes" and taco is "haco". So after calling the speech therapist again asking if that was normal, they did a whole evaluation on her.
They are finding her to have a delay in Speech Articulation. They are suggesting her to go to a Pre-School at the local elementary school for half a day for the whole school year this fall. She will have dedicated speech therapist to work with her 4 days a week. Some ladies have suggested that I am going overboard, and she will grow out of it. The response from the speech therapist is, what can it hurt? She may grow out of it, and not need to go back the following fall. Or you could not have her go now, she not grow out of it, and the speech therapist have to back track.
I would like to bounce some idea’s off you all. Anyone have any good advice??
Forgot to mention... She had tubes put in ears for ear infections, and failed hearing tests, that now have passed with the audiologist.
My son is 5 and still has some problems with pronunciation of some letters. At this point it's not nearly as bad as it was now it's occasional. the dropped letters or switched letters is perfectly normal for young children. if she's still doing it at 6 then she needs therapy. My mother in law is an occupational therapist that works with the schools. And told me this when I was worried about my son's speech.
She may grow out of it or she may not. Knowing that your daughter does have a speech delay already, how comfortable are you with the idea of discontinuing therapy and hedging your bet that she may or may not some day overcome this delay on her own?
From my experience, the early child preschool programs that the school districts provide to children with certain disabilities or delays are near identical to the preschools that every other child goes to that parents pay a lot of good money for. The only difference is that your daughter's teachers and speech therapists will have specific goals that they have to work on with her to get her speaking skills up to where it should be to be age appropriate. The other great thing about your daughter attending an early childhood program is not every child in her class will have language delays so she will have access to some really great role models and get the socialization she needs to help her get ready for when its time for her to enter kindergarten.
A lot of times I find it is best to not solicit opinions from people who have never dealt with a particular issue before, especially when it comes to raising a child with a developmental delay issue. You can give some very cavalier advise, especially when it is not your child's future on the line. Just my own opinion . . .
I have personally been in speech what feels like hundreds of times (wild exaggeration), because we moved every 1-2 years growing up, and every time we moved I was put in speech by the school district to "correct" my speech (<laughing> my speech was fine, what they really meant was to correct my accent... the accents that have been "corrected" all have peculiarities in either vowels or consonants... oddly enough, I can still CHOOSE to speak in any of them... so I can do Southern: SC, FL, NewOrleans AND cajun -which are both different from each other and LA.... SoCal coast & valley & mexi... NW... SoCal & NY manhatten jewish... London Prep English... and Japanese).
The point being, while all the schools considered it abso-flippin-loutely necessary (I would jump coasts and countries... so it wasn't like SC to FL, and you have NO IDEA how heinous my R's were considered going from SC to CA)... it was really all cosmetic / optional.
And it was also really no big deal. If anything, it was kind of cool... because I got one on one time with someone teaching me, which is rare in a school environment.
So I agree with the speech therapists. What's the harm?
As a classroom teacher, I cannot advocate enough how important it is to get the help your child needs as early as possible. When kids have articulation problems, they can become the target for scrutiny by their peers. If you can help her now, why wouldn't you? Don't worry about what others say. Obviously you're a good mom who picked up on this delay. Now, get her the help she needs! Follow your instincts. She needs help, and kudos to you for being her advocate.
I tend towards the "what can it hurt?" attitude. My youngest didn't really start talking until she was almost 3, and I knew it was because her older siblings talked for her. I took her to speech therapy just in case. Also, consider having her hearing checked. Good luck!
I think that is fine, and the usual recommendation.
My daughter's Teacher's grandson, had the same recommendation as your child. It helped him.. he had, in class, a Speech Therapist work with him. It helped.
He had articulation delays too, and speech delays.
My son, had that too. And speech therapy from 19 months old until almost 3 years old. He was speech delayed and had some articulation problems. But he was also advanced in several areas of development, for his age. And he is bi-lingual.
Keep in mind that "articulation" is an age based development. At each age, they 'can' pronounce certain sounds and not others. But, the Speech Therapy will give them tools, to improve that. And for the parent, it gives you tools/information to help with it too.
There are front of the mouth sounds, back of the mouth sounds, and some sounds that are harder because it requires mouth/tongue/throat coordination to pronounce certain sounds/alphabets. So, at each age, a child is 'able', developmentally, to attain these sounds from their mouth.
No, I don't think you are going overboard. It will help.
For my son and the grandson of my daughter's Teacher, it was all free... through our local Early Childhood Intervention program. So, why not? Take advantage of their services.
As the Speech Therapist told you, it can't hurt.
Sure, she may grow out of it... but when?
And assisting a child, for speaking or articulation, is beneficial. And for the parent as well, to learn about it and speech development.
I learned TONS from our Speech Therapist, about speech in children.
I would go for it.
It can't hurt.
Do it while you do have the services available to you, and while she is still young.
My son, is 3.5 now, almost 4 years old. He is the most talkative one in our family now. He still has some lingering articulation issues.. .but I now know how to help him myself. And he LOVED his speech therapy and how it helped him.
all the best,
Susan
If your child had no other speech issues, I'd say let her try to grow out of it (my daughters both lisped and said "thinger" instead of "finger" and "fumb" instead of "thumb", etc, then grew out of it, but my son had other speech issues, so he DID have speech therapy from 4yrs old). The fact is your child DOES have speech issues (other than just pronunciation), so if you're getting the services for free through the school system, I don't know why you wouldn't do it. Do what you think is best to help your child and don't listen to "some ladies". Like your daughter's ST said, it can't hurt, and if she does really need the help, you'll have lost a whole year because of concerns of "going overboard".
Do it! Do it! Do it!
This is EXACTLY what happened with my daughter and she went to the preschool just like what is being suggested for you. Plus, it was free! (Okay, well, our tax dollars pay for it, but you know what I mean. I didn't pay any extra fees - it was no charge preschool, no charge therapy, etc.)
It is EXACTLY those people who told me that I was overreacting and that she would outgrow it that caused me to delay help for her and no, she did NOT outgrow it.
Once she was in preschool, her speech took off and not only that, she LOVED the preschool. She was so ready for kindergarten because she was in the environment! She was learning to read, cutting with scissors, going to PE, Art and music, it was awesome. (Once her speech is at an appropriate level, she can become a peer model for the other kids.)
This is a good thing! Please do think carefully and follow YOUR instincts! Good luck!
It is much easier to fix articulation errors when children are young. Essentially that window of opportunity closes around 3rd grade. If you have the opportunity to have this addressed now, do it! It will not hurt her to have additional language practice and exposure to other children.
I don't really have any first hand experience with this, but my nephew is speech delayed so I have done a lot of reading, question asking and such. I will just give you my opinion as if it were my own child.
From what I have read, therapy can't hurt, so why not do it? It is like getting a tutor for a high school student. Maybe they don't need it, but how can it be a bad thing. Any extra boost up is good. And since she does have ear infection/hearing issues, that is another reason to be proactive and get her early intervention.
However, I think you might be just a little overly concerned. My son is an early talker and has a huge vocabulary and good grasp on grammar and conversation skills. He is 2 1/2 now and still doesn't say a couple of consanants correctly. I don't worry about it because I know he is still talking way more than the other kids I know. He doesn't say F and V correctly, but he can say them. He says F instead of TH and vice versa. He will say them in the later consanants but not at the beginning of the word. It is actually improving, just this week. Like a switch went on.
I think there is really no reason not to do it, as long as she is enjoying herself. If they are pushing her or making therapy and learning "not fun" I would consider not doing it or pulling her out. Because it sounds to me like she is pretty normal so forcing her to do something that makes her miserable would be a reason not to do it. But otherwise, why not? It can't hurt.
I agree with doing it! I've been told the same about my almost 2 year old...that he'll start really talking when he's ready...not to worry. However, I'd rather get it checked out now before it possibly causes problems in school. Who cares what others think? You know your child best and what is best for her. Good luck!!
Some enunciation issues are normal w/ kids...some sounds are not "supposed" to be perfected until 6yrs. of age. My son is 4 & although extremely smart, has trouble enunciating some letters & letter combos. I took him to a speech pathologist who tested him & said he is using the front of his mouth to make sounds that should be made at the back of his throat (he says "f" instead of "s" so "swimming" sounds like "fwimming."). He will start speech therapy in the fall for 1 hour per week (2 days, 1/2 hr. each day). If the professional thinks this is necessary, then do it. It can't hurt...unless she becomes self-conscious of it or gets self-esteem issues...but I think taking care of the problem now will prevent these issues (at this age kids don't tease for things like that...but when she's 5 & other kids cannot understand her, they may tease her). I want to nip this in the bud & my son is excited about it b/c he knows he has trouble w/ some sounds. Good luck!
P.S. My son was an early talker...7 word sentences before 2 years old. I don't think enunciation issues are more prone to late talkers. Some children have them...I couldn't say "r" until 1st grade through speech therapy...it's no biggie. I can't imagine other moms telling you you're going overboard...maybe they fear they are going "underboard."
I'm assuming since it's through the school it will be free? If so,heck yes take them up on it!!! Now, if you're daughter hates going, or you have any reservations about the school or the people working with your daughter you could re-evluate the pros and cons, but assuming you like the school and therapist, and your daughter enjoys going, I would absolutely take her for the therapy.
Good luck,
K.
Take the therapy! My goodness, what does she have to loose? You should not care who thinks what about your child's development, and if the school is providing a service, she needs it. I am an educational advocate, and it would be almost unheard of for any child to be getting "optional" services offered to them, so take them, and be pleased that you have such a forward thinking, accomdating school district because you are one lucky Mom!
What if this person who thinks you are going over board is wrong? You can't go back and fix these things later with even half the effectiveness of early intervention. That she is being offered this kind of intervention for an articulation disorder is extrodinary. Take it, and be very, very, very happy that she got this kind of help. I can't stress enough how extrodinary this is. Take it.
The tubes issue is a common one, she is getting GREAT services that could catch her up completeley from a temporary hearing loss that caused her a delay. She is on lucky kid!
Good for you! Don't move, for sure!
M.
You do know that 14-15 months old is normal for onset of words right?! I'm surprised they accepted a child that young into speech therapy. They usually recommend evaluation if the child has less than 10 words at 18 months, and some say you can wait longer if there are no red flags for autism.
My son has articulation issues (they suspect mild apraxia) and will be going to a preschool through the school district too, although he won't be getting as much speech therapy as your child! Be thankful your district (or state) has such a good program.
Usually if its through the school, the kids have to be 3...is this something special? If she qualifies, then why not?
think there are 2 types of people who say don't bother. The first group means well and really is just trying to assure you that your child is going to be ok. Some of these well meaning people don't want your child to get labled either. The other group think its all BS and a sign of the times we live in. They remember some neighbor who didn't speak till age 5 and now he's an engineer. They think you are being nervous nelly. You are the mom and you do what you think is right.
Our son was a late talker. As soon as he started daycare when he was two, his speech took off -- went from a handful of word to combining words almost immediately. I think being around other kids his age gave him the confidence to try talking more.
Honestly, I say do what you think is best and forget what the naysayers have to say. They're not the parent of your child. Listen to the specialists and make an informed decision.
ETA: If I'd listened to others who said we just had an "active boy" and that he'd outgrow his behavior, our son never would have received the diagnosis of ADHD and help he needed. Trust what you think is right when it comes to your child.
As a teacher early intervention is such a gift to your child. As a mommy to a 25 month old who needed speech therapy, we never once regretted getting our son help. I don't see any harm in getting the therapy...with children that young I have seen how they use play therapy and readiness activities that the children need anyway to promote their speech development. I really only see potential harm in not sending her. I say go for it!
