Early Intervention

My girls are almost 18 months old and we basically ahve no language. They both say hi and bye, and beyond that one will say baby if prodded and one will say eat if I say it first. No momma, daddy, juice, milk, etc etc. I can see that they are starting to get frustrated with not being able to communicate with me or anyone else and in turn that makes me and DH pretty frustrated too.

Anyway, my pediatricain keeps telling me it is not something to worry about until they are two. I understand that may be the case, but I am not sure I can wait that long. Plus we have another child coming in six weeks and it would be nice if they could say something before she gets here.

How do I go about doing this? Do I need my pediatricain to refer us or is this something I can do on my own? Who do I contact? Etc ETc EtC

 

My girls will not speak on queue, but talk when they want. Right now, I wouldn't worry but take the advice from their pedi and wait it out. Sometimes they have a vocabulary explosion around 2 - this happened with my nephew. Reading, singing songs, flashcards and constant talking to them are the only ways to build their vocabulary. The rest is up to them. I wouldn't worry especially if they are hitting other milestones normally.

 

It really depends on your state. In many states, EI is through the school district and you can self refer. If you specifically want speech therapy then a pedi would have to refer but getting evaluated by EI doesn't usually have to be ordered by a doc. If your state has Parents as Teachers or something similar, then that could be another option.

 

I would look up Early Intervention in your area. You don't have to be referred by your pedi(at least we didn't). It's funny how all pedi's are different. I think at 15 months, my pedi mentioned EI. If not 15 months, DEFINITELY at 18 months. I wasn't too worried. They totally understood what we said, etc. They just didn't talk. And once they got EI(I was pregnant too!), they made great strides. In six months-they were both done!

Be careful what you wish for though! Once they start...they NEVER stop! I told dh that if Annabella needs EI, she's not getting it! :laughing:

 

I just looked up the EI services in my area (we had concerns about how DS was crawling, using his arms and not his legs). No pediatrician referral was needed. They will send a report back to the pedi if you give them permission to do so. Good luck!

 

Thanks ladies. I made the call this morning and I should be hearing something no later than the first of next week to set up an evaluation. I am jsut glad to get the evaluation. I figure if there is a speech delay why not start working on it sooner than later.

 

Thank you for posting this. I wasn't really worried until I saw this and the more I thought about it the more I realized that my girls babble a lot but don't say many words. They know words, but are very sporadic with saying them. When I brought it up to DH last night he said that he's been wondering why they aren't talking yet. I did some research based on the advice from here and found the referral number for the Early Steps program in our area. We are waiting on a call back for our evaluation appointment.

 

I was about to tell you to look up EI programs in your area, as many don't require a physician referral for the initial consultation. I work with some SLP's, and they always say "two words by 2" - that is , your toddler should string together 2 words in a phrase (like "more milk") by 2 years old. I wouldn't be terribly concerned about your DD's, but if they are showing signs of frustration then definitely look into trying to get some help.

A web site that is really useful is the CDC's :http://www.cdc.gov/parents/infants/index.html They have great charts for development and milestones. It may help to actually have a printout to take to your pedi so that you can express your concerns, and it may also make you realize just how many developmentally appropriate behaviors your little ones are exhibiting!!

HTH! And good luck with the EI visit!

 

I'm a pessimist by heart. I know I should think more of my children, but honestly in four months I don't see them being able to string two words together. They just babble and babble with a word popped in there from time-to-time. Still waiting on the EI specialist to call us back. Sorry if I high jacked this thread.

 

I would definitely pursue the EI evaluation, at least for peace-of-mind. But I have to say that Jack wasn't putting 2 word phrases together at 18 months, and now at 2 is speaking in full sentences. Language acquisition doesn't seem to be a smooth progression, but really comes in fits and sometimes huge starts!

 

I am glad that this thread helped. I am not worried about the girls.....I am more tired of them not being able to say anything. They are smart kids and their receptive language is pretty great. Being pregnant with one due to be here in six weeks or less, I knew if I didn't do something now then I would end up waiting three or more months.

I am also a pessimist. People have been telling me since they were 12 months that one day I would wake up and they would have all these words. Well it is now 6 months later and they have about two words a piece. So I jsut don't see them exploding anytime soon without some help.

 

I'll be calling EI tommorrow for one of my boys. 18 months adjusted (20 months actual). He has a few words but is not where he should be and he is considered high risk (preemie, boy, twin). We are calling on recommendation of their doctor and our parents as teachers coordinator (who came by the house today for a visit). He is very frustrated (which the coordinator saw today) and she commented on how his receptive language is way beyond his expressive. So we will have him evaluated.

My nephew started intense speech (3x a week) at 20 months. He was non-verbal. Didn't "graduate" from speech until he was in 4th grade. He graduated from high school last year with a 3.95 GPA and a full ride to college. I completely beleive he would not be where he is today if it were not for his early intervention.