EI Appt

One of the boys still isn't talking. He babbles a decent amount, but no "real" words, yet. Dr. referred us to EI to see if he qualifies for speech therapy. Anyone BTDT? How does it work?

 

we've had services since the boys were born because they were so premature. also, we're in a different state, and all the states have diff programs. so, i can't really help you. but, i can tell that our program is awesome! they do so many different things to help so many different people.... i am currently in a class to help parents of children w/possible speech delays. the class is based on a book/program called it takes two to talk. i'm learning a lot and so are my kids! ..... i hope you find out what you need to know soon.

gl, jl

 

QUOTE(beemer @ Jun 3 2009, 01:15 PM) [snapback]1339758[/snapback]
One of the boys still isn't talking. He babbles a decent amount, but no "real" words, yet. Dr. referred us to EI to see if he qualifies for speech therapy. Anyone BTDT? How does it work?



HHhhmmm...I don't really think Greta started talking until right about that time. She said a few (maybe 3 words), but that's it. My ped always told me that was completely normal. My nephew who is 2 is just now saying his first words. I guess I'm trying to offer reassurance, but not answering your question so I'm no help. Best of luck. let us know how it goes.

 

We just had our meeting today with the therapists. Both Jake & Josh are delayed. In order to qualify, they have to be at least 30% delayed. Both are at 38% or speaking at the level of a 10 month old. They say mama, dada, baba, nana ect.

She first came out 2 weeks ago for about an hour. She asked me a bunch of questions about my pregnancy, if they were full term, any NICU time, any health problems ect. She talked to them to see how they responded & watched them eat. I did not know this at the time, but Josh had a double ear infection. He was extremly delayed in one area-68%. She was very concerned but would not give me any details on what that type of delay meant. I was at my Dad's the next day and Josh was in a lot of pain. Jake was being treated for a double ear infection and I had a feeling that what was wrong with him. I took him in that day and I was right.

For speech, one thing they rule out right away is if it's hearing problem. They are having their hearing tested on Monday. For all we know, they could have built up fluid in their ears from recurrent ear infections. If that is the case, it would explain a lot.


Today we went over her findings and what she recommends. They will be having speech therapy once a week for an hour. She is going to spend one-on-one time with each of them for 30 minutes. Since I'm the only parent and pretty much the only one they interact with on a daily basis, it's hard for me to have exclusive one-on-one time with each of them.

They can't give me a end date. In 6 months we will have another meeting to see how things are progressing. By then they will be 2. If at any time prior to that I feel they are speaking ok, I can decide to cancel the therapy.

The cost of EI per month is based on your family's income. Josh get's therapy for this gross motor skills twice a month and they will be getting speech and developmental therapy once a week. It will cost $20/month.

I hope I was able to answer some of your questions.

I wanted to add that when I brought Josh in for his ears, I mentioned about what the therapist said. She was not at all concerned that they were not talking yet. She said boys usually talk later and also with them being multiples it's not unusual for a delay in speech.

 

One of my boys was not saying any real words even at 18 months and our pedi still reassured us not to worry. I even suggested EI, but she said she wouldn't recommend it until age 2 if he still doesn't have many words. In the month since we saw her, he's now started to say a few words, so I'm just waiting to see what happens over the next few months. Boys and multiples tend to talk a little later.

We got evaluated by EI very early on due to being preemies, but we didn't qualify for services because they were not "delayed enough". Basically you call to set up an appt. EI comes to your house and asks a number of questions about their development and then they watch them play and communicate. Then they give you feedback about what level they are functioning at and whether you qualify for services.

 

We just had our first speech session this week. It's a painless process..just takes some time from the time they come out to evaluate, to the time that you actually get started with the therapy.

Two ladies came out to do an intake-take down all of our info about the pregnancy, birth, etc. Then we went over some paperwork I filled out about the boys development. Then more paperwork for insurance purposes, etc. That was 30 minutes or so(supposed to be longer, but I was pretty precise when talking about their development). Then, we made the appointment for the actual evaluation-that was two weeks later.

A group of 5 therapists came out to see the boys-Developmental, Social/Emoitional, Physical Therapy, Speech/Language, and someone else...LOL! They tested the boys on EVERYTHING-not just speech. They did well in all the other areas. For receptive language-which is not a concern of mine at all-they tested at a 2 year old level, vs the 18 month old age they were. Then for expressive language-which is where the concern was-they tested at a 8mth and 10 mth(I still don't believe that though....) level. So-they qualified for therapy. Then the boys had to be assigned to a coordinator-she called two weeks after the eval was done and we made an appt and she came over and met the boys. This was more paperwork stuff, deciding on when and how long to come for, and what to work on. No therapy. We then made our appointment-and she came this past Monday in the morning and worked with the boys.

We are doing one hour/week. She worked with both boys. It's essentially playing with new toys(to them at least) and for right now-repeating the sounds over and over and over again. They can not form a word if they do not have the sounds. The boys did really well and even tried to imitate some sounds. And their attention span was bewildering. They sat the ENTIRE time. Wish they did that for me! In the last few weeks I have noticed Nicholas "talking" A LOT! They are now 19 months old. So-in due time it will come. I was not entirely concerned as they are boys, twins, etc. And they understand everything. However, at their 15mth appt, the pedi had concerns, which is why we contacted EI.

Good luck-it certainly doesn't hurt! And keep us posted!

 

you can probably find out on the web- type in the name of your EI program & your state and it will probably pop up-- my dh started reading all the requirements the social workers had to fill out and all.

we're considering whether to call ours or not.

good luck deciding.

fyi- normal 1 yr vocab is about 5 words I believe (included mama, dada, for us it's "ow" for our cat's meow) in case that helps.

 

The others' explanations are very similar to our experience. We didn't qualify for any services, but I was happy to have the peace of mind.

At 14 months, I wouldn't be too concerned about not having words yet - my cousin's baby is the same age as my boys, and she JUST started saying a few words at 22 months. She is perfectly normal, intelligent, and healthy. No harm in getting an evaluation, for sure - but don't worry yourself too much. They are still quite young!

 

Ditto on what Judy and Meagan said. My DS was just evaluated Monday and they were there from 3:30 to 5:15!!!!!!!!! Found him eligible for speech and ot......a lot of playing and questions.....then they tell you what they qualify for....

 

My experience has been similar to everyone else's. My DS was evaluated as very delayed in language (80% delayed in one area and 50% delayed in another). He's getting an hour of developmental therapy and an hour of speech therapy a week. In both sessions, the therapists has a bag of toys that they play with. They use one toy at a time, repeat a lot of words, encourage DS to sign for "more" toys, etc. From watching the sessions, I've been able to start doing the same sort of things with him too. In just 3 weeks, I have noticed a huge increase in babbling and social behavior from him. We're paying $50/month which is based on our family income. It took about 6 weeks from the first call to EI to starting therapy, so be patient with the process.

I also found out his ear drums are not working properly because of fluid build-up and pressure behind the ear drums. He saw an audiologist and ear, nose and throat specialist a few weeks after the eval. Ask your ped for a referral to a specialist to check their ears.

 

Thanks for all the replies - I feel much less in the dark.

We have our intake appointment scheduled for next week. We did hearing today. They both did great - so it's not a hearing problem. I am still a little nervous about the whole process. They told me to plan at least an hour and a half for the original appointment, though it would be mostly taking history and the actual eval wouldn't be until the following week.

Even if we don't qualify, I think it will be reassuring to get a feel for if they are where they should be. The really crazy thing is that we looked at the EI sliding scale and it will cost a fortune if we go through EI. Anyone know if insurance might pick it up? In talking to the hearing specialist today the hospital where we had the hearing stuff done offers a similiar program (not state sponsored) which would be billed via insurance, and sounds like it would be covered at less than 1/2 the cost of the EI sliding scale. So do you all go through the govt program or has anyone looked at private sector?

 

My experience is that insurance will not cover any EI therapy unless it has a medical cause. So if they are diagnosed with a medical condition which causes low muscle tone, then the insurance would cover the physical therapy. For my DS, insurance is not covering the EI charges since Aidan "just" has a speech delay and no medical condition to cause it. The only reason insurance covered the hearing tests were because the pediatrician referred us to the audiologist and ENT for persistent fluid in the ears, not for a speech delay. I don't even know what kind of a medical condition might cause a speech delay?

So sorry that the EI monthly amount is so much! I know my DH was ticked off when he heard it was going to be $50/month for Aidan (and we're a single income family). If we had our two incomes and the twins in day care, I imagine the cost would be much harder to swing.

 

Oh, and from what I've heard, an hour with a private speech therapist would be over $100. So for Aidan's 4 hours of speech and 4 hours of developmental therapy a month, we'd be paying $800 out of pocket since insurance wouldn't cover it. When DH found that out, the $50 seemed cheap!

 

It depends a lot on your county... We're not paying anything for ours, although we're moving soon and we have to start the process over so it might change.

Their requirements are pretty loose. You do need 30% delay in one area to qualify, but they often seem to expect a lot (for example, it's pretty normal not to walk at 18 months but if your kid is 14 months and not walking you would probably qualify). I honestly wouldn't be worried at all if your kids are not talking at their age... mine don't talk either and when DD was evaluated 2 months ago they thought she was doing fine.

I have to say though that I have noticed very little progress with EI. They come twice a month and it's really not doing much good... DD needs physical therapy but she's very active and it's really hard for us to do exercises with her because of it, which is why it would really help if someone came more often... so depending on what EI says when we move (another state, so it will be different) we will probably go see a specialist and not rely solely on EI. So overall it was a huge let down for us, but I know other people who used EI and it helped a lot.

That being said... when the therapist comes, it's one less day to worry about what to do, lol!