Qualified for EI for receptive and expressive speech... questions on IF your kids had a receptive

Our 20 month old ID boys qualified for EI. Twin B has 'advanced' receptive skills, but delayed in expressive.

Twin A has expressive AND receptive delay. The receptive is hitting me hard as I had some nagging concerns but really was not expecting to hear that- basically everyone else I talked to (except dev. pediatrician, who showed a very, very minor concern but would not say so- he just told me he didn't think they would qualify if we waited until they were 2) acted like I was crazy when I wasn't sure he understood everything.

Yes, they were born early, but not significantly so (35 weeks, 5 days).

I've only been able to find things that are really, really scary to me re: receptive delay.


-If any of your kids had a receptive language delay, was a cause ever determined?

-Did the speech therapy help? Did your child catch up to peers eventually, or make significant progress with the therapy?

Asking here because 1) If I google I'll go crazy with worry and 2) I know twins are more likely to qualify for services, particularly regarding speech, so hoping other parents have some feedback on how it turned out for them.

 

first..I am in the same boat as you...both have receptive and expressive delays (although expressive is more substantial) I am an early childhood special educator (2-5). I have definitely witnessed children who are globally delayed completely catch up by kindergarten. I have seen it dozens of time. As their teacher I have access to their reports since birth. I have had students who at 2 were receiving ABA and by 5 were as "normal" as any other. I have seen it a lot in twins as well. I have the same concerns you do (autism..long term developmental) but I remind myself of the numerous amounts of kids who go through ei and by kindergarten get nothing. It's more common in boys too.

ETA: I specifically remember id boys I had in my class who had received numerous services from 18 months (reading their paperwork you would have though autistic) They were both amazing and intelligent, social and as normal as any other by the time they were 4 1/2. When I start to worry about them I remind myself that delays in twins are common...and developmental delay is not the same as autism,

 

My DS started speech and developmental therapy right around 20 months as well. He had a pretty bad receptive and expressive language delay along with some other atypical developmental delays like poor eye contact, not responding well to his name, not pointing, not seeking out a loved one to share excitement, etc. As you can guess, he ultimately was diagnosed on the autism spectrum. However, the amount of progress he's made in a year is amazing. He's gone from 2-3 words and a few signs at 20 months to hundred of words now and the ability to use 2-3 word phrases. His still has trouble using language pragmatically (meaning in social settings). His receptive language and expressive language is still considered delayed, but it's nowhere near as bad as it was before he started therapy. He's aged out of EI now, and he's going to start speech therapy and a preschool in the fall through the school district.

I know I got frustrated as he started therapy because I really didn't seem much progress for the first 6 months. He started signing and using a couple words more, but there wasn't really a breakthrough or anything. Then about 9 months in to the therapy, he took off developmentally. (This was right around age 2.5) Everything just came together and he picked up words so quickly and was just so interested in labeling everything in his environment. Now at age 3, we're working more on using language to communicate his needs and in social settings. That is pretty hard for him. He tends to stick with single words in social settings for some reason.

Anyway, I just wanted to reassure you that speech therapy will be a good thing! And a simple language delay does not always equal a bigger developmental issue going on. My DS is on the autism spectrum, but at 20 months, he had more going on than just the language delay.

Also, if you are worried about autism at all, it can be very educating to check out this video showing typically developing toddlers/kids and autism spectrum toddler/kids demonstrating the differences. It was when I watched these videos that I realized my DS was probably autistic. The differences can be so subtle, especially when you don't know what to be looking for.

http://www.firstsigns.org/asd_video_glossary/asdvg_about.htm

 

Thank you so much for your response! I am sorry that you are in the same boat but it is good to know we're not alone. And, thank you very much for replying with your experience as a teacher! It is so good to know that therapy really can, and does help a lot of kids.

Thank you thank you thank you! Feel free to PM me any time.

 

Thank you so much for your response. And the progress your son has made is amazing! I am so glad speech therapy helped your son and he can express himself with phrases now! I am feeling much more positive about the experience (and that therapy might/will actually help) due to your response. Feel free to PM me anytime!

 

I am in a similar situation. DS will be 2 in a few weeks, and started EI services at one year, starting with PT and adding speech at 17 months, and now getting OT and DI as well. He didn't make much progress with speech the first few months, saying new words and signs on occasion. But recently, he has taken off and is repeating things, starting to say words spontaneously without repeating, and doing so much better than a few months ago. I am constantly amazed when I hear his voice instead of DD's, since he never really talked and she most certainly did!
The pedi's office sent around an autism screening and he scored enough red flags to warrant an evaluation, which I am having done in 2 weeks. But we are failry certain he is not on the spectrum, and just want to have an expert opinionon it all. He is just delayed, and is catching up quickly and doing so well.
Good luck!

 

Just curious...was that the 18 month screening?

 

I think Speech therapy will be a good thing, too. Both my DS and DD had speech for expressive and receptive delays. They also got PT and OT, but they were 24 weekers, so were delayed in all areas for awhile. I remember at their 12 month re-eval, their scores were so low that I cried. I obviously knew it was going to take more than a year for them to catch up, if they caught up at all, but I thought they were doing really well and was shocked that they tested so far behind. Therapy continued and they tested out of EI before they turned 3...in all areas. So even with a very significant delay, consistent therapy and exposure to language helped a lot! Good luck and try not to worry too much.

 

I am in the same boat as of today, i was just going to ask the same questions. Both my sons have been with EI since they were 3 months old. They started with the Speech therapist a few months ago, and this morning she was here with the OT (who still comes weekly), the ST is coming weekly now as well. Well this morning they had many concerns and we ran thru an M-CHAT form (questionaire) for possible Autism that PEdi's are suppose to ask at a certain Well Visit (which mine did at their 20 month visit a couple of weeks ago), and there were some Red Flags that came up. Their expressive speech is delayed, but their receptive speech is good.

They are concerned they do not give a whole lot of eye contact when they are here working with them, they dont include us in their play, (Joint Attention) another concern. They now have me all worried and i was doing some on-line research. I feel my boys are doing fine, they were 7 wks early so that puts them 2 months behind which can be a factor. There doesnt seem to be a whole lot of developmental delays, mostly Speech. They asked me if i wanted to put the boys on a list to see a specialist as it's a long list, but hopefully by that time they will not need to see a specialist.

I feel my boys are just speech delayed, and in time they will catch up. I always asked them from day one about signs of Autism b/c it seems to be out there. But they dont seem to be doing any of the real signs I read about.

So now it's a day by day thing with them, and we will be working extra hard with them on the items they failed on the questionaire. GL hope everything works out for all of us...

Oh I also want to mention, they do point to things, they do say alot of single words, and once in a while i hear "wazdat" for what's that..

they dont point to something to show us or ask Us to play with them, and I feel they do make eye contact but i guess not enough. plus there are other things but right now have to go tend to a crying toddler...

 

they dont include us in their play, (Joint Attention) another concern



Do they plat peek-a-boo. or have you chase them (like if u say "i'm gonna get u.) because that is joint play. At this age there is not a whole lot of that.

 

Thanks everyone for all of your answers, it is good to hear therapy will likely help- I was feeling so discouraged about it!

As of right now, speech is EIs only area of 'concern'. I guess we'll have to just wait and see what happens. Now we're just waiting to be matched up with a therapist.

 

Good luck to you! We just had our yearly review for Jake and in expressive language he advanced 14 months! In receptive he only advanced 9 months but still that's good for a years worth of work! He's 30 months and is at an 18 month level for receptive speech, so we'll be here for the next 6 months and then he moves on to the public school therapists.

 

Yay Jake! I am so glad to hear therapy is helping and he's advancing.

And thanks!