Speech therapy

My girls have been in Early Intervention since they were released from the NICU. They have been receiving physical therapy, although I'm not sure they need it since they always meet their goals and we are hardly ever given any "homework" for them. Anyway, at our 18 month well-baby visit, the pedi suggested we ask EI about speech therapy since neither baby had any words. Since then, Annelise started saying "bye" and "what's that?" Karina still has zero words. When I brought it up to EI, I was told that they could have the therapist come for an evaluation, but that there isn't much she can do to help until they have some words and can start working on pronunciation with them. Is this true? It seems odd to me because I have heard of other babies who started in speech therapy young. They also told me that they don't start getting concerned unless they have no words at 24 months. So, for those who have one or both babies in speech therapy, what age did they start and were they speaking before they started getting services?

I should mention that I'm not terribly concerned about their speech. Their receptive language is good and I know they are bright little girls. I do, however, want to be as proactive as possible, so that's why I think we should have the evaluation done.

ETA: The speech therapist was supposed to come evaluate them last month, but wasn't able to come because her own baby was sick. So now she is scheduled to come on Tuesday.

 

That's not true. Kevan has been in speech therapy since about 14 or 15 months -- he was evaluated at 12 months for a host of problems, but he wasn't even babbling consonant sounds by that point (he only had vowels), which is why I was concerned.

Before a child is speaking, speech mostly consists of "play therapy" -- the therapist will play on the floor with a toy bus, for example, and repeat a lot of phrases like, "Go, bus, go! Put baby in bus!" Our therapist also does puzzles with Kevan, and works on getting him to ask for things -- she will use a snack, and get him to say "More eat please" and stuff like that. He is finally signing AND saying those words together, but it's been a long road to get to this point, and he still has lots of work ahead of him.

Until you can get your EI to cooperate, I highly recommend you buy the Baby Babble and Baby Babble 2 DVD's -- they're on Amazon and other places -- and watch those. They're set up similar to Baby Einstein, with toys and such, but they're basically speech-therapy-on-TV. There's a parent tutorial that's very helpful, too, in terms of what you should be doing with your kids to get them talking.

I wouldn't worry in your shoes, either. All of my kids have been late talkers, and two of them are perfectly fine and very bright. And Kevan, well, he's got his own issues, LOL.

 

Mine have been in PT since 3 months old, dd had speech at 4 months old and now is in OT. I still think yours are a little young to be concerned too. I don't know if it's true, but I've also heard that twins can take a little longer to talk. Do yours sign? I've heard that may delay them a little too. Trust your mommy gut instinct.

 

As a Speech-Language Pathologist, I can tell you that is untrue! There is a lot they can do with kiddos that aren't making words yet. In fact, when I worked with EI kids, we often worked with children that didn't have any words (or very few). So many times people think of Speech Therapists as getting people to say their sounds better, but it is way more than that. It can begin with educating you and giving you "homework" and then picking out some short term goals. Sometimes a child needs to improve their understanding of language first to be able to express themselves. Sometimes some sign language helps out. Other times, basic pictures help to elminate some frustration on their end. There's a ton they can do before they have words, so if they are telling you that then ask for a 2nd opinion.

 

PT came and worked with the girls this morning, but they didn't bring the speech person again. They told me she said she didn't need to come because the girls aren't talking yet and there isn't anything to do other than sign language, talking to them a lot, and getting on their level to talk to them and there isn't anything to do with them until they start using words and then she could help them with pronounciation. That doesn't make any sense to me. What do they do with 2 and 3-year-olds who don't talk? That would mean no one would qualify for speech unless they had problems pronouncing words. I'm a little irritated by this whole thing because the pediatrician recommended an eval. I really think the Speech Therapist should at least meet with the girls before deciding they don't need any therapy.

I am talking to them a lot and getting on their level to talk to them. I am not doing sign language, so I suppose I could try to step that up a bit. I don't think that daycare will follow through with that, however, when they go back at the end of the month.

 

Wow..we've definitely had a lot of help with ST in our area. Griff started at about 22 months and since, has picked up 90 words. Our ST mainly plays with him, "Up slide" and "Down slide", etc. We just got an apraxia diagnosis so I'm very concerned. At 27 mo he has 100 words and 3 phrases, but tends to leave the beginning or ending sounds off, etc. He too, is a very bright little guy, but I have to say your instincts are the best. You know your children. I think I would have a second opinion, b/c the earlier the intervention, the better....and it can't hurt!

I too, pride myself on being proactive, and one day your kids will thank you!
It's hard not to compare kids, but trying to figure out where they should be and how they can get to where they need to be is always a challenge! Good luck!

 

Wow, I'm just really surprised. I would definately push it. I believe here in MI, a parent has the right to request an eval and they have to do it, but it may be different in other states. I don't know if your private health insurance would cover going to an SLP outside of EI. I know quite a few therapists that don't consider this an issue until 2 yrs. old, but you're the Mom and if you feel something is off then be their advocate.

 

That sounds unusual to me, too. I hope the evaluation goes well!

 

We had our first eval at about 18 months, however, I was told that they definitely could have come sooner than that. I was kind of bullied by some people, making me feel like an overreacting, overprotective mom for wanting an eval prior to that.

Anyway - our boys have been in ST since they were about 20 months, after all the evals were done. Before that they were not saying a single word, not a thing, Jacob would do "moo" if shown a cow and that is the only thing they did. Since then, they have done so well. Our therapist is amazing - the boys love her and I appreciate her so much. We have stepped up sign language and that helps tremendously. Now both boys are doing "mama" "dada" "Lella" (for Ella), "Gama" "nana" "nigh nigh" and many animal sounds.

My boys are sharp - their receptive communication is wonderful. It is just the outward that we have trouble with.

It is hard - I tend to compare them to dd which is awful, I know. She started speaking at 13 months, so, looking at her performance got me worried when they were young.