Language Delay Diagnosis

Hi L.,

I had the same issues with my now 4 year old. I would look into speech therapy or putting him in daycare if he is not already in daycare. My son was in speech therapy and that helped a lot. I just put him in daycare last August and now he talks up a storm, not perfectly but he is talking.

Just be patient and it will happen.

Good Luck!

S.
Mommy of 3 boys, 12, 4 and 20 months.

I am a pediatric speech language pathologist. You need to get him in language therapy. Language Delay is a real diagnosis that requires treatment. It is usually not something that the child will grow out of, but rest assured,the therapist will work with you and get him where he needs to be. Many times I see a child with just a language delay. Be sure to practice with whatever the therapist tells you to do every single day...speech therapy is not magic. It does take a lot of practice at home. You can do it, mom!!!
Pam

I would utilize your insurance if at all possible and not waste time with the free help, you could waste 1-2 months in the process. Once he turns 3 you can utilize services in the school system. You can also get a private therapist as well.

Dear L.,
sorry to hear that your son has a language delay? what does that mean? expressive delay? both receptive and expressive?
how are his other skills: social, etc. How is he doing w/ sleep, eating, how are his play skills w/ objects? many questions that are unanswered so i can only give u a brief idea to help you.
regardless, you should proceed to find a therapist who works w/ children w/ special needs [as it do] as a way of figuring out how to proceed. ask your pediatrician if you trust him/her for a recommendation; working w/ kids is tricky so get someone experienced adn preferably who works from the strength model.
if it is only a language delay then start him asap w/ a speech and language pathologist who will put emphasis on the language component side of it. In the meantime, keep TV and all video and video games to an absolute minimum.
Read, read, and read; ask few questions but rather just talk. talk talk talk; use any materials that fascinate him to drill/elicit language. Help hmi make choices by modeling for him "do you want milk or juice" say " i want juice" keep modeling for him and make sure he repeats what you say; don't jsut let him point and do the minimum.
Spend some time finding a book or two as well once you have a good handle on what his issues are and if there are others, don't delay in finding him help for those other issues.
if you write back, w/ more detail, that will be helpful.
the best of luck.

Hi L.... have your doctors run all the tests to rule out any kind of hearing problem and such? My stepson, too, has a language delay, and after many tests we could find nothing else wrong. He was aroung your sons age when diagnosed and today is 8 years old. He's still quite speech impaired, however, has made great improvements. He does receive daily speech therapy, and has since pre-k at 4 years old, but a lot of his improvement just seems to be because of his growing into speaking. Slowly, but surely. A recommendation I would make for you is, don't speak to him using one word to describe something. Talk to him as if he doesn't have the language delay. The challenge we faced as my stepson gets older is that we fell into the ease of one word descriptions and answers, and now my stepson is way behind in grammer. I understand your concerns, frustrations, and fears though. Please feel free to contact me any time you need someone to talk to.

Hello there L., Don't be discouraged! I am a new mom to a 15 month girl and a teacher for over 15 years specializing in communication disorders. If you don't mind , I would like to know how you learned your son is delayed and the steps given to you to change that.

I would like for now to suggest that you start talking aloud about anything and everything with your son. This can be done while you are doing chores around the house(let him model you), on your way somewhere in the car, feeding him, walking around and about in the grocery store, parks, play groups, and yes when he follows you into the bathroom! Explain the things that will be seen, what you are doing, what you are going to do, going to go and what will be happening.

If you are not a fulltime mom and he's being cared by someone or a provider service/program , I would strongly consider a change based of his lack of language development. This is ALWAYS a sign of an inadequate language enriched environment. (I cannot emphasis on this enough - even if its a family member that is caring for a child)

Once he hears language (don t use a television for a substitute PLEASE) more often its actually a model for him to follow. It will be weird but I promise 2 weeks of this you 'll see him change.

Good luck! Please keep me updated.

Hi L.,
If you have not already found a speech therapist to work with, I would do that first. The place where you had your son evaluated should have some referrals for you, if not therapists on staff that can help you. In my experience, a good therapist will work with you and your son in her/his office and give you ideas of things that you can do at home to boost your son's language. The good news is that you caught it early and usually children respond well to early treatment. If you do not know any therapists, write me and I can send you a couple names.
Good luck and all the best,
A.

Dear L.,
If I were in your shoes, I would start READING ALOUD to him every day - 7 days a week. And I don't mean just one or two stories, I mean 4 or 5 in the morning, 4 or 5 in the afternoon, and 4 or 5 at night. I would make sure he heard "words" so often, he would just be dying to "mimick" them. Little boys love to "repeat" what they hear. And
we learn through repetition. 15 stories a day ought to do it. Get the "Mr." to help. Get your mother, sister, girlfriend - anybody that knows how to read to help you.

Hi L.,

A diagnosis means that now you know he has a problem and it can be addressed.
My 8 year old was diagnosed with Apraxia at 3 years old and received speech, oral motor and occupational therapy. He could not repeat words, wasn't even able to say momma and dadda. From the very first day of therapy, we saw progress. We could see that he understood what was said to him, he just couldn't respond in kind. My 6 year old (Alex) has been getting speech therapy since he was 2 years old. DJ (8) finished all his therapies by kindergarten and is very intellegent. Alex has a different diagnosis; developmentally delayed. I've started bringing him to a Chiropractor that does cranial sacral therapy and his rate of progress in school has gone up. With Alex, we got a referral from his peditrician (we'd gotten a free session with DJ's speech therapist, too) to "Part C". There's a place here in town off Michigan that I can't remember the name-- that's where we went. Good luck!

What I would do is get some learning flash cards. And everyday for a little while go over the pictures ask them what they are. You can tell him what they are first then have him repeat it after you. Once you've done this for a little while change it up. Ask him to tell you what they are first. You could also get books according to his age and read to him everyday. And ask him questions when you do things together or go places. If he doesn't say it right the first time its okay correct him. (not in a way that sounds like your scolding or degrading him) well hopefully some of these ideas help out.

~V.

L.- I have gone through this with both my boys. There is a state agency called DEI (Developmental Evaluation and Intervention) that will indeed offer free private therapy (both times a therapist has come to my house) until your child turns three. Because he is so close now, you need to act immediately, as it does take some time to get the therapy started. I don't have DEI's contact info anymore, but I believe it is based in Gainesville. The evaluations and therapy are done in your local area though.
After your son turns 3, he qualifies for free therapy through your local public schools. This is not guaranteed to be individual therapy, but small group. He will however be with children his own age, not with the older school age children. DEI makes the transition into the public schools easier, but anyone can get their child who is three and up into therapy at the schools by going through their local school board office.
Of course, you also have private therapy available. Typically insurance only covers it if the delay is due to an injury (like you were in a car accident and now he has trouble with language, etc.), but it is worth checking out. Otherwise this option can get expensive if your child needs therapy for long.
It is wise to begin therapy now. There can be serious social issues for children who can't communicate as well as their peers and it only gets worse the older a child gets.

A.

My son will be 4 in April and has just started speech therapy. We have always noticed that he had a speech problem but decided to wait and see if it changed. Since it hasn't, we had a speech therapist go to his preschool and test him. Turns out that he has trouble with some letters most likely due to having been on the bottle too long and they are working with him to correct it.
At this age, which is not quite 3, the only concern you should have is that your son understands things and can point out things for you. His speech will probably come along after that. You can also have him evaluated to see if his progress is where it needs to be and then determine if you need to bring in a professional to help.
Sometimes hearing plays a factor as well, so as long as his pediatrician doesn't find hearing problems, then it just might be something that will fall into place as he enters into the 3 year mark.

my grandson is 30 months old and can saay maybe 5 words total himself . i sent a request for info and got the below message . hope this helps.
Jack

Yes, in fact, your grandson definitely sounds like he has a language delay. He should have approximately 50-75 words by now and by stringing at least 2 together at a time ("more juice", "baby go", etc.) My first suggestion is to call the Early Steps progam at St. Mary's Hospital, Immediately! I say immediately because it takes some time to get tested and qualified and he is only eligible until age 3. You may get a couple of months of therapy (at no charge) but more importantly, he will have an evaluation and may be eligible for Child Find once he turns 3. This is a state program that would make him eligible for a special, free "pre-school" that provides regular speech therapy and child care for several hours a day 3-5 days a week. I highly recommend this avenue because your description of his language is cause for concern. A second option is a prescription from his primary care doctor for a "speech/language evaluation". Medicaid will pay for an eval and possibly treatment. The problem is without a previous evaluation, you may have trouble finding a therapist. As far as Autism goes, don't panic. Children with expressive language delays can have similiar symptoms as Autism. That said, I have never met your grandson and am not a doctor. Therefore, I do not diagnose. I would definitely follow your instincts.
In the meantime:
1. Talk to him, ALOT!
2. Talk normally, but slowly.
3. Read as many books with him as possible. Point to pictures and comment on actions (Look, the boy is walking the dog! Now the dog is hungry. Does he want something to eat? What should he feed him?, etc.) . Don't just say "What's this? What's that?" You give a "running commentary" about what's going on in the picture and he may join in).
4. Label items around the house such as animals, foods, colors, shapes, vehicles, keys, toys, bubbles, etc. See if he won't try to imitate you.
5. Focus on front of the mouth sounds (b, p, m, t, d) words are usually easiest (e.g. baby, bubble, doggy, pop, more). Repeat the first sound "B-b-b-b-b" "B-b-b-bubble".
6. Even if he can't or won't say words, try to get him to make choices (by holding up 2-3 items). "Ex: "Do you want milk or cookie?"
7. Try to "drag" language out of him. Even if you know what he wants, try to get him to ask (even if it's only one letter of the word - "m" for milk). Cut this short just short of a tantrum, but this helps alot!

The main number to Early Steps is ###-###-####. I would call them to find out the exact process to get your grandson tested for a language delay. Again, I am sorry at this time I am unavailable but there are many therapists in the program and they will likely come to you! It takes some effort but it is Definitely worth it! You are his caregivers, and therefore, have so much potential to help him in addition to therapy! You seem dedicated and willing to make the effort. If you can follow the suggestions above DAILY, you will hopefully start to see some changes in his language. I wish you and your family good luck! Feel free to email me back if you have other questions or concerns. Hold on to my email (as I will yours) in case of future changes.

Sincerely,

Kari DeWeese, M.S., CCC-SLP

Immediately get a speech pathologist working with him. You may want to do some internet searches reagrding the speech issue. I am disturbed that the Dr. hasn't given you the referrels you need. My daughter spoke well until her 12 month shots. Of 4 children that I raised from an infant she was the brightest and quickest talker, with the best language skills. It took me a year to figure out that the shots had done something to her. She was initially diagnosed with autism, but since I put her on Gluten and dairy free diet, she began to heal. She is now 6 and is excelling at school so much that she is ahead for her age. But believe me she has come a long way. What I relied on...prayer, prayer and more prayer, oh and the diet and speech therapy. Because I had nothing else, no fancy insurance. But even without insurance there are agencies that will help. In Florida there is Early Intervention services and they help all kids under age 5. They are awesome! Feel free to email if you want to talk ____@____.com

I have a 2 yr. old son who has Perventricular Leukomalacia and this has effected his speech as well as gross/fine motor skills. At the present time he says dada, gaga, and baba. I understand it is heartbreaking to hear news like this about your child but the way I look at it now is, there will be a day and it may not be tomorrow or the next day but they will be talking and we will just want them to be quiet for atleast 10 mins. so we can have time to think for ourselves:)

your son qualifies for free help until he's 3 so I would try & get it as soon as possible (hey, free is good right? [insert smiley here])

go to www.google.com
and type: early intervention ____ Fl (I don't know where you live)

HTH

Please make sure, when he gets older, you have him checked for the possibility of dyslexia. Public schools do not test for this particular learning difference. you can check out brightsolutions.us (website) for more information.