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| Kids with speech delay |
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Hi all. I have a son that is just over 3 years old. We are in the process of having his speach evaluated through our school system, but it just seems like everywhere I look there are roadblocks. They need so much information, then when I call I only get voicemail, those messages sit there and maybe I will hear from someone in 2 weeks or so, only to be told to fill out more paperwork...is this normal?
I have to say, my 3 year old is our first child. I looked at tons of books and stuff when he was a baby to be sure he was "on track" and was until he was at least 1 1/2...then I stopped looking at books so much and just took my cues from him. We moved and when we went to a new pediatrician for a check up he mentioned in passing to have his speach tested, he was behind, but I put it off. I have heard a million times from my mom that "your brother was a late talker and look at him (he's 26 now) we can't shut him up" and it was kinda a don't worry kind of thing. Now that I finally am concerned no one is moving fast enough for me! I guess that is just the way I am though :-) Anyway, I am hoping by posting this and reading other posts I can find some information that may be helpful for us. I have done tons of research online, but still haven't been able to find something that says "if your child is having speach problems DO THIS at home while you are waiting to get evaluated" or something that easy to follow.
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| Posted by Rhonda on 02/18/2008 03:18 PM
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Rhonda,
Good luck! It can be frustrating. Where we live our child gets services through the county, and once I talked to them they were pretty good with setting the stuff up. Our daughter has been receiving speech therapy once a week for about 7 months and she is really flourishing. One thing you could do to try to help your son out is make a picture board for him. It is really pretty easy to do. I would be glad to give you more information if you want. |
| posted by jennifer on 02/18/2008 03:27 PM
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| I am really torn about a picture board, but maybe it is my own ignorance. I mean, if I let him he will take me to what he is talking about and show me what he wants most of the time. However, I try to "make" him talk to me and tell me what he wants. The only thing is, I don't know if that is the "right" thing to do. Should I try to push him? Would a picture board be coddling him too much? It is very confusing to me especially since both my husband and I talk so much around the house. |
| posted by Rhonda on 02/18/2008 03:42 PM
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| The fact that I have a speech delayed daughter shocked me since I am known as never shutting up. That being said, we were afraid of the picture board too, as we thought that then she wouldn't talk because she could just use the pictures, but our speech therapist convinced us to try it and it worked well for us! Also, basic sign language is very helpful. You can either use the universal signs, or create some of your own. |
| posted by jennifer on 02/18/2008 03:46 PM
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That is exactly what I was thinking…he would use the pictures instead of talking. If you have information on how to do a good picture board I am definitely willing to try it out. You know, we started out using some signs when he was younger and when I started thinking he was behind in speaking we stopped with the signs. When he would use one of his signs we would tell him to “use your words.” Now he does the signs and uses the words too, which is very nice when I don’t understand what word he is trying to say, but if I see what sign he is doing I know what he is talking about. It would probably help us out if we introduced more signs and encouraged him to sign and speak at the same time so we would know a little more what he was saying.
You know, it is awful when you feel like the only one going through something. That is why I wanted to come on here and chat. I know others have been through this and it would be silly of me to not learn from their experiences…
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| posted by Rhonda on 02/18/2008 04:01 PM
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Rhonda,
You are not alone. Speech is the number one developmental delay. Go to this website.http://trainland.tripod.com/pecs.htm It looks like a bunch of mumbo jumbo, but go down the page to where you see the heading: these pages are mainly standard size pictures that are commonly used. What we did was to print out the pictures that we felt would be the most useful for our daughter. Then I cut them out and pasted them with rubber cement onto the posterboard and then cut them out again so that the posterboard made them stiff. Then on the remaining piece of posterboard we stuck little pieces of Velcro which you can buy on a roll. We put a piece on each picture and then the other piece on the posterboard. That way when Lauren wanted something she took the picture down and handed it to us. She wasn't allowed to have what she wanted until she gave us the picture per our speech therapist. There is probably an easier way to make them, but I couldn't think of one. Let me know if I wasn't clear or if you need anything else. |
| posted by jennifer on 02/18/2008 04:28 PM
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My son has a speech delay and He was in speech therapy for 9 months before he turned 3 and now that he is 3 he goes to preschool and they help him there. It was really hard getting stuff start. I just kept bugging them. I called everyday till I got a response. Make them stay on there toes.
We start our son on sign laugage and doing picture boards and the whole bit because that is what his therapist said. She said sometimes they may just take you the picture or just do sign lauages, but most of the time they are going to be proud that you understand what they are saying and that they are going to want to talk then. Show them LOTS of excitement when they do a say word! Also repetition is great. Repeat a word a lot they will pick it up. Make sure that you talk slower to them so they have time to relize how to say the word. When you are playing on the floor with them, repeat common words like when we played on the floor with our son and we were playing cars we would always reapt "cars go!" and eventually he picked what we were saying. Stuff like that is what we did. If you have anymore questions or don't understand something that I wrote let me know I will get back to you! If I think of anything more I will let you know!
One more thing. Try not to get fustrated when you don't understand what he is saying, because it just makes him more fustrated. I hope I have helped! |
| posted by Kelly on 02/19/2008 08:38 AM
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