Speech Therapy or 18 month old?

[jamieism]

We had dd2 evaluated at 24 months or so with very few words. Turned out she was just a stinker. She was talking up a storm shortly after. That said, she did turn out to have dyslexia down the road.

[burnsis]

I wouldn't worry unless he is having other issues in addition. neither of my boys said much until after two.

[Farmer's Wife]

My son is 17 mths and has no words but makes a barking sound for dog. I believe he understands everything we say, since he follows directions. I'm not worried at all because every kid is different and develops at different times. I wish he would communicate a little more so we could know what he wants and what hurts when he cries, etc.

[luvsviola]

First Steps is awesome and may notice some things you haven't noticed. DD1 and DS were both in the program, and at the evaluations, the therapists noticed things I hadn't. DD1 was eventually diagnoses with a sensory processing disorder, and DS has all kinds of issues.

My thoughts are this...any adult in my child's life who is giving kiddo 100% of their attention 1 on 1 is a great thing. So I loved having therapists here. DD had OT and PT, and DS had OT, PT, and speech. Now he attends Developmental Preschool.

[ajane]

Ds was similar to yours, but he only had 3 understandable words. In OH we have Help Me Grow and he was accepted into that for only expressive. Everything else he soared in. He had weekly meetings and she gave us some good things to do to work with him. He will be 3 next month and started services 5 months ago. He now has a lot more understandable words and has just started putting 2 words together somewhat regularly. He has made a lot of progess with them.

Through them, he was interviewed and tested for our local school system preschool program. He was accepted and has an IEP in place for next school year. Dh and I wanted to keep him in his private preschool and get additional help from the school system, but they strongly recommend him be in the school so they can have speech pathologists in the classroom with him working on him.

I would have him tested. It can't hurt. I wasn't too worried about ds either, but I'm glad I did it. I would hate to have him struggle in school b/c I thought he would be fine.

[MamaNae]

Iowa only requires a 20% delay (80%) DS was like 78% LOL...we did bi-weekly and he did fantastic. I love AEA...

[s@hmommy]

I thought I would update. DS has his evaluation and they did decide he is speech delayed but not enough so to qualify for their services. The lady we spoke with was very nice and said if we don't see significant change in 2 months to contact them again, because the earlier they are treated normally the better the outcome. It has been about a month now and he has no new words, nor does he attempt any new ones. I just hope he starts try more soon!

[jen_batten]

I would still try not to worry too much yet. It is on the later side of things, but some of these kids just explode once they get going. If he doesn't have any other issues try to just enjoy right now...pretty soon he'll be talking up a storm. First steps is awesome though. My DD is about to age out, and I'm really sad about it.

[pcjs]

Originally Posted by jen_batten I would still try not to worry too much yet. It is on the later side of things, but some of these kids just explode once they get going. If he doesn't have any other issues try to just enjoy right now...pretty soon he'll be talking up a storm. First steps is awesome though. My DD is about to age out, and I'm really sad about it.

This is true. Everyone here and elsewhere keeps telling me this and its now happening. And, now its a pain as he wants to go outside at 8 PM and lots of other stuff... its pretty funny. They talk if everything else is normal when they are ready. We were doing speech therapy but even once a week (most only do 1/2 hour for little ones) I found it pretty worthless. So, we are going to take a break. Just keep trying. At three, we found a special speech preschool that I like more for the curriculum over the speech therapy but we are going to try that instead.

[misskira]

One thing you can do now to encourage speech all the time is pivotal response training. That's the fancy way of saying withholding what he wants until he makes an effort at speech. Exactly like when you make a kid say please before giving them what they want, just expanded. If he wont talk now, you start by giving what he wants when he attempts to make a sound. Then move on to making him get a sound of the word right. Then an approximation of the word. Then the actual word. Then a phrase. or you can do the same with sign.

Example if he wants milk:

Grunt
M sound
Attempt at milk
Milk
Want milk
Want milk please
I want milk please

It's really effective when playing. You can put him in the swing and hold him up and say swing! And let him go. Catch him, hold it, and say swing and wait until he tries to make a sund, then reinforce the sound by letting go. Repeat as long as it is fun. Or you can do a pull back and release car. Or tossing a ball. Or cover a button on a toy he likes. Or wait to turn the page a book. When you're doing it through play, you only do it as long as is fun, the switch to a new toy or play that he likes. It works well with a model too, so do the same with big brother or sister or a friend when he can see the process. Or with dad. This is the single most effective way we encourage and require attempts at communication for kids in my classroom.

You can google the fancy term "pivotal response training" for more info. If we are working on getting specific sounds or correct pronunciation it's the same process, just require the clear sound you want before giving the reward.

Good luck! Sounds like its a waiting game for your little one.