Need advise about Emma

[Anonymous]

I am always the one to say that kids will do things when they are ready, especially talking, and here I am stressing that Emma may have a speech/hearing problem. I took her to her ped this morning (Finally got her 18 month checkup at almost 20 months) and told him that I was a little concerned and now we have an appt for a hearing test and speech evaluation at the same hospital that her GI doc is at, Childrens Mercy, the day before Thanksgiving. I don’t want to jump the gun but I had a similar problem when I was younger. I could hear but couldn’t speak correctly and I finally got tubes at 5 years old after they thought I had a learning disability when I just couldn’t hear right. Emma listens great, she pays attention and she really wants to talk. I can sit down with a book or a toy and she will practice as long as I sit with her, she is pretty patient for a toddler. She can only say one word, baby. Any word you ask her to say she will try to say it and can’t, sometimes she will say the first letter and other times she will say something that sounds nothing like the word at all. If she wasn’t talking at all I would just say she was being stubborn and one day she will talk. Its just she tries so hard and can’t do it that is my main concern. My mom said it reminds her so much of my problem but the main difference is I had ear infections all the time and Emma doesn’t. She has had one infection and one time she had fluid build up. That’s what I don’t get. What do you guys think???????????????? Thanks

[Anonymous]

Brandy, I really don’t know much at all about hearing or speech problems so I can’t really give an educated opinion….I’ve known kids who didn’t talk until they were 2 1/2 and they were fine, but it’s certainly a good idea to have her evaluated, especially since there are similarities to your own childhood hearing problems.

It’s seems like there’s always something else to worry about, doesn’t it? I will be thinking of you and hope you give us an update after her tests. She sounds like such a sweet little girl.

[Anonymous]

Hi Brandy! How’s it going???

Being Henry’s the same age, I thought I’d chime in.

I’m going to throw the question back to you… what do you think? In your heart, do you think she’s got a problem? Is there time to wait to see what happens or is it better for her to be tested now?

I know nothing about all this either. I’m just throwing out thoughts.

Something I can tell you is that Henry doesn’t say words well at all. Thank you to him is “GA”. I just figured that out yesterday. Sounds nothing like thank you, but that’s what he’s trying to say. I have friends that talk about their kids saying all kinds of things and phrases. Kids around Henry’s age. I just think they learn at their own pace. Then I wonder if I should be working with him more. Then it turns into this whole guilt thing. All and all though, I don’t even think about it. The only time I do is when I compare him to other kids. He’s learning and listening. I can tell. And he jabbers incesently. Does Emma jabber at all? A lot? If she’s jabbering, then she’s practicing.

I just wanted to say that Henry doesn’t say clear words at all yet and I’m not worried I know he’s going to come along when he’s ready. With that being said, I didn’t have speach issues as a kid. That’s why I asked you what you truely thought.

A lot of kids I’ve seen don’t talk much until after 2 and when they start, it’s in complete sentences. They’ve listened and learned all along.

You are being a caring and nurturing mommy

Keep us posted on what you decide.

[Anonymous]

I know how you feel. I got an appointment for a hearing test for Hailey at the end of November for similar reasons. She does talk, but it’s all garbled. Yesterday she kept saying “ma chis” over and over and I had no idea what she was talking about. Finally she pointed to her plate and said “chis” and I realized that she had actually eaten the 5 tiny blocks of cheese that were on her plate and she wanted more. Sounded NOTHING like more cheese, but a good attempt I guess. I really always think it’s a good idea to get hearing tested if you suspect a potential issue. It’s so non-invasive and best to flush out the issues early. As for speech evaluation that’s a personal opinion because she’s so young, but if anything, maybe they can give you some tips to help facilitate speech since you’re worried. The think is that with our refluxers we already have so much to worry about, so I say to try not to worry unless you have to. Good luck and keep us posted.

[Anonymous]

I also know how you feel! When I took my oldest son in for his 18mth checkup the ped said by the time he is 2 you should see an explosion in his vocabulary. We went to his 2 year check up and he had only said one word. The ped was very concerned which upset me and scared me because I just figured he would talk when he was ready. I knew he didn’t have a problem because he had pretty much been potty trained before 18mths so he understood what you were saying and doing. Then @ 26mths he started talking non stop.

We still had him evaluated around the same time he started talking. I’m not so sure about the evaluation because you are putting your child with a strange person and they are suppose to act like everything is normal to them. There were things the patholigist asked that my son knew but did not answer because he was in an awkard situation. This all reflects the results. I think it was too early to put him through this. However, they do give me some helpful handouts & information.

He just turned 3 & he is still a little behind but is doing well. He talks non stop but some of his words are not clear. At 2 yrs. I enrolled him in a Library play group which has helped being around other children. From his first evaluation he has only a “minor delay” & “with help from his parents” he should be ok.They want him evaluated again shortly but I still think he is to young to go to therapy.

It is a very difficult decision to make but only you know how your child is and acts. Good Luck.

K&T’s Mom2006-10-27 13:27:42

[Anonymous]

Dylan didn’t have one word of receptive or expressive language at two years old. Didn’t know I was mommy, didn’t respond to his name, nothing. I was very terrified and because he had meningitis as a baby, we were already going for hearing tests every 6 months. None of them were accurate because it is very difficult to test the hearing of an active toddler, but we did do the brain stem test (not sure if there is an actual name for it) while he was under anesthesia for the tubes and adenoid removal. If someone told me when he was 2 that in a year he would be putting sentences together, I would never have believed it. They quickly wanted to call him autistic, etc… We knew he was delayed severely and that was enough of a label for me. We did, however, had the speech therapy a couple of times a week, but I am not sure it helped much. We have, finally, at age 3.5 found the most amazing speech therapist that works for Dylan. We started seeing her since August, and the other day Dylan got in the car and said “We can roll down the windows ’cause it’s sunny out”. I think the most important part was that we just kept talking to him about everything and made sure he was bombarded with language and kept up therapy and he is doing great! He did get the tubes at 19 months and I have to say I think that was a big piece of the puzzle for him. He probably had standing fluid most of the time, but even if it came and went, who knows what he heard for almost the first two years of his life.

Carter clearly failed the hearing test twice, so we did the tubes. Once we drained the obstruction, he passed the brain stem test while under anesthesia as well after the tubes were placed. He would have been in the same boat as Dylan had we not done them so early.

I think I would take her for the hearing test and if they recommend speech therapy, take it, but keep in mind she is so young and these kids really do take off like a rocket when they are ready. If they are suggesting tubes, I wouldn’t hesitate to do that either.

Hang in there! I remember being so worried when we didn’t know about the hearing.

monty1232006-10-27 11:55:35

[Anonymous]

Thank you all for responding!! I always appreciate what you have to say.

Christine ~ She is a very sweet girl. I am truly blessed. No matter what happens with her she always has a smile on her face!!

Lori ~ I hear you on the worrying. I definitely could use less of that! Good luck with Hailey’s hearing test

Hi Amy ~ I hope everything is getting better with you guys. Has Henry been doing better since you put him back on the Periactin?? Well I didn’t even start to consider a hearing/speech issue until a couple of weeks ago. She does jabber A LOT. Its really funny to watch her cause she will start jabbering and then start laughing at herself, it just brings me to tears cause I get laughing so hard. I am not confident that she has an issue. I just get thinking about what I dealt with and reading all the stories on this site and I don’t want to kick myself if I don’t get her tested and later we find she does have a problem and then she is delayed. I really thought it would take me longer to get the appt so that would buy more time but I will feel so much better knowing that I did everything I could at this point and if I have to have her retested later then I will. Thank you for letting me know how Henry is doing with his speech that is definitely reassuring. I hear you on them saying Thank you, Emma’s version is “Ta” and she shakes her head at the same time. A friend of mine has a daughter that is 2 weeks older than Emma and she can say phrases like “pick me up” & “go outside.” Its crazy but I try and stay focused on Emma instead of what other kids are doing even though its hard. Emma is such a fast learner so I hope she is just fine and like you say, saying sentences before I know it!!!!!!!

K&T’s mom ~ I am trying to find something that Emma can do like your Library play group. My mom watches Emma and she is the only child and she doesn’t get to correspond with other kids as much as she should so I think that is a great idea. Hopefully I can find one.

Ann Marie ~ Thanks for the advice. I believe so much in tubes, so if they ever say she needs them, then I’m going for it.

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