Speech delay…

[Anonymous]

So, as some of you may know, Matthew has several delays (gross motor and feeding) and during the eval and the interview they were also worried about the communication/speech delay. We decided that he was going to get too much therapy at once (5x a week) and we wanted to delay any speech therapy for now, although EI are really pushing for us to start it. They gave us a lits of things that Matthew shoudl be able to do that he is not doing (I wish those hackers would not have deleted the posts…) but things have REALLY changed. I mean we have a totally different baby and i have no idea if it is medically related or not, because he has not thrown up in 4 weeks and that is just amazing, given that tube feeds are tough on their tummies and he is moving around like crazy…. but seems like he is feeling a lot better and all of the sudden he has really taken off… (he waves when asked, he claps his hands when you sing the clapping song, he opens and closes his hands when you sign the song about that, he points to his ears, nose and head when you ask him to, he lifts his feet when you ask him to, and he picks up about 6-8 things from books (ie if you ask him where flower is, or the car, or the tree, or the light). This has all happened in the past 3 weeks and we are just amazed… he is also imitating a lot… so we are feeling great about him understnading and trying to communicate BUT he still has nothing that sounds like mama or dada, so we are worried. He tries to make sounds but all that comes out is things like TE (when he wants paci) or kua (when he sees a duck)… so wanted to ask for your opinons here:

– do you know babies who understood well and just did not do those sounds and yet spoke at normal age?? (i know that i cna ask therapists but i want real life experience)

– has anybody dealt with this? I know nothing about therapy and speech but it would seem to me that if he understands well then he may just have some difficulty making sounds, which may be helped by the feeding therapy anyway, given that it is the same muscles??

Sorry but our coordinator is really pushing and we don´t know what to do given that he is making so much progress in his own…. we are even thinking of getting rid of OT and just concentrating on PT and feeding but they are pushing for therapy for something else…

[Anonymous]

Well, first, Congratulations on the progress!! That is usually what happens and when they turn the corner, they take off and there is no stopping them.

Personally, if the therapy is done right, it is not always too much on them. For example, Dylan was receiving 11.5 hours of therapy a week, until he turned 3 and moved on to the preschool and when we got to this level of service (not sure if coincidence or not) he really made amazing strides.

Our therapies, were not consisting of Dylan sitting with someone for the entire hour. They followed his lead. For example, if he went to pick up a red ball, the speech therapist would follow him and play with him and taylor her therapy to his cues. He mostly felt like these were playdates, not therapy.

Some of the feeding might be different, but the gross and fine motor, and the speech should be at his cues. (not always, but for the most part)

Because Dylan was so delayed, everything we read said that the earlier you intervene, the better the outcomes, and we have seen that with him.

The amount of therapy was tougher on us and our schedules than it ever was on Dylan. It was the best thing we could have done for him.

So personally, I would let them do it, and if it becomes too much, let them scale back, but your therapists should be working together as a team, not as individuals. They should be building upon one another and your feeding person and speech person should be working closely together to achieve a lot of the same goals (oral motor therapy, etc…)

Not sure if this helps, but if it were me, take everything they are offering.

[Anonymous]

WOW! Congratualtions on the progress Matthew is making.

The same thing happened with Myles. He finally quit throwing up and within weeks he went from not being able to do anything on the floor but sit, to crawling and pulling to stand in only a couple of weeks. It was amazing! After six weeks of no throwing up I stopped Myles’ meds and he’s been fine. Hooray! Hopefully Matthew is outgrowing his reflux, too. We probably have no idea how uncomfortable these poor babies are, even medicated. They seem to just take off when the reflux is finally gone. I hope Matthew’s progress continues and his reflus is gone for good.

I don’t really have much advice about the speech thing because I am definitely not an expert, but I have known babies who understood tons of words but didn’t speak until 2 or even later. I’d probably do the therapy if I was in your position because “the earlier the better” and because I’d assume these therapists are professionals and they must be seeing something that warrants the need for speech therapy.

Does he make any babbling sounds at all?

[Anonymous]

Thanks Anne Marie – i guess i am a little worried because i have no idea what it is going to be like…but seems like you had it working and it is the right thing to do. i guess i am also a bit scared because he is doing so so well all of the sudden, i don´t want to change that… we are so happy with his progress, which as you said, has been so sudden and there is no stopping!

Thanks Christine – i guess you are right about them not feeling great?I mean Matthew has been happy for a while but the not-throwing up has been a major event around here. We are now ablt to do floor time, with him on his back or his side for about 2 hours a day! No therapy, just playing and it is great… Oh he does make sounds and laughs and giggles and makes all vowels and the intonation is like a real conversation now. Just no sounds that we should have heard a while back but i really really suspect it is the muscles in his mouth, that they have not developed properly, like most of his upper body.

I guess we should then go ahead and book the therapy. I guess you are right and if done correctly, it should help. I just cannot imagine having 7sessions of therapy a week…

[Anonymous]

Thais – WOW! Such wonderful news! Matthew’s really doing so well-you must be thrilled. I think whether you realize it or not, he’s doing better because of everything you’ve been doing for him.

We had our meeting for EI a couple of weeks ago. They recommended ST, OT, and FT. All mostly related to fine motor skills. Ian at the time was not doing any babbling at all. Just vowels, raspberries, and squealing – and not often. Well now he’s turned a corner-he just one day popped out a bunch of mammamma, bbababba, ggaaa, laalaa, etcs! It was thrilling and wIthin a week, he started calling me MOMee-too cute. He’s also walking on his own for a good long bit. The reason I’m telling you this is that it literally came out of nowhere and it will for Matthew too. We told EI and they still want to keep in line with the recommendations until we officially start therapy and then they’ll decide what to take away (but you have that option too-so I would say go for it-you can always decide to pull out). One more note-I really credit Ian’s brief evaluation with the ST for helping him talk-she recommended all those great teething toys and he’s not afraid of his mouth anymore (although I think our babies are different there, right?).

Hang in there! Sounds like everything is turning around. Very happy for you.

[Anonymous]

Thais, I’m so glad to hear how well Matthew is doing! That’s amazing news!!! I’m so impressed that he can point to so many things in books and knows so many body parts… that’s really advanced for his age. (I think an 18 month skill, if I remember right). So it sounds like his comprehension is certainly there…

As for the therapy, I personally think it’s easier to take therapy away if it’s not needed then to add it later on. If they’re willing to give it, then I’d probably go for it. Though I agree that it does sound like a lot, maybe you can just get the assessment, and see what the therapist thinks. She might feel that for the most part he’s on track, or she may be able to recommend a few things or tweek a few things that put things where they should be. Also, he might not need ST every week. Maybe she can make recommendations for some strategies that you guys can do at home to facilitate speech and age appropriate speech sounds, and only make actual visits with Matthew once or twice a month. If it becomes too much with all the other therapies, then you can discuss your concerns, and you can always back off a bit.

Good luck. I’m so happy for you guys! YIPEE Matthew!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Wow – Matthew is doing great!!! Maybe he’s really happy to be back in Spain

and it’s helping him feel better too?

I agree with everyone – it does seem like a lot of therapy but I guess I’d go

for it and you can always cancel or cut back some, right?

[Anonymous]

Thanks Tracy – glad to hear that Ian is doing so well!! Sounds like he also took a turn for the best… i guess i did not realise that all of the sudden they leap forward and they achieve certain things. Glad to hear that he is picking up on language and glad to hear that EI worked out. How many sessions are you going ot have a week?

Lori – well i have no idea what got into him with learning all this stuff. I also think that when we were focusing on his PT or OT skills he was not too happy and once we let him be he started talking and playing and understanding?? Who knows

Karen – yes, no doubt the baby loves being in Spain… he is out all day and there are so many people around he is just SPOILT ROTTEN!

OK – i think that you have all made good points… we will have him reassed because they want to do bilingual anyway and see what they propose

[Anonymous]

he does not sound like he is delayed—-he is only just barely over a year old. sometimes i thing therapists can see a problem in ANYTHING if they look for it, just like a surgeon sees surgery as the best way to fix medical problems. i think if you look for too many problems that may or may not exist, a child can start to become convinced that anything they do,(or don’t do) that is not exactly the “norm” means that they have problems. he is pretty young—–give him some time.

[Anonymous]

Christine

I hear you – there is a lot of pressure for therapy. Don´t take me wrong – he needs the PT and the Feeding. He is not able to sit up or stand up (transitioning) and he is very delayed and he si not able to move food properly around his mouth. But speech is so different from child to child, which is why i have been doubting… i spoke to the OT who will be doing feeding and he said we can work on some speech exercises and he says to give him until he is 15months old, ie 3 months nad make a decision then.

[Anonymous]

Hi Thais,
Sorry -this is a little off the speech subject – but I was just wondering, have you tried a “Bumbo” chair with Matthew? In case you don’t know, it’s a little chair that babies can sit in that gives them quite a bit of support so they can sit up. It helps strengthen their back, and neck muscles. Our OT lent us one for Bryce (he can’t sit up either) and it has really helped him have more strength and he can hold himself upright much better (he’s still working on the actual sitting unsupported). We just put him in it a couple times a day for 15-20 min. or as long as he tolerates it. Anyway, just an idea, if you haven’t tried it already.

Good luck with your therapy decision. Like others have said, I’ve known many babies who don’t say a word until their two. But – where he’s had other development problems, I don’t think the therapy would hurt if you can fit it in without getting overwhelmed!

[Anonymous]

Hi Heather

Good to hear from you! Hope Bryce is doing a little better. Did you get my email?? Sometimes i have issues with email. OTherwise email me at thaisanddave @hotmail.com again (without spaces).

On the PT side – glad that you are doing the bumbo. Matthew never liked it when he was younger and he used to manage to fall to the side! We could not put him in there. Just to let you know what we are going to be doing in PT…. we never really did much tummy time with Matthew because he hated it and he woudl throw up etc. As a result, our little man walks but is unable to go from lying to sitting or from sitting to standing etc so he is so frustrated (and he is pretty unsecure when he walks on his own, i think because he knows that if he falls, that is it). His upper body is really weak (mainly around arms and rib cage i understand) so we are going to be working on those. As for sitting and reaching he does those OK. I can let you know which exercises we are dong when because i am going ot be doing a diary kind of thing to see if it can help others (will be funny because my english is terrible when i try to explain positions etc!!).

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