Later Talkers?

[dana86]

Anyone else have a late talker? I am not zoo worried but a little worried and kind of frustrated. J is going to be two in a couple weeks and still doesn't really talk. She will say maybe 5 words but not very often, every other word she tries to say usually ends up with a 'b' sound added in. Like 'up' is 'bup'.  

She doesn't have a problem understand things, we can tell her to do anything or whichever and she understands or will do it as much as any other kid her age. She is just starting to show signs of frustration when we don't understand what she wants or we try and make her say the word of what she wants but she can't.  Her dr said that if by this point she still wasn't talking at her 2 year well child we would discuss stepping in and seeing about speech therapy. I really don't want to do this but we have tried everything with working with her and its not helping. She has always been one to do everything on her own terms and when we try to help it makes her step back a little because she wants to do it on her own, so I don't know. Any words of encouragement? Or similar stories? 

[mrslefty]

I know getting her evaluated seems scary but if she needs services the earlier you get her in the better!

Apparently I didn't talk until I was almost 2 and look at me now

[dana86]

Dec 8, 2015 21:59:21 GMT -5 mrslefty said:

I know getting her evaluated seems scary but if she needs services the earlier you get her in the better!

Apparently I didn't talk until I was almost 2 and look at me now

This is what I have heard as well as some programs end at 3yrs so the sooner she can get in if she needs it the better for those as well. We think she is just being stubborn and wanting to do it in her own time so she has full control like she did with everything else. But then sometimes how she acts makes me feel like she just can't quite get how to make the sounds she needs and that it is more than her stubbornness. 

Her 2yr well child is the first of the year but not with her regular dr so we will see how it goes.  

[karebear219]

One of my old employees had this with her son. He did speech therapy and it helped a ton. Have you tried doing sign language? That might help with the frustration piece.

[alias]

We were worried that our cousins daughter was slow are had speech issues because she didn't talk much. Her dr recommended speech therapy, but I don't think her parents did it. She eventually started talking fine.

But, if it were my child I'd get services, especially if that's what the Dr. recommends. Why is it scary? It's not like she has any idea what's giung on. And, if there is something wrong, better to address it sober than later..

[picksthemusic]

I agree, getting her at least evaluated will alleviate a lot of the worry - either she'll be deemed as progressing normally, or you'll have a plan.

That being said, do you have concerns about her hearing?

I also agree with karebear219 about sign language. It's been tremendously helpful for us with M and B. B has picked it up pretty well, and will communicate fairly easily what he wants/needs.

[dana86]

karebear219 I have been doing some sign language with her and its has helped a little bit. I'm going to have to go find my study book from high school to refresh on some more signs though since she isn't wanting to say the words

alias we will definitely get her the help if thats what they recommend, I have no issues with that. I think maybe for some parents its just hard and taken in as theres something "wrong" with their kid and they don't want to accept it maybe?

picksthemusic We thankfully have no concerns with her hearing. She is able to do whatever we ask and understands things when we talk to her without issue. I believe her good hearing and understanding is the only reason her dr has tried waiting this long to see if she would just pick it up on her own since she is stubborn about doing things on her own and her own time. I think thats my only real concern is if we do try getting her help that she will shun from it since she likes doing things on her own and not when prompted or pushed to. But I don't know how speech therapy works so maybe she will take to it better than i think, if thats what we end up having to do.

[alias]

I get that. *hugs*

[picksthemusic]

Dec 9, 2015 15:05:51 GMT -5 dana86 said:

karebear219 I have been doing some sign language with her and its has helped a little bit. I'm going to have to go find my study book from high school to refresh on some more signs though since she isn't wanting to say the words

alias we will definitely get her the help if thats what they recommend, I have no issues with that. I think maybe for some parents its just hard and taken in as theres something "wrong" with their kid and they don't want to accept it maybe?

picksthemusic We thankfully have no concerns with her hearing. She is able to do whatever we ask and understands things when we talk to her without issue. I believe her good hearing and understanding is the only reason her dr has tried waiting this long to see if she would just pick it up on her own since she is stubborn about doing things on her own and her own time. I think thats my only real concern is if we do try getting her help that she will shun from it since she likes doing things on her own and not when prompted or pushed to. But I don't know how speech therapy works so maybe she will take to it better than i think, if thats what we end up having to do.

From what I know (and remember - I had speech therapy when I was little for a lisp and tongue thrust), it's basically like they're playing in a controlled environment. The older they are the easier it is, but when they're little, it's mostly about play and getting them comfortable talking and getting the confidence to speak better.

[megkat]

I don't even go here, but this post showed up on the app and I wanted to throw my experience in. My DD is 19 months old and barely talks. She has maybe 8 "words", two of which are actually understandable to people who don't know her. We had her evaluated by Early Intervention at the end of the summer- they said she had a "significant" communication delay and recommend speech therapy, which we started in September

Speech has been wonderful for her. It's very much play based, and naturalistic- she normally ends up eating her lunch for part of her session and the SLP does stuff with her while she's eating. It's definitely not "sit here and do exactly what I say", my DD definitely drives how the sessions go. She's picked up so much in the short time she's been doing it, and she is SO MUCH more communicative than she was before

Honestly, I think she would have caught up on her own eventually, but I don't regret getting her services at all

[dana86]

Thanks megkat that is actually helpful i'm glad you stopped by

Thanks ladies for your help and comfort on this. I"m not worried but I have found myself codling her more. I just feel bad that if it does turn into something besides her just being a late talker that its a poor her situation. She already has vitiligo and then this and while both are completely harmless at the moment and don't affect her in anyway besides frustration every now and then. I'm just all momma bear over her 'my baby, my baby'! lol

[jennlin]

hey dana86, sorry i'm late on this. how is she doing now? i have a lot of friends who have gone through speech therapy or other types of early intervention with their kids with really good results.

[dana86]

Dec 23, 2015 9:54:42 GMT -5 jennlin said:

hey dana86 , sorry i'm late on this. how is she doing now? i have a lot of friends who have gone through speech therapy or other types of early intervention with their kids with really good results.

She is still about the same. She has started trying to say a few more words when referring to things but the sounds and such are still off. So we will see. Her well child appointment is the first of the year, so thats when we will get recs for getting her evaluated if thats what the Dr decides, but i'm pretty sure they will go that route. 

Im just feeling like this is going to put her real behind in learning things as well but we will see. She still asks us to tell her what everything is and repeat words over and over and she looks like she soaks all the info up but just won't repeat it. Or at least thats what I'm hoping.

[jennlin]

Dec 23, 2015 12:25:07 GMT -5 dana86 said:

Dec 23, 2015 9:54:42 GMT -5 jennlin said:

hey dana86 , sorry i'm late on this. how is she doing now? i have a lot of friends who have gone through speech therapy or other types of early intervention with their kids with really good results.

She is still about the same. She has started trying to say a few more words when referring to things but the sounds and such are still off. So we will see. Her well child appointment is the first of the year, so thats when we will get recs for getting her evaluated if thats what the Dr decides, but i'm pretty sure they will go that route. 

Im just feeling like this is going to put her real behind in learning things as well but we will see. She still asks us to tell her what everything is and repeat words over and over and she looks like she soaks all the info up but just won't repeat it. Or at least thats what I'm hoping.

oh, i also had noticed while i was reading above that you were going to dig out an ASL book for sign language.. try googling/youtubing baby sign language. it will focus on the words that are important to kids, and sometimes a little simpler/easier to remember as well.

[dana86]

Just a small follow up. We were referred to get her evaluated over at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma. So I will set up the appointment and go to see what they say. At her well child apt today the Dr said it doesn't seem like any underlying issues it could just be a mix of her being shy, and having an older sister who does enough talk for all the kids that she doesn't feel the need to. Especially since she is able to understand and do things as she is asked. So on to the assessment and we will see if they can give us techniques on how to help work with her better.

[ilovebed]

Jan 4, 2016 17:14:52 GMT -5 dana86 said:

Just a small follow up. We were referred to get her evaluated over at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma. So I will set up the appointment and go to see what they say. At her well child apt today the Dr said it doesn't seem like any underlying issues it could just be a mix of her being shy, and having an older sister who does enough talk for all the kids that she doesn't feel the need to. Especially since she is able to understand and do things as she is asked. So on to the assessment and we will see if they can give us techniques on how to help work with her better.

My H was a late talker and everyone in his family suspects it was bc of the same reasons. He's an introvert plus his older sister was his agent for everything

[picksthemusic]

Thanks for the follow up! I was curious.

And, for those of you who want to practice ASL/sign with their kids, you can Netflix Signing Time. It's a great tool for kiddos (they see other kids signing and there's songs to help with remembering). It's a bit annoying but it's really good with helping remember signs.

[dana86]

Jan 12, 2016 11:57:58 GMT -5 picksthemusic said:

Thanks for the follow up! I was curious.

And, for those of you who want to practice ASL/sign with their kids, you can Netflix Signing Time. It's a great tool for kiddos (they see other kids signing and there's songs to help with remembering). It's a bit annoying but it's really good with helping remember signs.

I wish I had netflix! I am trying to convince H but we just haven't done it yet. Luckily I took ASL in high school and still remember some of it and have a book from it. Its fun to see that as I teach J new signs that M still remembers some from when we taught her.

But good news assessment is this week so I will hopefully have another good update by Friday  

[picksthemusic]

Jan 12, 2016 12:31:24 GMT -5 dana86 said:

Jan 12, 2016 11:57:58 GMT -5 picksthemusic said:

Thanks for the follow up! I was curious.

And, for those of you who want to practice ASL/sign with their kids, you can Netflix Signing Time. It's a great tool for kiddos (they see other kids signing and there's songs to help with remembering). It's a bit annoying but it's really good with helping remember signs.

I wish I had netflix! I am trying to convince H but we just haven't done it yet. Luckily I took ASL in high school and still remember some of it and have a book from it. Its fun to see that as I teach J new signs that M still remembers some from when we taught her.

But good news assessment is this week so I will hopefully have another good update by Friday  

Looking forward to it!

[dana86]

So we had her eval today and I think it went pretty well. All the things we were worried of because of her personality were not issues which was great as I think they got a pretty good representation of how she is which is what they wanted. The people were so nice and did not care that I had all three kids which was nice. It does look like she is going to recommend that we start speech therapy and will include parent learning during those sessions so we/I can learn how to work with her at home and have the teaching consistency. Which is great and thats what I was hoping for. I was also recommended to get a referral to have a hearing test done just so they have all the info they could need at the start of this, so I have to check into getting that done.

M got a bit jealous as she wasn't getting the attention, and she informed me as we left that she 'just didn't have a good time.' So i'm going to have to figure out a way to keep her occupied a little better so she doesn't interrupt the future sessions even though the lady was great about letting her play as well and not minding that M wanted to go through every inch of her desk and be nosey.

[karebear219]

So glad it went well.