DD2 gets a visit from the speech path

[litebright]

I'm not overly worried, it's more of a *sigh* situation and wondering how much is picked up from DD1's speech quirks and/or maybe being a bit of an autistic cousin. 

DD2's first preschool conference was yesterday (first because we switched her partway through the year) and although she is doing fantastic in pretty much every way, her teacher did mention a speech glitch that she wants the school SLP to come and observe. I've noticed it at home, too, it's kind of a stammer where she gets stuck in a phrase and it can take as long as 5-7 seconds for her to get out of it and finish her thought. 

DD1 does it, too, which makes me think it may be learned. Or it could be a processing thing. At any rate, I love the SLP and she's going to observe DD2 to see if it's something that needs to be addressed. I know she already pulls DD2 in as a typical peer sometimes for work with other kids, so I would bet that even if it doesn't warrant speech minutes that she'll do some in-class nudging on it. 

Another social quirk -- DD2 hasn't latched on to any little friend in particular, which apparently is something of note in terms of development. She plays well with everyone but isn't particularly attached to anyone, which on one hand is a great positive (she certainly knows how to join a group, share, express herself, etc. in ways that are far more fluid than DD1) but not necessarily the norm. Again, I'm not worried but I'm definitely hyper-aware of anything related to social skills. 

I'm so glad we switched schools, though. Her private preschool teachers did not have this level of developmental awareness, much less anyone on staff who could drop in to take a listen. 

[kkfeb04]

It was a hard pill to swallow when I learned that my daughter needed speech for the same things that my son gets speech for. I don't know how much she is mimicking him or if it is truly "her" issue. She's doing well with speech but it was highly recommended that she also get tested for Autism since she's a sibling and because of her speech delay and sensory issues. It put me in a funk for a good 2 months that I'm finally getting out of but I'm sure when her appointment rolls around, I will go right back in it until we get her diagnosis (or no diagnosis).

Hugs.

[hopecounts]

((hugs)) one step at a time. It may be nothing more then her 'learning' from big sister and a little ST and direction will fix it, and if it is then you'll deal with it when you know.

[Deleted]

Oh man. It is so hard to tease out what is learned behavior from the older sibling. I can relate. Glad you like the school and the SLP, what a difference that makes.

[auntie]

litebright
How did the visit go?

[litebright]

Jun 18, 2014 7:50:16 GMT -5 auntie said:

litebright
How did the visit go?

I talked with the SLP before the end of the school year, and we agreed to have the observation in the fall once preschool starts up again. She wanted to give DD2 the summer to see if the stutter/glitch improves on its own, and I have ways to contact her if anything really starts bothering me. 

I'm fine with a pretty relaxed timeline. This SLP has been absolutely awesome, I was sad to lose her as part of the team when DD1 went on to kindy and I still ask her advice from time to time. (They're in the same building, but the pre-school services, admin, etc. is completely separate from the grade school ones.) 

The stammer is still pretty apparent and I've definitely noticed the speech pattern with both girls. I almost wonder if they're kind of feeding off each other at times. In some ways they are such little clones of each other -- looks, mostly compatible play with each other, etc., but DD2 has a few layers of extra "with it", responsiveness and things like the ability to naturally join other kids in play that keep me from worrying all that much that she's anything but NT. And DD2 tries SO hard to be like her big sister, whom she adores. I think this may largely be absorbed from DD1, but heck, I don't know.