Speech troubles

[lauranicole91]

I'm so sad. When we started speech (at the same facility we took Peyton years ago) Logan got put with a different SLP than Pey because Peyton's old one is mainly feeding therapy and didn't have any openings at the time.
The lady he was placed with is very odd. She's very shy, reserved, and quiet herself which seems odd for this profession. She also was horrible with signing along with talking. Which was all Logan was doing when we first started.
Then a few sessions in she got an intern. Right away we could tell she was a better fit. Logan LOVED her. So she took over his sessions almost entirely, the original SLP would just sit in and watch, but not really do any interacting.
Logan's speech exploded. He was doing so much better. Still nothing spontaneous, but he would repeat when prompted by the intern and played very well with her. She also helped him overcome a lot of his whispering. Things were going so well we were considering asking if they felt he was good enough to be released.
But then the intern announced her internship was over. We were devastated. But we weren't sure exactly if his progress was all due to the intern or if he had just been going long enough that he warmed up and was just really doing great.
Well, today was the first day without the intern. Guys, he wouldn't talk. He said one word, in a whisper, and two signs.
I don't know what to do now. The intern is technically an Occupational therapist, but was just learning all areas. On her last day she said she still didn't have a job in place, so I can't even attempt to follow her elsewhere.
I am so heartbroken. 😩

[imimahoney]

Ugh, I'm sorry. Can you request a new therapist to see if a different one can help?

Would the intern be interested in private sessions with Logan? Not sure how much that would cost but if she doesn't have a job yet maybe she needs the extra money?

[lauranicole91]

Aug 3, 2017 11:33:02 GMT -5 imimahoney said:

Ugh, I'm sorry. Can you request a new therapist to see if a different one can help?

Would the intern be interested in private sessions with Logan? Not sure how much that would cost but if she doesn't have a job yet maybe she needs the extra money?

I am tempted to request for her info so I can discuss options with her. But I have no idea how to bring that up.
We will see how tomorrow goes, and then decide from there.

[blane12]

Yeah I'd look for a different therapist. As I said on fb, the relationship they form with their therapist is SO crucial to progress. I've found that Blake connects with with therapists who cater to his likes, is excitable, and outgoing. His original preschool SLP was an older woman (she retired after his first year of preschool) who was more 'strict' and not excitable and fun. He did not do nearly as well with her as his private therapist who was young, fun, excitable, and truly enjoyed him. I didn't have the option to change therapists there since she was the only one, but if she had been his private therapist, I would've gotten a different one.

I like the suggestion of trying to get her info and see if she would do private sessions on the side. Unless he has some specific issues with speech, the fact that she's OT wouldn't concern me as SLP often incorporate OT activities in therapy (coloring, etc) to keep kids interested. Otherwise, I'd look for a different therapist. Sometimes they just don't connect.

[lauranicole91]

Aug 3, 2017 12:38:50 GMT -5 blane12 said:

Yeah I'd look for a different therapist. As I said on fb, the relationship they form with their therapist is SO crucial to progress. I've found that Blake connects with with therapists who cater to his likes, is excitable, and outgoing. His original preschool SLP was an older woman (she retired after his first year of preschool) who was more 'strict' and not excitable and fun. He did not do nearly as well with her as his private therapist who was young, fun, excitable, and truly enjoyed him. I didn't have the option to change therapists there since she was the only one, but if she had been his private therapist, I would've gotten a different one.

I like the suggestion of trying to get her info and see if she would do private sessions on the side. Unless he has some specific issues with speech, the fact that she's OT wouldn't concern me as SLP often incorporate OT activities in therapy (coloring, etc) to keep kids interested. Otherwise, I'd look for a different therapist. Sometimes they just don't connect.

Thank you for your input! I just worry how we may come off rude asking for her info.
I will give it a few more sessions before I look into requesting a new SLP in their place. There are only two others.
The director is Peyton's old SLP/feeding therapist, so I am very comfortable contacting her to discuss stuff.
Hopefully it's just a transition or today was just an off day. I'm so glad Logan isn't quite old enough to legitimately MISS her and notice her absence completely.

[bean47]

I'm sorry it wasn't a smooth transition, that must be really hard. Is he carrying over what he did in therapy, with the intern, at home? As long as he's not regressingin talking at home, I would give it another session or two to see if he warms up. If not, for sure request a new therapist. It's not worth wasting progress if he doesn't develop a rapport with the therapist.

[sunflowers7]

I agree with bean. Give it one more session then request a new therapist. I've had clients ask for someone else we just weren't good matches for one another.

[fryjack2]

We had a similar problem when the boys were in speech. Jack refused to talk at all to his therapist. She was super animated and in your face and he does not respond well to that at all. Henry's therapist would have been a better fit.

After months of no talking, she suggested he come more often and that I stop speaking to him in Arabic. Um. No.

We decided to have him join Henry's session once a week in addition to his sessions to see how that went. He did start talking when in a room with Henry.

Had that by kickstarted his speech, I would have asked about a different therapist or looked into other places.

I think asking for contact info for the occ therapist is fine! She might even be psyched to do some private sessions

[lauranicole91]

Aug 3, 2017 13:01:59 GMT -5 bean47 said:

I'm sorry it wasn't a smooth transition, that must be really hard. Is he carrying over what he did in therapy, with the intern, at home? As long as he's not regressingin talking at home, I would give it another session or two to see if he warms up. If not, for sure request a new therapist. It's not worth wasting progress if he doesn't develop a rapport with the therapist.

He's not regressing at home thankfully. Yesterday's session wasn't a good judge because he fell asleep on the way there, so he was just tired in general. We will see how next week goes.

[lauranicole91]

Aug 5, 2017 23:58:08 GMT -5 fryjack2 said:

We had a similar problem when the boys were in speech. Jack refused to talk at all to his therapist. She was super animated and in your face and he does not respond well to that at all. Henry's therapist would have been a better fit.

After months of no talking, she suggested he come more often and that I stop speaking to him in Arabic. Um. No.

We decided to have him join Henry's session once a week in addition to his sessions to see how that went. He did start talking when in a room with Henry.

Had that by kickstarted his speech, I would have asked about a different therapist or looked into other places.

I think asking for contact info for the occ therapist is fine! She might even be psyched to do some private sessions

Oooo I would have been so mad if I was told to stop speaking a second language at home.
I'm glad putting him in with Henry seemed to help! Logan talks way less when Peyton is around, but I think it'd be different if they were the same age and both less talkative. Peyton just talks enough for both of them and Logan can't get a word in.