another speech therapy ? -- did you wait and have a success story?

[TForce]

My son is now 4.5 years old. He was a late talker, but I didn't want to make a big deal out of something I thought he'd just grow out. Now watching his younger sister (almost two) start to speak, I realize he was quite a bit delayed, and I'm feeling guilty about not doing something early. He mixxes up some of his sounds and others don't understand a lot of what he says. I'm always translating for him even around family who see him all the time. Even I don't always know what he's saying. He has being seeing a therapist for about a month now, but I guess I'm freaking out a little. Did anyone else wait to do therapy? What was the outcome? Will my son be able to make the "L" sound by the time he gets to kindergarten this fall? He sometimes has trouble with other sounds (K, TH, V), but he never makes the L. Are there things I can do with him at home? Should I be correcting him more often?

On another note, he's been in half-day preschool for the first time this year (beginning in Sept 2009). The teachers think he is not social enough. He plays by himself more than with the other kids. I think this is because he was never in daycare/preschool before, but has anyone ever been told this before? Is this really something I should worry about? I always think it's great that he can entertain himself for an hour with a train and cars.

Thanks for listening ... if you made it this far.

[pbjmama]

I didn't wait for therapy but I want to suggest that there are exercises you can be doing with your son and your speech therapist should be giving you instructions on these exercises as well as other things you can do to improve his speech (thick drinks through a straw, blowing bubbles, etc). I think in many cases correction leads to self consciousness so I would avoid it. Did you say how often he is in therapy? A month isn't that much time but if you can increase the # of times per week that might help too. With the errors you listed he may qualify for free speech based preschool which could be really helpful. My ds will be going next fall when he is 4, it is 12 hours a week and the hope is to correct his errors before he is school age.

As far as playing with others, my ds is the same way. In fact his preschool teachers suggested a language evaluation because they thought he didn't have the language. That is far from true, he is in the 87% for language but he doesn't talk much, especially in group settings. He is highly introverted. I'm okay with that. He would pay in his room for hours. It can be hard for me as I'm an extrovert but I try to just let him regulate his social interactions.

[lucyem]

I would really encourage you to speak to the therapist and the teachers about all of this. What do they think? What can you do at home? That kind of thing.
A month is not a long time for therapy. Also certain sounds can come later to some kids and it is still within normal range.

[ella'smommy]

We started speech therapy early, but my daughter was very premature so we had her screened regularly, I figured there was bound to be some repercussion of prematurity. It wasn't until 6 months into speech therapy where we couldn't figure out why she wasn't really talking that the speech therapist suggested we have her reevaluated by an occupational therapist to see if there was another issue going on that was inhibiting her speech. The OT diagnosed her with Sensory Integration Disorder and suddenly it all made sense. She is a highly active kid, and she was so busy trying to satisfy her sensory needs that talking was at the bottom of her priority list. I mention this in case it makes any sense to you in your son's case.

I agree that the ST should be able to give you activities to strengthen his oral muscles, like blowing bubbles and drinking through a straw (we switched all of Ella's cups to straws for this reason). I think the more proactive you are and more questions you ask your therapist the more they can help you help him. And he or she may be a great source for other resources, we found out about a therapeutic playgroup that focused on speech and OT from ours.

And I agree that the normal range is wide varied for different sounds. I was just joking with someone the other day that I can't believe that I was ever worried that she wouldn't talk because now I can't get her to stop! :-)

[Aridel]

I agree that you should talk to the SLP and find out what sounds he is working on, and if there is anything you can do at home. A month isn't enough time to really see change for most kids, but I would find out what the schedule is for updates. School-based therapists have to send home progress reports every time report cards go out, even if the child isn't in public school yet.

I'll be the dissenting voice against the strengthening exercises. There is no research to back up non-speech oral motor exercises and there is some data to suggest they won't help speech. On the other hand, there is data to show that articulation work will help with saying sounds correctly. Basically to help speech, you need to work on speech. If he is having issues with drooling or chewing, non-speech exercises like straws and whistles are fine. If there are sensory processing issues, these strategies may help with sensory needs. For various reasons, it is unlikely that any gains in non-speech skills will cause a change in speech skills. I would really focus your time and effort on speech itself. Being in therapy and getting help at home focused on speech skills will do that - another reason it's essential to talk to your son's therapist!

I like this chart for assessing what child should be able to say at a certain age. It shows what ages girls/boys as a group begin to learn and master sounds for all consonants in English.

[Catherine12]

My oldest (now 5 3/4) was always behind in her articulation. I debated getting her in speech therapy many times - finally I asked her doctor to refer us to a therapist. It took them months to actually make the referral. In that time, my dd's speech suddenly started improving - we never did do speech therapy, and her articulation is now age-appropriate (she still has some trouble with s and r, but can say every other sound, even th, ch, etc.) and she is easily understood by strangers.

I know it's hard when you hear so many other kids the same age as yours talking so much more intelligibly. But this is just one of those things where variation is normal - yes, some kids have real, lasting speech issues, but many outgrow them and 4.5 is still quite young.

[AndVeeGeeMakes3]

We didn't wait either, but that's because of physical issues more than anything else. So, I wouldn't feel guilty. You can only put one foot in front of the other, ya know?

I would suggest the book The Late Talker. It's, in some places, rather heavy-handed, but it has some useful information. As far as oral motor exercises, they have definitely helped VeeGee with some parts of speech, but there is also no improvement with bilabials, especially "b" and she cannot do "L" at all either. For her, it's the result of apraxia, we believe, which means that there is a disconnection between her brain's command to move her mouth in the appropriate formation and her ability to do it. She will look at me sticking my tongue out to make an L sound, and you can see her little wheels turning - she's trying - but there's just a disconnection.

Sorry you're dealing with this. Best of luck!