speech-delay (?)

[ernalala]

I wonder about a normal speech level for 4yos.
Also spd factor-related.
Any advice, resources?

My ds2 is suspected spd, we did not seek dx, since we seemed to have solved many issues as a family and things did improve a lot since about a year ago and we've been happy with the 'new' more harmonious dynamic.

Speech: Ds2 always has been less quick/fluent with language than his brother, who himself was a little early in speech development (also considering multi-lingual upbringing and some suggesting this may often results in language delay, but not at all in his case, to the contrary!). So we have always been very accepting of ds2's own level of language acquisition, his wish for not too much 'specifically devoted' language input (like reading to him, singing, naming, etc.), his short(er) attention span, his favouring only a certain set of books. I'm used to speak a lot about things around us cfr. passive language learning, and try to interact as much as possible if he's in the right mood for that.
But now that he's turned 4 an he still not very verbal and others also seem to have real trouble understanding him, him not being very expressive (language wise) to others and not speaking much in (proper) sentences yet, mispronouncing many sounds/words (or not wanting to do so, maybe, being used to the way he's always been pronouncing those?), liking to use a 'known/familiar' range of words rather than too many new ones, not speaking as fluently as we see peers or even younger kids do, etc., we are not sure anymor if all is going well and just in his pace or if we should do more.
Our family being multi-lingual (OPOL plus other) makes it a little complicated regarding speech issues, or at least speech advice, imo. Some would of course blame multi-lingualism (which I don't and won't, and thats just the way it works in our family), others (also and specifically local 'speech' professionals) might not be comfortable with this concept either regarding advice, and I do not see how therapy could really work within this mentality/focus on only one (local) language and not his mother(s) tongue or our specific situation.

I think We as parents ought to be very capable to address his speech needs myself, but I need at least some advice, resources, ways to help more with that, also I need an idea of how 'age appropriate' all of the above is, and am looking for ideas of how to deal with it/help him with (expressive) language development.
I have always been very good with ds1 and language activities and gebneral language acquisition, but his interst has always been huge.
I do not wantr to force things on ds2 either because that would only avert him from language learning and things should just stay fun and not look like 'work/duty' to be able to work out.

[sbgrace]

Is he a good communicator with gestures (motions/pointing/shrugging shoulders, etc.)? Can he communicate with you or is he frustrated?

At four he should certainly be understandable to others most of the time (I think it's 80% or something like that at this age so not 100% of the time but more often than not he should be understood) and he should be able to express himself and carry on a conversation. This includes bilingual kids (are you located in a bilingual area? We are and at least early intervention resources included our local languages--English and Spanish).

If he were mine I would think it's time to look into what might be going on with him. If you get to a point where you don't want to pursue anything more or don't want therapy or whatever you can just stop. You will at least have information to guide your decisions from that point forward and you'll know what's available.

The first thing I would want based on what you described is a hearing test. It could be something as "simple" as that. Most simple speech delays should be addressable at home but it sounds like you're doing a great job with a language rich environment (and low pressure which is important for many kids) and he's four and still struggling. There may be something else behind this like hearing or articulation issues which I believe do need expert help.

[ernalala]

Well, we just went for his hearing to be checked and he may undergo another more specific test when he's past a present infection he's having. The Dr. didn't seem to be very concerned about his hearing, but we may push a little for further testing, if needed.

I was recently starting to wonder if we shouldn't have his speech evaluated or looked at by someone who's familiar with speech development to see where we may stand now that he's 4 and still not that great at clearly understandable speech and/or more complicated verbal communication.

I've always just thought he is just a late language leaner and things will improve in his own pace if we let him be as he is and stimulate him in a way he can handle it and with regard to what he personally needs. But sometimes I start to doubt, especially now that he's turned 4. So especially the past few weeks I've been really trying to expand our intense language moments together since I havn't been very intensely working one on one with him in word-teaching from books, for instance, through environmental circumstances and his inability to psy attention for a long period of time. Now he is finally able to sit still for it more and I do notice he really enjoys thpse moments and really listens well and understands a lot, and seems genuinely interested if I pick the right material for him in the moment. I am now particularly looking at his active speech and improvement or persisting lack thereof.

There is no problem in communication between family members at all. Everyone understands his needs by his speech and or sometimes gestures/behaviours/clues, and he is not inhibited at all to make himself and his wishes heard. Therefore, things at home have been working out great lately, we have seen huge improvement over the past 6 months to a year, and this probably is one of the reasons why his moods are less intense, much less serieus tantrums, and why our understanding of his doings and clues also became more clear so we can address his needs almost blindly, or at least with 'ease' :-). There's definitely been improvement and language development.

To 'outsiders', people he's not familiar with at all, or only slightly, he is not very verbal, often does not wish to be, is 'acting shy' or just bothered (people tend to fid him sweet, even his 'weird' behaviours which they may sometimes find funny, comment on him, touch his hair which he is not comfortable with but it happens all the time) which is fine to us, we do not push him to be verbal or social when he doesn't fel like it. I am like that, so I really understand. To people who have his trust and/or he feels comfortable with (can be people he knows but also a kind waiter in a restaurant that can get through to him) he may open up and speak more and better. He generally needs half an hour to warm up and then he's a spinning whirlwind and more verbal too. Also, people who are doing a little extra effort to hear what he's saying actually seem to have less trouble with understanding him as well, I think there it has to do with connection. This definitely counts for people who know him and are familiar with interacting with him.

He often does not speak in full sentences. Possibly he's very capable of doing so, maybe not, but I have the impression he is often hasty/impatient and so doesn't seem to want to waste time on too many words or long/complicated requests which may make his speech more simple than he's capable of. Some words he still pronounces a certain (incorrect) way while we know he is capable of pronouncing the word almost correctly if he really puts an effort in it or when we ask him to repeat us (except for some letter pronunciation or mix-up, but I do not worry about that at this age, my 6yo even does that at times and I'm positive that too will be self-corrected in time).
Ds also just enjoys to use favourite words, so he'd like to use the same range of words to describe things since those words are just so familiar to hime and he likes them. He has familiar paterns and he feels comfortable with those, and it seems he partly does this in speech as well.

So I'm still not convinced if all this is due to just 'normal' speech delay which will get better over time, special character treats, spd, or a more worrysome speech delay/issue, or a combination of factors.

Dh seemed to be convinced pre-school would do him good, but I put it of since I was and am not convinced he would do well in a class environment just yet (maybe close). I especially am convinced that concentrating one on one with him on language as a parent, in combination with outings and contact with other people does him more good right now than being in a noisy classroom environment with peers and teachers who do not have much space for flexibility or one on one attention, and with a curriculum in mind. And that being able to help develop his speech (mostly in the language offered by me, which is anyway effective on ALL of his language development) in a stimulating, quiet environment as a caring parent, will help him cope better with school environment when he'll be more mature for it and wiill be able to express himself better verbally cfr. confidence and frustration levels at school.
Anyway, next year he will normally be attending pre-school.

Thanks for input.

[RiverTam]

In order to have an effective home treatment program, you need to know what the problem is exactly.

DS1 has a diagnosis of mixed expressive-receptive language disorder, and is in speech therapy for it. It sounds like your child may have a speech issue, rather than a language issue, so take anything I say with a grain of salt. I'm coming at this from a slightly different perspective.

I've done lots of reading on what the most effective treatment method is for speech and language problems. I found one study from Britain that found that weekly interventions at school, accompanied by short daily interventions by parents is extremely effective in dealing with speech and language problems. Numerous other studies show that weekly speech language therapy 1-2 hours a week is very effective.

I've read studies that say some speech language problems resolve on their own, or resolve just with parental assistance. The risk you take with that is that if the problem doesn't resolve, the child will be behind and have trouble catching up. Even with therapy some kids never catch up.

What we did with my son is take him to a clinic for a full speech language assessment (including audiology) by a speech language pathologist. Our insurance paid for it. If you are in the US, you may be able to have this done by your school system.

After we knew what was going on, we were able to decide what we wanted to do. DS1 sees a speech therapist weekly for a half hour. We do additional homework at home. (We're not eligible for school based interventions because the delay is not interfering with his ability to do his schoolwork.)

This company has excellent resources for homework:
http://www.linguisystems.com/

Good luck.

[sbgrace]

What I meant by expert help was a speech/language assessment. In most areas now that he is over three the school system does evaluations. If you have private insurance they may pay to evaluate as well though most policies don't cover therapy (some do). But evaluation will help you because you'll know where he really is and what is potentially behind the issue. The information will help you help him basically.
He's got an ear infection currently and a speech or articulation delay and the doctor didn't think hearing was an issue? Was the doctor an audiologist or something else? Do push. He needs a full hearing exam with an audiologist.

[ernalala]

Just like to mention we're not in the US. Medical issues, insurance, school system etc. are very different here from what you describe, and these things are also very different here from the ones in the country I grew up in. Makes it more complicated.

We went to an ear (nose/throath) specialist, but we mainly addressed his present illness (we didn't think he would have fluid in his ear, this is likely the first time ever he has this), his snoring, and request for some audio testing. The Dr. first wanted to deal with the infection and us to 'monitor' his breathing while asleep and we'll see the dr. again in a month so we can follow up then. I did not mention speech since I only started to clearly think about this after the appointment and now will discuss further with dh, too.

[BookGoddess]

When you have an idea of what's causing the delay, there are a lot of things *you and your husband* can do at home to help. There are books that explain in clear language what to do. I love the books by Hanen. You can find them on Amazon.com I think they ship internationally. The books give you exercises to do. You can see what to do based on where your child is in his language development.

If you'd like more info, send me a Private Message.