[BellinghamCrunchie]

I posted concerns about DD's (26 mths) speech development in toddlers:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=635441

And I'm wondering if an evaluation is warranted, and if so, how do I get one? Is 26 mths too young for them to do an eval through the school district/ ECI?

UPDATE:

DD is 27 mths, and had an eval today. These are her results:

Receptive Language: 12 mths
Expressive Language: 18 mths
Adaptive: 21 mths
Cognitive: 25 mths
Physical: 33 mths
Social Emotional: 30 mths

So she is advanced in somes areas and delayed in others (speech mainly). I wasn't surprised at the overall picture but was pretty shocked by the receptive delays. I mean, I knew there were some issues but I didn't expect them to be that much delayed

She qualifies for therapy and I'm both excited that she's getting help and kind of depressed that she needs it.

I don't know why I'm posting... I guess I just needed to tell someone, and see if anyone else has similar experiences and what kinds of things helped their child, and I wonder if I did anything to cause her delays - both DH and I are kind of quiet people, we don't talk all that much, and she doesn't have siblings or consistent playgroups.

 

[kchoffmann]

I think an eval might be helpful to you - 26 months is not too young. You'll use whatever early intervention service is in your area. At the least, you will get some relief for your worries. Plenty of typically developing kids don't get pronouns right until closer to three. Some of what you describe might point to a mild auditory processing disorder, though, and so it would make sense to help her with this.

Most people will say an evaluation can't hurt. I don't believe that's always true - there are so many unanswerable questions about kids, and yet I've found there are way too many practitioners out there who will jump to conclusions or treat children like problems to solve or try to squeeze children into molds that will make them feel more in control. Because of this, try to educate yourself as much as you can before moving forward with an evaluation, especially with the schools.

 

[sbgrace]

I'd get an assessment for speech. As far as ASD, though, those would not be the only things you would see at all. I would love to give you more information to hopefully set your mind at ease but unfortunately I'm leaving and will be gone for at least a few days. Take a look at this site, though. http://www.bbbautism.com/diagnostics_psychobabble.htm to start. I hope you will feel more at ease.
http://www.autismweb.com/signs.htm This site has other warning signs. Yes, no two word phrases by 24 months is on there but I promise that would not be the only sign. I've known lots of kiddos without two word phrases that were ok. There is always plenty of other concerns. Big one was was your daughter pointing by 12 months of age? Did she consistently respond to her name by 12 months of age? Those two sites are my best ASD signs sites. Please don't worry.

 

[BellinghamCrunchie]

Added to initial post.

 

[sbgrace]

Your feelings are all normal. I don't think your daughter's delay has anything to do with you as a parent. It's hard to see those delays.
That said, the evaluations are very subjective. I'll give you a true example. My son with delays was assessed for speech and given pretty big delays more than qualifying him for services. His twin brother had been assessed about a month earlier from the same assessor and tested just about age level and didn't qualify. They were pretty much identical in their speech. It was just that the assessor walked in thinking this kid needs speech (he has a specific dx. and was receiving other therapies..but really he didn't need speech!) and she made sure he got it. Also, depending on what assessment they used speech scores can be very low. Certain ones a child only needs to be missing one area and they can't move up in the ages at all. My son was assessed at 15 months and was scored something like 6 months....and he had a couple of words! I was incredibly upset but it was such an obviously low score that it tempered it for me. He needed therapy, though, so it was ok. I guess I'm saying don't take the ages to heart just that your daughter needs therapy. http://www.hanen.org/Hanen2002/pages...enPrograms.htm You might check into some of these materials to help you feel competent in helping her. I hope you get a good therapist.

 

[BellinghamCrunchie]

Thanks, SBGrace. I guess the scary thing for me was that I was present during the eval, and I know that she really was doing the best that she ever does, so I can't really hope that the testing was all that inaccurate. There were some motor things that I know she can do but that she didn't do during the testing, but I didn't see the same thing with the speech parts.

I really appreciate your reply. It helps to put things in perspective for me. Right now I'm just trying to focus on being where she is at, doing things with her that she enjoys, and not pressuring her to "perform" speechwise. She's really sensitive and becomes anxious when she senses that she is not performing like she's "supposed to." I hope the therapist will be sensitive to this as well.

 

[cchrissyy]

my son got speech through EI and it was great for him. his "severe delay" is gone and now he's about the 50th percentile for inteligability. And he *loved* therapy.

"Receptive Language: 12 mths
Expressive Language: 18 mths
So she is advanced in somes areas and delayed in others (speech mainly)."

FYI language is diferent than speech, though the same therapist handles both.

 

[3_opihi]

Hi, I don't really have anything to add, other that what others have said. My dd is the same age as your dd, and sounds like she has similar issues. I posted about it awhile back. My dd was ultimately dx'ed with a mild form of autism, NOT that this is what is going on with your dd, but I have been in the exact same boat as you recently.

Here is my blog if you want to go back and read about the last couple of months. I only add it because when I was first having dd assessed back in Februaury I couldn't find any info about just developmental delays and my head was spinning.
http://www.xanga.com/botannie

Disclaimer: I am hesitant to post it because I hope it doesn't scare you. Just because my dd has those issues, by no means that your daughter will. All kids are so different. We can only support each other from similar experiences, but please don't base yours off what mine was. (just saying that because there is some crazy stuff in there)