Speech Pathologist/Speech Therapy

[sunofabeach85]

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place. At DD's 18 month checkup they referred us to a speech pathologist because she is very behind in her talking and vocabulary. I thought 18 months was a little young to be rushing her off right away to speech therapy so now I'm wondering if maybe the dr. is concerned about other things but didn't say anything. Anyone's child ever had to go to speech therapy, did it help? I don't know what to think about all this, now I'm all worried something is wrong with her, I just thought she was a lazy kid.

[Victoria]

Yep! My son began speech therapy at 2 and still continues ST twice a week.

Since girls generally begin talking sooner than boys, around 13 months, that could be a reason why your DD's doctor is concerned and submitted the referral to SP.

Speech therapy has helped my son immensely!!! I'm SO glad I was proactive in getting him the treatment he needed.

[Navywife85]

my son is in speech i wish i would have gotten him in sooner his ped and i had discussed it when he was around 1 whish i had put him in it.. he is now fixen to be 5 in july and is ranged around 2 or 3 yrs of age with his talking level. it wont hurt putting her in speech it's nothign to be worried about

[LindsayLin]

Originally Posted by Victoria Yep! My son began speech therapy at 2 and still continues ST twice a week. Since girls generally begin talking sooner than boys, around 13 months, that could be a reason why your DD's doctor is concerned and submitted the referral to SP. Speech therapy has helped my son immensely!!! I'm SO glad I was proactive in getting him the treatment he needed.

I totally agree! The sooner you start the better. My son isn't up to where he needs to be just yet, but he has made HUGE strides. I can't say enough good things about it early intervention and the preschool program.

[delta girl]

My mom is a speech therapist and she works with kids that are 12 months and she always say the younger they come the better

[*~Robyn~*]

The sooner you start speech the better. You should also request a referral to audiology to have her hearing tested. Sometimes, they have fluid on their ears and can't hear well enough to speak, but once the fluid is drained, they are hearing 100% and their speech picks right up.

[Trey]

Don't wait! Worst case scenario, she is ahead in her speech. Tricare will cover it too!

My son went and it made all the difference in the world.

How many words does she say?

[sunofabeach85]

Originally Posted by Rileysmom Don't wait! Worst case scenario, she is ahead in her speech. Tricare will cover it too! My son went and it made all the difference in the world. How many words does she say?

uh-oh
wow
hi
we think she says "what's that" when pointing to stuff outside
and she's ALWAYS babbling but it sounds like chinese to DH and I

and that's about it. I blame myself mostly because I spend so much time with her if she starts whining and wants something I know what it is she needs/wants without her having to say. I'm hoping this will help her it's made me feel like a failure in some way that I didn't work with her more, but I hope it really does help her. I know she is behind.

[Trey]

Originally Posted by sunofabeach85 uh-oh wow hi we think she says "what's that" when pointing to stuff outside and she's ALWAYS babbling but it sounds like chinese to DH and I and that's about it. I blame myself mostly because I spend so much time with her if she starts whining and wants something I know what it is she needs/wants without her having to say. I'm hoping this will help her it's made me feel like a failure in some way that I didn't work with her more, but I hope it really does help her. I know she is behind.

My son said about that at 15 months, but he had also lost words and had other delays too. We put him in ST ASAP and he is now at average or high levels for all the different speech categories.

There is a lot of stuff you can do at home too. Such make her say something. We boxed up all of my son's toys in clear plastic bins and put them in his line of sight-but out of reach, and he had to "work" to get them by saying a word or at least a syllable to start. He was PISSED at first, but once he figured out that all he had to do was mumble a word to get his toy, he did it. And then he realized how great words are and how much they helped him (if he asked for a cookie, we gave him one, whatever he asked for, we gave as an auto-reward to reinforce that behavior).

We also started labeling everything. I was talking non-stop for about a year, but it helped so much!!!! SO much!

Don't stress out, just be proactive! IF there is something wrong, you have found it at a good time! So try to stay positive! I have a ton more info if you want and quite a few of us have been there, you aren't alone! I know it's scary, but NOW is the time to act!

[Jenna]

I'm getting my M.A. to be an SLP! I agree with everyone else! The sooner the better it's comp. normal to start them that early!