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I think some kids are late talkers but that's awesome they are getting help! I think you are an amazing mom recognizing the issues and being proactive in getting help for them.

Our second is only 3 months old, but I would not be surprised at all if she needs speech therapy like her sister did. DD1 was in the 20th percentile for speech when we had her first EI evaluation around her 2nd birthday. We are a year and a half in, and she is almost completely caught up! Our current speech therapist says she will be done any week now. She still has to master g's at the beginning of words like "gold"-- still makes more of a d sound.

Anyway, her issue turned out to be anatomical as she needed ear tubes. It's genetic on DH's side so I am anticipating DD2 needing EI also. Our speech therapist said about 50% of families seem to need EI for multiple children.

@stargal: I don't think that was a scientifically researched number so much as her thinking about it from her experience. It sounds like a lot of speech problems run in families though.

@stargal: I'm a speech therapist and I have seen siblings that both needed speech therapy. We don't really know what causes most speech issues, but perhaps there is a genetic connection. There is some research that says if you have one child with autism there is a greater likelihood you'll have a second kid with autism.

@stargal: 17 months is still pretty young, but at that age I'm doing all play therapy. Books, narrating what you're doing. Introduce a few signs --more, help, all done. The best resource for parents that I constantly use is the Hanen "It takes two to talk" parent program. The book is about $50 on Amazon, but you may be able to find it on eBay. It's so, so awesome.