My son is almost 3 and still is struggling with languge and speech. It's hard cause his speech teacher gives us suggestions to help him. However my son seems to do things when he wants to do them. It's hard to get him to say words or getting him to mimic sounds when some times he won't look at me when I call his name. He shows a lot of signs having autism. We are waiting to get him tested for autism but our state in the US takes forever to get kids seen. Ive been waiting for months and months. I feel defeated and like we are wasting precious time. Do any of you ladies have any suggestions or recommendations?. I'm lost here. His following direction skills are not good at all and he is really into routine. We struggle with communication. Every speech lesson I leave feeling I'm failing my son and it breaks my heart. I'm talking to his doctor about getting another referral to a different testing place at his next appointment which is in a month or less.
-
Have you tried a speech box? My kids loved it and I had way more success engaging them with it than normal techniques.
https://www.hellobee.com/2015/08/10/diy-speech-therapy-in-a-box/
-
@Mrs. Tiger: I didn't even know this was a thing but we will definitely try it!! I think this is perfect. He loves cars and toy animals and balls. Thank you so much!
-
I can’t speak to the possible autism, but we did a lot of speech therapy from when DS was about 20 months to now (almost 5 and almost discharged from speech). When he was younger it was so hard to keep or get his attention so our SLP would actually keep things in clear boxes, bags, etc and DS would have to attempt the sound or whatever of the item he wanted in order to get it (maybe similar to the above link) We also bribed him with stickers, treats, etc. Until he gained confidence and didn’t need those. Our SLP always did a model of ‘try this...then get this’ so it was a reward system. Ie: which animal do you want in the bag? The cow? Let’s try: moo! And then for any attempt, even incorrect, he would get the cow. At first it was just to get him to respond with some vocalization, then she would fine tune it as he tolerated. Now, he can self correct and knows when it’s the wrong sounds.
What about a speech board or iPad app that he can point to pictures of common things he needs, wants, etc?
I never believed our SLP when she said that kids with speech/language difficulty know they are different and that they need to gain confidence in order to progress. But every time DS made a small improvement, things would explode until the next roadblock. We could go months at a time with no progression and it was super frustrating. Do you think the goals that you/the SLP are trying to achieve are too difficult for him? Does your SLP try lots of different techniques? Change things on the fly during the appointment depending on the kids mood? This was big. We worked with one public funded therapist that was very rigid and didn’t adapt to the kids likes and motivations and it was a total disaster. We ended up dropping out of the session because of the therapist.
I would say until age 3/3.5 it was also a real crap shoot whether he would cooperate at speech or not so maybe your LO just isn’t there yet. Please don’t beat yourself up about it as it’s not your fault and you are not a failure. I get the panic of waiting but all you can do is the best you can for your child and advocate for them.
ETA: have you looked into the Hanan programs? We did a few through our children’s hospital public program (which has a crazy wait time to get in) and they were helpful. There is one specific to autism as well http://www.hanen.org/Programs/For-Parents/More-Than-Words.aspx
-
When I was worried about my son’s speech I found this website/podcast very helpful https://teachmetotalk.com/ She has resources for parents and SLPs and you can call her for a consultation as well. It’s not the same as being seen in person but it could be a way to get started while you wait.
-
Please look into the GAPS diet! I personally and many others I know have found it extremely helpful. Therapies are important but IMO if you can get to the root cause and heal the gut you will see improvement in a relatively short amount of time. (For us when I did it with my 4 year old we saw a night and day change in 6 months). Generally speaking the younger you start the easier it is to heal. Take your time learning and mentally preparing then dive in. It is a lifestyle change but it’s one of those things that we have come to see as a blessing in our life and our whole family is healthier for it.
-
@cyoung: first of all, sending you hugs. I hear your frustration but it sounds like you are doing an amazing job by supporting your son
My
Son is 4.5 and has autism. He was diagnosed with early intervention at age 2.5 and the diagnosis was confirmed a year later at a center for autism.For us the diagnosis qualifies him for services and also let’s us have a better understanding of his strengths and challenges (for example he has difficulty with social interactions and transitions but he also taught himself how to read)
Some ideas I had
- does your insurance cover speech therapy, occupational therapy or a psychological evaluation?
- are there are local universities or hospitals with evaluation programs? Many psychology departments have such programs. The evaluation to ask for is the ADOS
Routine is also very important for my son. We use a daily
Plan with pictures and words to help us
(We use this one but you could make your own or just. A white board) https://www.amazon.com/Easy-Daysies-Starter-Original-Schedule/dp/B00GFN3ZYO/ref=asc_df_B00GFN3ZYO/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=380064534399&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2209962725622359850&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9004405&hvtargid=pla-448430135982&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=79209955162&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=380064534399&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2209962725622359850&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9004405&hvtargid=pla-448430135982Our former speech therapist also recommended cooking with him which he loves. We talk about each step as we do it and there is a sensory aspect also of smelling, tasting and
Touching different texturesWe also have pictures of different people in our family and label them with out names and talk about them. Using visuals has really helped him
How are his daily living skills ? Does he have the opportunity to socialize with other kids ?
-
@cyoung: oh also social stories! If there is a situation that is challenging for him or something new you want to work Into his routine you can make a story about it using words and pictures. For example my son is going to a new school and the teacher made a booklet with pictures of the school, the classroom and the teachers. You can individualize it to him and add pictures of him. Here’s a. Article with some examples
https://www.speechandlanguagekids.com/social-stories-for-children-with-language-delays/ -
@cyoung: Hugs, Mama! You are doing great job, and I commend you for looking for all of the ways that you can support your son. I work with older students with disabilities, including autism and other speech delays, and having engaged parents willing to meet them where they are can make such a difference!
Is your main concern feeling like you are losing time in getting him what he needs, or is it day-to-day struggles that are stressful for you?
-
@muffinsmuffins: I think honestly our speech teachers are not great. They don't use any tools or suggest boxes. They just kinda do few things with my son and they to get him to say stuff and then tell me thing I need to do at home. Sweet ladies but not great. We have had 3 due to two being pregnant and having to leave to have babies. It's been hard. I'll definitely look into the program. I've never heard of it but hopefully we have one.
@Baby Boy Mom: I'll look into it. Thank you!
@magnolia: we have only two places that do testing. One is a university and one is a therapist or whatever she is called. She does it through the local Easter seals. Right now we have an referral with the university but I've been told it can take months to be seen. But I'm calling Tuesday after the holiday to see what is going on. And im pretty sure insurance will cover speech. I think we will look into extra speech lessons cause our local therapy through early intervention is not great I've been learning.
We do a moms day out program 2 times a week so he can get out and see other kids. I'm told his social skills are not the greatest cause he doesn't want to play with other kids. He likes to do his own thing. He also has trouble transitioning between tasks. Other then that he is pretty much a laid back kid. Most the time day to day living is great. He is super happy but when he struggles to get what he wants or I tell him no it's a huge melt down. We have PECS cards so maybe we can try that again. My therapist haven't tried those with us.@lady baltimore: my main stressors are just feeling like I'm not doing enough for him. I'm realizing that our therapy teachers are not so great and our state in the US is super slow when seeing kids and getting dignosed. I have 2 other kids. I have 3 under 3 including my son. It's just a lot sometime. I worry about the future for him as well. I think I'd feel better if we had a dignosed by now and we having the resources we needed. They dont have a ton where I live and no one really communicates about what should be happening or not for therapy.
-
@cyoung: I’ve definitely come to realize how fortunate we are to live in a major city with a children’s hospital and many many resources. Our son was diagnosed with apraxia and we were able to find a private therapist that specializes in it as well as do the Hanan program through the children’s hospital that is specific to motor disorders. My best friend still lives in the town we grew up in and her son has major speech/possible spectrum issues and she has had tons of struggle similar to what you mention and it’s been stressful and not helpful so I really feel for you. Add in 2 more kids and just in general life and work, it’s overwhelming.
I would just keep calling and pushing as best you can and really look into insurance coverage and time you can realistically give to appointments. I’m in Canada so it’s different but we had about an 8-10 month wait for evaluation through the public funded program and saw a private therapist until then. She immediately advised us to apply for a disability tax credit with we were approved for about a year later and got back pay. That helped immensely with the cost. Plus we got speech education referrals for DW and I to put through our work insurance as many sessions were parent teaching. This expanded our coverage to the 3 of us instead of maxing out quickly on DS’s coverage. In terms of time, we tried to set aside 15-30 mins per day to do the exercises with him but really it just had to be part of our interaction with him instead of extra time (and we only had one kid at that point!) and we did once a week speech, sometimes with PT and OT at the beginning. Then when we were going through the public program we would drop our private sessions and resume when it was done. We had blocks of therapy lasting 6-8 weeks then a break of a month or two.
It sounds like you’re doing all you can and that’s all you can do. Waiting is so annoying so just keep on the referrals as best you can.
-
@Baby Boy Mom: hi! I want to hear about your experience with GAPS! Can you elaborate?
-
@oskarsmommy: I answered on the other thread.
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
12 comments