Early Childhood Intervention

Do you take your child to a doctor? Why? You don't just follow your gut or ask your preschool teacher if she thinks he is sick or developing normally, you take him to a doctor to evaluate him. Why? Because a doctor is a trained professional and knows what to look for. Preschool teachers are trained professionals but they are not trained to evaluate speech and language development. ECI has people who are. You child was 2-3 months behind and now he is 7 months behind. It could be in areas that are specific and your preschool teacher doesn't take data on so she wouldn't pick it up. Many problems kids have can very easily be lessened with early intervention. That is the whole reason for ECI. His peers are learning language and he isn't. You and his preschool teacher don't have the tools to measure his development. I trained in speech and hearing and I would keep my child in ECI if I were you. Speech is very different than language. Speech is making the sounds. Language is the ideas, concepts, and thoughts, can he put them in words, how long are his utterances, how complex are they, ect. The standards for boys and girls are different. I am a strong believer in following a mother's instinct but you need to have all the information at hand. I have had my own kids in speech and language therapy and boy does it pay off years later. Ask for written reports or more information before you decide. Do research on the areas of the delays that they tell you.

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We had a great experience with ECI, but my son has Angelman Syndrome so his delays were more pronounced in all areas. If it's only speech I wouldn't be too concerned, especially if the daycare is saying he's right around with the other children. Usually the raised concern comes if your child is having delays in more than one area (speech, cognitive, motor skills, etc). But you can always check his ears and hearing too- that's a good thing to eliminate as a cause. I would go with your intuition. ECI is a wonderful help, but it is an elective program. Here's a link to their website that shows average milestones for different ages: http://www.eci-lps.org/ECI/Typical.aspx That might give you an idea of if he's on target (according to their standards).

My dd started ECI at 2 something. She had speech and a little developemental delays. And I know they weren't wrong about the speech, all of us were frusterated trying to understand her. She made very slow emprovements in the speech (she has a very short attention span). She was tested for the school program in the spring and they said she qualified (ECI stops at 3). But during the summer she started bursting with new words and sentence. She had her tonsiles removed; was sick a lot that year and didn't sleep well, which affects the brain. She likes the school program - play with someone other than little brother, learn different things, and teaches her more disipline getting her ready for big kid school. (she doesn't go to daycare) Maybe your dr can give you a second opinion.

What does your pediatrician say about this? Do YOU have any concerns about your son's speech? You don't HAVE to have ECI involved, you have the right to refuse services.

I'm sorry you've expereinced such concern for your little boy. I can sort of relate. My son had "passed" all of his pediatrician's "screenings" until his 2 year check-up when he didn't fall into the right category of words-per-sentence for his age. I was alarmed at the speed at which she whipped out a brochure for ECI, pidgeon-holed my son, and named all sorts of disorders. Honestly, after the anger wore off that day, I blew her off and threw away the brochure. Our son is a very communicative, analytical (being a boy) and curious boy. He will talk when he's ready. He's not around kids but 3 days a week and she didn't even consider that verbally with me. I've found a different pediatrician with a much better bed-side manner!

My daughter was with ECI for 2 years and we had a great experience with them. The testing they do is based ok theory and not totally on what other kids are able to do. If you see that ECI is helping him to improve with speech then keep it up. While we had a great experience with ECI, we never had much luck in keeping a sperch person (because we didn't live in the metroplex). Follow your feeling about what to do. Also try working with your child yourself. Carry on a conversation with them. If he gives any response, keep going. Read with him and know that he will talk. Some kids don't talk at the specified time because others talk for them or their needs are met so they don't need to talk. Try whatever motivated him and use one word or two when giving it to him. I wish you all the best as you are doing a great job being a mommy to your child.

I don't know about ECI but if it is a 'for profit' org, I would be suspect to what they are saying to you, particularly if preschool teachers are telling you that his language is fine. It's good to monitor it but at 24 months, I wouldn't be overly concerned about a delay (assuming they are giving you accurate information). If at 4 or so, you are still noticing it, then I would pursue something. I'm a mom of 2 teenagers, former preschool teacher and currently teaching elementary (1st/2nd). Don't stress!

I have a good experience with ECI. I started with them when my daughter was 1 1/2 and now she is 2 1/2, she started not saying barely any words and now says many words and talks so much better. She started doing so well that I requested to get her re-evaluated by ECI and then dropped her service from 2/mo. to 1/mo. Now she is getting evaluated by the school because she will be 3 soon and then they will take over services if needed. If I were you I would ask ECI to come in and re-evaluate him and then if he is doing well, just have services 1/mo. until he is closer to 3 and then let the school evaluate him just to be on the safe side. It doesn't hurt anything to have ECI still come. And they can't tell you how far behind he is until they actually evaluate him again. Why stop something that is good for him and won't go too much longer anyways because he will be 3 soon. That is my opinion anyways, hope it helps.

We had our son evaluated for language delay issues at 16 months and again at right around 24 months. The first time he was evaluated it was because of concerns that my husband and I shared. The second time he was evaluated it was because of concerns that his Montessori Guide had. Each time ECI evaluated him they determined that he did not qualify for speech therapy because his delay, if any, was insignificant. I, personally, found the ECI evaluators to be very helpful and not at all overly eager to treat.

S.,
I work for the University and the program I'm with works closely with ECI. I think it's a great program, maybe ask to see if someone else can evaluate your son. I have been concerned about my son who is 2 1/2 now, I haven't had him tested by ECI, but the professors in my program tell me I'm more to blame for his speech delay... He just has to cry or point and I give... I've gotten better and he's also trying to talk more, sometimes you can understand him some times you can't. He by no means talks as good as his siblings when they were his age, also, he was with a babysitter who has a daughter 2 months older than him, and she talks way better than him too. He's very smart without having to say anything, I sometimes think he knows if he talks, he's not going to be mommy's little baby... Seriously, he understands everything you tell him. As he gets older I do see him talking more.
So personally I would keep ECI, it's free until he's 3 anyway...

We had the exact same issue. At my son's 15-month checkup, he couldn't say mama or dada or ANY words whereas the doc said he should be saying at least those and suggested we contact ECI to ensure there wasn't any sort of delay (he also had tongue-tie so we wanted to make sure that that wasn't hampering his speech). We were evaluated by ECI and they found him to be eligible for services based on his speech (expressive and receptive). They did NOT check his hearing at his eval so a few months later when we went to see the ENT about getting his tongue tie clipped, they checked his hearing and he had an extreme buildup of fluid in his ears which made it very difficult for him to hear. They put tubes in and it was as if the flood gates opened. He started talking up a storm and has not stopped almost two years later.

We did not discontinue ECI services - just reduced them to case coordination so that, until his 3rd birthday, SHOULD he need services, he's already in the system and we can just call them in. He still apparently qualifies in speech (even though he speaks whole sentences at less than 2 and a half). The standardized testing that they use when reevaluating the kiddos is such that if they don't perform that exact task on that day (i.e. follow unrelated, multi-step directions) then they can't give them credit for knowing how to do that and they score lower than their actual abilities. I didn't find ECI to be all that terribly helpful (and not to knock what they do or the person we worked with, it's just that once he got his tubes, it really didn't matter much if he worked with them once a week/month/whatever, he improved dramatically on his own). Essentially, as someone from ECI told me, it's very hard (once your child has qualified) to no longer be eligible for services. I think that ECI can be helpful - particularly to those who can't afford private therapy - but I would at least look into getting the ears/hearing checked. My son did NOT have any ear infections or problems with his ears prior to getting his hearing test so we had absolutely no indication before then that there were any issues with his hearing other than the fact that he wasn't talking when he should be

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Have you had his hearing tested? My son didn't say much even at 2 years old, and since he was 4 months, my gut told me he just wasn't hearing things well. My doc wanted me to call ECI too, but instead I saw a pediatric ENT and found out his hearing was not well because he had really thick fluid in his ears. We had tubes put in and he started talking in no time! It only took about 6 mo for him to catch up with his classmates.

Weather he is delayed or not I wouldn't even worry about right now. My son also hit every other milestone just fine he just would not talk. We had his hearing tested and had him scheduled for EIC but before we even had our appoint ment he just decided to talk. That was quite literally one month before his second birthday. He went form not talking AT ALL to sentances in a week and we haven't been able to get him to shut up since. His firt word was a sentance.

S.,
I have had 2 situation dealings with ECI with my youngest son. First when he was an infant one of his neck muscles wasn't developing properly. They came out and did a great job working on it and everything came out fine. The second time was his speech. His pediatrician noticed a small delay and he started with ECI but since he has passed the age of 3 he still attends speech once a week through the public school district.

I have nothing but good things to say about ECI. We were comfortable with all there decisions and meetings they would have with us to determine the next step of action, progress, etc. I hope things work out for you.

Hey S.. I work for MHMR of Tarrant County (ECI is a part of us). Anyways, I'm just so happy to read all of the posts saying that ECI has helped them! I guess my only advice would be to voice all of your concerns to the case worker/doctor/nurse. They may not share the same opinion with you but they will listen!

S., Your instincts as a mother are the best guide for you. I have triplets that were all seen by ECI for about a year for physical therapy. ECI is a great organization but they cannot evauluate a child the way you or you daycare provider can. They just don't see them enough. I finally just told ECI that I didn't think my kids needed their service anymore and they hesitantly agreed. You can pull him from it and have him evaulated at a later date if you see a delay. Good luck to you. Elizabeth Beall