I have a 3 year old girl who seems to be talking a little slower than some of the children in her class. she had to have tubes when she was about 17 months old. they have fallen out. but many times i have thought about speech for her. i have a degree in Early childhood and i know that all children develop at diff. rate. but i see other children her age and some talk way better and others talk a lot worse. Am i just being to picky?
E.
My son was the same way. He had to have another set of tubes and his adenoids removed, they also removed his tonsils, since they were enlarged. Try calling an ENT and see if there is fluid behind her ears, my 12 yr old daughter had the same problem and once she had another set of tubes and adenoids removed her speech improved as well. Good Luck.
Hi E.-
I think that you might be worried just a little too soon. I have the same problem with our son, who was a preemie and had tubes. I kept comparing him to others and was consistently worried about it.
I talked to our pediatrician and was told not to worry about it until he begins preschool at age 4.
He is in preschool now and a speech/language group comes and evaulates each child and gives recommendations as to what should be done prior to kindergarten.
I know you are worried, but just give her time, you might find that when her new sibling comes around she might suddenly start talking more to gain attention from others.
J.
Have her evaluated. Call your school district to see what they can do because she's three she does not qualify for Early Intervention.
I would have her evaluated. From your early childhood experience, I am sure that you have also been made aware that some times children who have tubes have difficulty in the speech area as well. I am not sure where you are going to have her evaluated, but you might try Talkingtimekids.com and look at "Meet our Directors". Crystal is really good and the school as a whole is great for kids who are speech delayed. My son is there for other reasons, but I have seen some great growth and development in a lot of the children there.
Good luck and let us know how it turns out
T.
It never hurts to have it checked out to see if speech therapy could help her along a little. My daughter is 4 and very articulate but others have trouble understanding her due to how fast she speaks and how she pronounces (or lack thereof) some things. I am getting her in speech therapy (Hospital offers it) this year so that she will be ready for school and not have issues of not being understood :) I do not think you can be too picky with your kids when it comes to such things...if all else it will make you feel better to know either way. Just think if she is a little behind it is better to catch it now and get her up to date than to wait until she falls more behind. Hope things work out for the best!
You could contact your local school system to get a speech evaluation.It's free and would put your mind at ease. Children with delays or disabilities can recieve services through first steps from birth to 3 and then they go through the public schools for services. The schools have speech services and prechool progams for children who qualify.
When my youngest daughter was 11 months old she had her first set of tubes put in. She did great for almost a year and then they fell out. Two months before her 4th birthday she had her second set of tubes put in and tonsil/adnoids removed. During the eval. at the ENT we found out she had a 65% hearing loss in both ears. After the tubes were put in she was back up to 95% in both ears. Your daughter could possibly need another set of tubes. I never knew my daughter had an ear infection the second time around b/c she never ran a fever or complained. The only reason the doctors caught it was b/c she was in for a routine checkup. I just assumed her lack of talking was b/c she is the youngest with 3 older sibs who do everything for her.
I wanted my daughter to go to Park Tudor so I had to sign up for a screening. They told me she couldn't get in because of her speech. I had her evaluated and she was over a year behind. I sent her to my grandma's for the summer and lo and behold she came back a new kid. With my grandma and all the other kids around she got to talk and had plenty of time and attention from them. I am a single parent who works and goes to school full time. I am also not a big talker, which I think had a lot to do with it. Before she went to Alabama I noticed too that all the other kids talked better than she does, as well as the teachers. I sent her for another evaluation at Riley's and she is only a couple of months behind. Ive started talking to her more, playing books on tapes while we are in the car, and just making sure that she has plenty of converstion time. I've noticed the more I talk, the more new words she uses. So just work with her a little more and make sure you get those evals (they are free), and you will be fine!!!
Just call your local school and get her evaluated so you know for sure if she has problems and needs speech therapy. In IN the program is called Early Childhood Program but all states have something similiar for 3-5 year olds. You contact your local public school and ask for the contact name/number of the Early Childhood Program. You get free speech therapy (they do every developmental delay and physical stuff like autism and down syndrome) through your local school if she really needs it. You set up an appointment and take her in to get evaluated by the school's speech therapist. They usually have a preschool program setup, too, to help kids with significant delays or delays in more than one area. My 4.5 year old took speech twice a week last year but this year is in the preschool program (just like any other preschool program only taught by certified early childhood experts and much lower teacher/student ratio) due to some delay in social/emotional skills. The speech teacher comes to his classroom for his speech therapy a few times a week. He rides the preschool bus to/from school (in IN transportation is provided at no cost). It's an awesome program for the kids who need it... gives them a better chance of 'getting up to speed' before getting to kindergarten.
Talk to her docotor first and see if he/she agrees with your concern. Waiting it out is not always the best option because if something IS serioulsy wrong, it's best to catch it early. If it's nothing to worry about, the doctor can help ease your concerns. Your daughter may need to have her hearing evaluated along with her speech. If she's not hearing correctly, you know she will not speak correctly either. I don't know how Head Start programs work where you are, but in KY, if she's significantly delayed in her speech, she will qualify to enter preschool at 3 instead of having to wait until she's 4. My youngest son is 3 and has a speech condition called apraxia which qualified him to enter preschool early. The speech therapist at his school sees him on a daily basis rather than once a week like his previous therapist.
Hi E.!
Have you tried talking to her like an adult instead of baby talk? if not, she might just be still living as a baby and hasn't hit the "i don't want to be talked to like a baby anymore" stage.
We never talked "baby Talk" to my daughter and sometimes she has better vocabulary than me! And she was preemie, born 2 months early and was 2lbs 14oz.
You might try it, but don't worry, she'll be fine..
Your friend,
L. Kay
