Twins with Speech Problems

I have 3 year old twins and they have also had speech problems. One more so than the other. You are on the right track by taking him to speech therapy. The speech therapist can give you a lot of pointers for you and your extended family to help him along. My little ones kind of had their own language which can really hurt their regualar speech development. If this is the case you and the speech therapist can address this.

Also, I began to notice that my younger twin always let her older twin take the lead and answer questions or just talk for her. Speech thereapy really helped for her because it was just for her. She learned that she too could talk and communicate and she didn't need her twin to do it for her. Sometimes they do need something that is just for themselves.

Anyways, hope this helps. K.

C., I have a five year old with high functioning autism. I had him tested because of speech delays. You can get your twins tested at Child Find. The number is ###-###-####. It is a program through the school distric. They can give you alot of information and can be very helpful. It is free and if you have a school near your home that has the speech program they can be sent there. I don't know what I would've done without their help. If you ever want to talk my e-mail is ____@____.com. I have other numbers and web sites you can check out if you need them. Take care and let me know how it goes.

Hi C.,

My name is J., I have a 6 yr old that has a speech probem, it is good you have them in preschool and speech therapy, I did the same thing with Melanie and she is doing great, she is now in Kindergarten and has speech therapy once a week, and the differenc is wonderful, I finally can understand most of what she is now saying, now if only she would slow down, she talks fast.

Hi C.,

My son had a lot of speech challenges due to early, frequent ear infections. I sought intervention and help through speech therapy, but what I noticed helped immeasurably at home was getting him involved in his older sibling's reading. I would sit down with my oldest son and have Wyatt there too. While Calvin read and sounded out words, both Wyatt and I could see the book and follow along. I encouraged Wyatt to try sounding out, too. This gave him confidence in speaking and helped him get an early start on reading, too. When we were done with the story I asked them both what they liked, what they thought was funny, etc, and this helped Wyatt develop ideas and verbalize them (also helped a lot with reading comprehension!) Although Wyatt is now 8 and does still struggle from time to time with finding the right word for the situation, I think getting him more involved with written words helped him with his speaking abilities a great deal.

Hope this helps!

L.

You are taking the first step getting them help. I recommend that you stop talking "baby talk" to them. If they understand real language, their language will develop. You probably did the baby talk thing when they were babies, this causes a child's speech to be delayed or even slower to learn the language. Preschool will bring them social skills, be careful that they don't get teased even by the teacher about their speech.

I have twin seven year old boys. They have been going through speech therapy for a couple of years now. Don't worry about it. You have started them on the right path for getting help. If you do the things that your therapist tells you to and don't treat this as a problem then it will get better. My boys are doing wonderfully now.

Twins, boys and premies have a higher incidence of speech problems. I bet your twins were a little early, weren't they? All of these factors make things a little more difficult for them.

It can be hard when it comes to social interaction when they are having speech problems. Just keep working with a therapist and work to keep their self-confidence up.

By the way - if you want to set up a play date or something, that could be good. In addition to the twins I have a four year old boy and a two year old boy. I would be happy to share with you what experience I have.

I only read a few of the responses that you got but one of them caught my eye. It was insensitive of someone to assume that you talk "baby talk" to your children. Don't listen to the negative people who are hiding behind a screen name. Most people would not be nearly so bold in person.

Good luck - A.

Hi C.*�*
There is someone by the name of Shaly Rivera, who does speech therapy for kids who have problems speaking or not talking well, I think she is at St.Rose, not sure. hope this helps*�*
D.*�*

C.,

Are your kids in the special needs preschool through the school district? Is that where they are getting speech therapy or are you doing private speech therapy? How much speech therapy are they receiving (hours or minutes per week?). Is it individual or group speech therapy?

My son is 3 and seriously speech delayed. His communication level is about at the 20 month old level and that is after over a year completely ineffective early intervention by Nevada Early Intervention Services (can you say useless?). He was evaluated by the school district in July, started their preschool in September after his 3rd birthday and we've been seeing a private speech therapist who comes to our house for 1 hour a week each week since June. So far the private speech therapist has made the most progress but he's only been in preschool for the last 3 weeks so I'm optimistic about that... If you haven't had your kids evaluated by the school district, I highly recommend you do. My son, who we though was just a late talker is actually very high functioning in most areas but received the educational diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (which is absolutely one of the last things a parent ever wants to hear) because while his speech is the most obvious issue, he's also got some sensory issues (sensory integration disorder) that are only really evident if you know what to look for, and he's got some behavior challenges that are a little "more" that most kids his age (difficultly with new situations and people, difficulty transitioning from one thing to another - above and beyond what you typically see in a 3 year old). As a parent, it is hard sometimes to see the big picture and know where your child is "normal," just an "individual," and truely "not on track." So if you haven't done the evaluation, it can only help. It is easier to get your kids the help they need if you have a true picture of that the problem is. As hard as it was emotionally for us to go through, I firmly believe that in the long run it will really help my son do as well as he possibly can do. We are optimistic that by the time he starts gradeschool he will be as close to developmentally normal as possible and I have hope that at that point he will be at a point where he's not obviously different from the other kids (growing up is hard enough without being "different."). In spite of being labeled autistic, my son is extremely interactive and engage in his environment and people around him. He's very, very social so not what you typically think of as an autistic kid. Yet, still autistic. Not saying that yours are, there are many causes of speech delays, but I'd think all of them would be easier to deal with it you have a clearer picture of what is causing the delay.

Good luck, if you want to talk more, email me ____@____.com

T.
mama to Cole 9-11-03 ASD & SID
and someone new due 11-2-06 (boy)

My sister's boy had speech problems when he was that young too, it turned out that he had fluid build up behind his ears, which caused him to not hear the best. Once they put tubes in, he was amazed to find out all the little sounds he had been missing, he still need some speak therapy though. Doctors dont always check for that when they are in for a regular check up and when they have an ear infection the ear drum is so enlarged that doctors cant see behind it. I dont know if this is your childrens problems, but if you havent had it check, it wont hurt.