I will not have much new to add except that I have a 3.5 year old daughter who was also not talking at 2 years old and everyone told me not to worry. She'll talk when she's ready. I've seen a few people say that here. But I want to encourage you to listen to your heart on this. If you are worried then seek help because the earlier you get help the better for the child. And if it turns out you didn't really need it, then no harm done. But if it turns out to be a real problem, you've intervened early and that's so important for those kiddos with a problem. My daughter by the way has a real problem that will probably require speech therapy throughout her elementary school years and if I hadn't started speech therapy when I did, she probably wouldn't be talking now. Nobody could tell us for sure when we first started whether there was a problem or not. It's just difficult to tell sometimes. We worked with ECI from the time she was 18 months - 3 years and then at 3 yrs. she started preschool and speech therapy through the school district -- all free. She's made alot of progress but still is very difficult to understand. In fact, I ask my 2 year old to interpret all the time.
I know you talked about not liking ECI, and I wasn't thrilled with it either. But it was something until my daugher turned 3. But I will tell what a ped neurologist told me. He said that being around kids his own age that are talking is probably as good as anything at this age. Perhaps you could try to get him into a mothers day out or something like that so he can socialize more. In fact, at 24 months my daughter had no words and at 26 months she started mothers day out. About 6 weeks later we heard her first word.
Good luck to you.
Many speech therapists also do private pay for a lot less than they charge the insurance companies. One of my best friends is an SLP and she charges 100$/hr (most around here charge 120$/hr). My son has Down syndrome so we've been in the therapy world for a while (five years to be exact). I'm also an occupational therapy student.
There are many websites full of ideas if you are going to go it alone. www.speakingofspeech.com has TONS of activities that speech therapists have put together and submit (Click on Materials exchange.. there are three of them). Also, Super Duper Publications (you can google for their website) has LOTS of awesome stuff to work on speech. www.do2learn.com has free downloads of picture cards. www.babysigns.com is the first thing I would recommend. Start teaching him signs (you use the sign and the word simultaneously..never just sign) and that will help him have a visual for the language.
I'm concerned that you said he's not "interested" in talking. What do you mean by this? Does he make eye contact?
www.julieslp.com is the website for the SLP that I love. If you can't afford her, you might just explain to her your situation and I'm sure she'd be happy to offer you some suggestions you can do at home.
I've been through the tears. Insurance doesn't cover A LOT of the therapies I would like my son to have. And being a student myself, it's hard to afford private pay. Consequently, I've done LOTs of research on my own and made friends with therapists so I could seek free advice on how to work with my son. I'm happy to share any knowledge and resources I have.
Oh.. you might also want to look into group speech therapy classes. They are generally more affordable because parents split the costs. www.julieslp.com (her name is Julie Liberman) has a group called Lunch Bunch (60$/session, sessions are 2/wk). Sheryl Ambers, another SLP friend of mine is the Director of Star Music (www.startherapyprograms.com) and she does group speech classes too that are LOTS of fun. (She charges 50$ for eval. then 300$ for 12weeks of class, classes meet once per week. You can pay in two payments of 150$ throughout the course. Sheryl is also a mamasource mom and is the one who got me hooked on this website! Love her!)
There are some other group speech programs in the area. Let me know if you're interested in this avenue and I can share with you some other resources I have.
Rachel
I have a cousin who's son had the same problem. Alot of times children get lazy when their parents or other caretakers do all of the talking for them. It is always good to ask lots of questions. If they do not answer, keep asking what they think or say "what" "I can't hear what you said". My daughter is 2 and very intelligent. I ask her lots of questions and always expect an answer. She loves to be told she is so smart after talking. Giving lots of praise always works. Children have to learn to speak through trial and error. We cannot communicate for them, it just holds them back. Tell the nanny to ask your son lots of questions. DO you read to him? Read books and ask questions. Like, "What is this animal?" "What color is that?" They love to be involved.
Good Luck and God Bless,
Brianna B.
Hello-I have an almost 3 year and he is not talking much. Says a few words. Certain times we talk to him we use just a couple of words. Like if he wants Daddy to do something we say to say Daddy please while looking at him (he will watch our mouths). We sit in the bathroom in front of the mirror and do different facial expressions (get his mouth to form different letters). I sign the vowels to him, putting alot into the way my mouth is formed. We put heavy on the first letter of the word (like ball, we say ba,ba,ba,ball).
May I ask what was up with the ECI??
Good Luck with the talking!!
Hello Esther,
I am a speech language pathologist. I am sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with ECI. You are correct to begin looking at options to help your son with talking. Once he is 3 he can be tested by Plano ISD and if he qualifies you could receive services through the school district. Until then you might want to consider private therapy. One option to help with cost is to contract with SLPs who work for themselves. Where in Plano do you live? I could give you the names of some friends, or if you live close enough to me I could offer services. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected]
Thanks
Jennifer Jobe
Esther,
I’m sorry to hear your dilemma, and I know when insurance doesn’t work out it’s a shame. I would consider looking into Easter Seals of Greater Dallas 972-394-8900. They have excellent speech therapists and will put your kid in a professional, kid friendly environment where he can excel first away from home and then the therapists coach you on what you can be doing to transfer the therapy to the home environment also. This technique sounds more appealing to me because it takes the kid away from the home, where he is used to being lazy and not trying (ECI’s problem), but it is so much more quaint than being to some big, long hallwayed hospital rehab facility. They sometimes will take cases without insurance plans, although I don’t know if currently they have a waiting list for that, but they will try to work with your insurance so if that works out I recommend them.
Hope that helps, let me know if you need any other advise,
-Amanda
[email protected]
Esther,
I worked for ECI as a speech therapist for five years and am so sorry to hear you had a bad experience. It is not uncommon for a parent to request a new therapist if the one you have is not working for you. Each of us has different personalities and strengths, so it's okay to try to find a better match for your family if you are still open to trying it again. If you are, I would definitely call the director and talk to her about it. That's what she's there for. She knows each ones strengths and weaknesses.
I've read alot of good suggestions from everyone else like reading to him, using sign language, and trying withholding an desired toy or food that he is wanting at the moment until he makes a sound. Pick books that have photos of other children/toys and just pick out one key word to say to your child like "ball", then pause and wait about 5 seconds before saying another word, to give him time to let it sink in and have a chance to say it. If he doesn't say anything, say, "your turn" or "you say it", and look at him expectantly and wait 5 seconds. If he still doesn't say anything, try having him look at your mouth and as you point to your mouth try just saying the first syllable, "ba" and see if he'll try it. You can do the same thing with food, bubbles and toys that have more than one piece. Try teaching him say "more" when he wants another piece and show him the sign for "more" as you say it. You just touch your fingers to your thumb and move your hands towards each other in front of your body. Baby signs is a good book to get from the library to start you on sign language. I would be interested to know too if he can follow simple directions and point to pictures in books upon request. Let me know how it goes after trying these things, and I can give you some more ideas.
Hi Esther,
I am sorry to hear about your son. My son is almost 21 months old and only says "go go" for go. He has never said mama, etc. I have some input from my own experiences in this area with my son.
As for the cost of speech therapy, I believe Easter Seals charges $66 per 30 minute session for speech therapy (they may also decrease that rateif insurance doesn't cover as I was told a discounted rate for other evaluations that my insurance did not cover). We had our son evaluated by Jennifer at Easter Seals and I was very impressed with her and the speech therapy program. My son is currently attending speech therapy twice a week at Baylor-Our Children's House due to the close proximity to our house.
Also, as for at home activities, we are doing the following things with our son (as was recommended by his speech therapist):
When talking with your son, tell him "Mommy says boat (or whatever word you want him to say)." then say "(your son's name) says boat" and wait to see if he will make a "b" sound or try to say the word. It is supposed to be easier for kids this age to hear their name and know you want them to say something then to say now you say... because children may not know pronouns yet.
Put objects up to your own mouth and pronounce the name of it in a slow exaggerated manner with your child watching your mouth. Then repeat the word over again. Such as, our therapist told me to get farm animals and hold one at a time up to my mouth and say, "T (your son's name) wants elephant", then try to get him to say it or some sound for it. When it comes time for another animal, hold it up and say, "T wants more" emphasizing and holding the m on the word more.
If your child becomes frustrated, don't push the issue, but do get him to calm down and not associate screaming/crying as a means to get what he wants. So when my son starts screaming because I am not giving him what he wants, I calming explain he needs to calm down and then I will get it for him. When he calms down I hand him the object.
Our Speech therapist recommended our son learn basic baby sign language in the interim to help reduce his frustration and aid in language development. Luckily for us, we already had started this learning technique. There are baby sign language videos out there, such as the "Signing Smart Series".
We also have been told to put together a photo album or other type of picture book of common objects, label the objects and ask our son to point to a certain object and when he does for us to name it slowly and ask him to repeat it as discussed above.
Expose your son to other children around his age that are talking. We had an in home nanny for our son until recently and he was not exposed to other children daily. Since we have started taking him to places where children frequent (church nursery, small group child care, play groups, etc.) he has started taking notice of these children's speech skills and at least hears and observes their behavior. My son is now attempting to imitate these children's speech.
I hope my input helps you.
Good luck,
Shaina
Your local school district will provide pre-school with speech therapy if he qualifies. Call the special education dept and ask to have him tested. They have programs starting at 2 or 3 year old, I think. Don't fret too much. My daughter did not talk until she was about 2 years 4 months, and now I cant get her to stop. She never said words. She started talking in sentences.
Hello Esther,
I am an audiologist and I now stay at home with my 3 month old son. Have you had your son's hearing tested? This is a very important step. Most insurances should cover it, though you would have to check. The Callier Center for Communication Disorders is a great place for hearing testing, speech evaluations, and speech therapy. You can call them at 214-905-3030 (I think I remember that correctly--you can look it up). They have an office near downtown Dallas as well as one at the UT Dallas campus in Richardson. If he has not had his hearing tested recently (in the past 6 months), do that first. If he does have any hearing loss, you need to address that prior to any speech therapy. Then, you could ask at the Callier Center regarding options for your son to receive therapy. Feel free to contact me if you wish: [email protected]
Amanda Mueller, Au.D.
Ester I have 4 kids, and my 31 month old son just now started to talk. They all start at different times. I was worried because my 20 month old daughter started talking before he did...just remember that all kids develope differently and I do not think that your son has anything wrong with him. Some children just need more time.
Hi, Esther:
I have a non-verbal 30 month old son. His situation is different, as he was adopted just 8 months ago from Taiwan and had a rough start in life, including not being able to hear for his first 22 months!
Anyway, we do speech pathology through ECI, but honestly, they're not helping him make much progress. Everything he's accomplished has been due to the hard work of my husband and me (and my son's own little "can do!" spirit). The main reason we're doing ECI is that our previous insurance didn't cover speech pathology, and we didn't have the $$ for a private pathologist. We're on a new insurance plan now that will cover SP, but we have to go in-network and we have a $35 co-pay per visit. I haven't found a private pathologist yet, as we're brand new to this insurance, but I'll post here when I do.
I have corresponded with another mom here on MamaSource who's son needed SP work, and she HIGHLY recommended Therapy 2000 here in Dallas. I looked at their website yesterday, which is http://www.therapy2000.com . I'm going to call them today to see if they work with our insurance.
Blessings,
Lisa
Hi Esther, sorry to hear about your situation! I had a son who is speech delayed. The think about speech delay is unless you know WHY the child is delayed, it is hard to treat yourself. There are many different reasons why a child is delayed and they have very different therapies. It could be a motor planning issue, it could be a recall/retrieval, apraxia, etc.
I do understand the financial issues here....trust me! I would recommend you try ECI again and see if you can request another therapist or speak up with what you are unhappy about.
Until you know why your son is a late talker....I think it would be really, really hard to treat yourself. Most speech people, have Masters Degrees in therapy.
Good luck!
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Dear Esther,
Sounds like you need to stimulate the temporal and pareital lobes of your son's brain. Particualry the Wernicke and Berocca areas of the brain that are responsible for speech and communication. You may want to introduce your son to Brain Gym exercises, they are very easy exercises to stimluate the brain. http://www.braingym.org/. There is a teachers manual you can buy that explains many of the exercises and what they are for, it is wonderful I use these exercises in my practice with my clients everyday and have wonderful results.
Trust this gives you an alternative.
Kind Regards
Dr. Sue
Ester, You may want to ask your pediatrician or whoever diagnosed him at Presby Plano about getting speech for your son, without the insurance coverage. If you live in Plano they do provide ECI at some of their public preschools (don't know if these are the same people you had a bad experience with). As far as home activites--reading to your baby, playing children's music for him, playing peek-a-boo or anything that will increase eye-contact and interaction with you can help promote communication. Good luck.
Hi,
We had a not so great experience with ECI too. We went to Easter Seals and when insurance coverage ran out we ended up having to go back to ECI. We got a different case worker this time and different ST. It has been wonderful. If you haven't tried it already, see if you can change ST through ECI. Another option is the Callier Center in Richardson. They offer many speech programs for toddlers through UTD. The classes offered are about $200-$300 per semester and your child will work with a graduate speech pathologist student. Also, TWU has graduate speech pathologists offering services for $10-$15 for 30 minutes. Good luck.
http://www.dars.state.tx.us/ecis/index.shtml
contact early child intervention asap. they do great testing. your child may just be on the late end of normal, or they may have a delay. the eci can test him and help him on the right path.
Hello,
I have twins boy and girl. Watching the developement is very interesting. I think your little boy sounds perfectly normal. Girls develope langauge skills faster than boys do. Boys usually can build and take things apart & develope their mathematic skills first. It's just normal brain developement. He will learn to talk more and more, it just doesn't happen as fast as we'd like it to. It will come a little by little over time. Enroll into a mothers day out program or something so he can be around other kids his age and be able to be social with his peers. Just like a couple of days a week or something. Give him time. Read to him a lot. He will talk before he starts kindergarten. Unless of some medical issue. Otherwise he sounds like a normal 2 year old boy.
Hi,
You might want to have him tested for Autism. My 7 yr old displayed some of the same signs as you state your child is & both my hybby & I explained it away as with lots of excuses. Now we wish we hadn't due to the fact we found out that he is mildly Autistic. I'm not stating that your son is, but it is better safe to get tested that way if he is, you can do early intervention. I wish we HAD gotten him tested. But always do what you think is best & don't let anyone try to sway you any other way. Also, don't think that you are just being paranoid. One of the things that we have learned is that majority of the time when a mom has a concern about something like this in her child it is usually correct & should not be brushed off by the child's doctor. Also, if not happy with test results (should you decide to have the Dr test him) always go for that second opinion. If money is an issue, there are always agency that can help you at little or no cost to you. Just some thoughts. I'm not an expert, just a mom who wants to help :)