# questions about speech



## momof3boys3cats (Apr 23, 2008)

My 3 year old son does not talk much. He says cat, dad, mom, preston and a few other words. We took him to speech therapy and it didn't help at all. He went to preschool but hated it and the kids were mean to him. He tries to say things but it doesn't come out like much and you cant understand him. They said he is not autistic. He is up to level on everything else but his speech and it worries me. My mom is a school teacher and thinks he will talk when he is ready, but I am just wondering if anyone else has advice on how to try to get him to talk? He was very sick when he was a baby. We thought he might have some type of brain damage due to his high Jaundice level but the doctor said he doesn't. No doctor can tell us if anything is wrong. His hearing is fine.


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## texastami (Sep 13, 2002)

I only know what I have lived..... 4 kids.... two were early talkers... two were not! My youngest DD(who will be 5 next month) didn't start talking complete sentences until last year.... and now she doesn't stop talking.... She talks very deliberately.... and very maturely for her age.. (I have said that it is because she spent so much time LISTENING)

Interesting you mentioned jaundice because BOTH of my late talkers were jaundiced at birth.... never thought much about the correlation...


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## ozarkcat (Sep 8, 2004)

Have you tried getting his hearing checked? DD was not an early talker, either, and that was one of the first places they sent us to be on the safe side. On the bright side, she's just turned 3 & has really recently taken off with speech - maybe the past month or so.


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## Sonshine (Jul 27, 2007)

There are a couple of sites and books I would recommend. My son is a late talker. He was diagnosed with a Pragmatic Language delay, both expressive and receptive. One of the sites actually led me to the other site. The first one is called Natural Late Talkers. It's a yahoo group. Here's the link for it:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalLateTalkers/?yguid=275983365

The other group is Communicating Partners. Dr. Jim works with all kinds of kids with language delays. Here's his link:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/communicating/

Now, for the books. The first one I would recommend is Late Talking Children written by Thomas Sowell. Here's a link about it:

http://books.google.com/books?id=NcDWURUzOS0C

And another one written by Thomas Sowell is called, The Einstein Syndrome. Here's that link: http://books.google.com/books?id=68...author:Sowell&sig=_BsVzQj7dacXyar_SzgtJgMJCYI

Dr. Jim has a few out that you can find at his group. We used Communicating Partners.

If I can help in any way let me know. I've been on this journey with my DS for 6 years now, so I may be able to offer some suggestions. IM me if you would like.


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## akhomesteader (Jan 5, 2006)

Find another therapist. Beg if you have to. Most good ones are really full and wont' take new clients, but try to convince one to ONLY do an evaluation rather than treatment. Then you can at least find out what's going on. That's what we did. We couldn't find one to take us regularly, but we did find one willing to squeeze us in for an evaluation.

My son who is almost 4 still doesn't talk in complete sentences. Barely talked at all a year ago. Two pediatricians and one speech therapist all said he was fine. If I'd listened to them, he wouldn't be. I did have his hearing checked, which of course, is the first thing to do. I finally found a wonderful speech therapist, but she would only do an evaluation because she was too busy to add him to her practice. But, that evaluation and her suggestions made all the difference in the world. 

I can't remember exactly what she called his problem, but basically, he has very weak muscles in his tongue, jaws and cheeks. He wouldn't talk because he was physically unable to form the sounds. The first speech therapist was worthless. She did a "textbook" type of evaluation, and only told me what I already knew --- that he had a significant expressive language delay. No help at all as to why or what to do about it. 

The second one was great and picked up on everything. My son had very fat cheeks (way fatter than most babies), his tongue was slightly squared at the end instead of being rounded like it should be, and he still drooled when he was almost 3. He didn't chew his food much, and if we had something hard to eat, like tough meat, he would only eat a few bites and mostly swallow them whole. His mouth was worn out very quickly. He also puts everything in his mouth, and thinks that anything even barely warm is scorching hot. I'm just telling you that in case your son has any of those symptoms. Our second speech therapist picked up on these things immediately. She asked me questions, watched him play, and she had me bring a few snacks of different textures that he likes --- like pretzels and cheese so she could watch him eat. The entire evaluation was only about 2 hours, but it was enjoyable, relaxed and fun. No formal "tests". She was really good. 

She ended up giving us some little rubber things to do sort of physical therapy for his mouth. We saw improvement in about 10 days, and MAJOR improvements within a month. He also has a slight "tongue-tie", but the only doctors I could find here wanted to use general anesthesia to clip it. The speech therapist agreed with us that it wasn't worth the risk. Now he's talking up a storm, but still doesn't pronounce everything correctly. He's getting there, though.

But, there are some children who just talk late, and there really doesn't seem to be anything wrong. I'd keep searching for another therapist. And, my son also had some jaundice for a week or so, but not severe. I never worried about it, but I used to be a pediatric nurse and saw lots of babies much worse than mine. 

Best wishes,

Jenny
Frontier Freedom


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## akhomesteader (Jan 5, 2006)

Oh, I just remembered something. The way we found the second (fantastic) speech therapist was through the Scottish Rite. (I think that's it.). One of our sons needed to see an orthopedic specialist, and the Shriners have an orthopedic clinic for children in Alaska a few times a year. We heard about the speech therapy services through them, but I can't remember if it's the Scottish Rite or Masons. You could call them or check their website. Their services are completely free if you don't have insurance to cover it. 

Also, here's a link to a site with resources for parents that may help. http://www.nathhan.com/straight.htm They have 2 programs you can purchase. One is supposed to help non-verbal children, and it's about $45. I've heard wonderful things about this, but haven't tried it yet. They have another program for children who talk, but not well. We may try it. 

Jenny
Frontier Freedom


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## bluefish (Jan 27, 2006)

My daughter didn't even try to start until almost three. We even tried sign language with her, but she had no interest. She learned hungry, thirsty and cat, then quit. She's now six and won't EVER stop! Although I have to say, she has awesome vocabulary. Blows me away.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

My son was also a late talker. And, in February of his second grade year, he _finally_ graduated speech class. (I'm afraid he might re-qualify next year though for his "r" sounds)

Call your local school district. They can test him (and it won't cost you anything) and provide services, if needs be.
My mother also said I shouldn't worry about my son. She's not only a teacher, but a special ed. preschool teacher! 

I've kicked myself many times in the years since for listening to her...


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## Sonshine (Jul 27, 2007)

Although you can get your child tested through the school system, I would urge caution. Too many late talking kids are being misdiagnosed as autistic. Don't let them label your child. Make sure, if they suspect something, to see a specialist. I went through this with my son. We were told everything from autism to mental retardation and many things in between. Yet they gave a verbal IQ test to a non-verbal child. Once my son had a non-verbal IQ test mental retardation was ruled out. They never did a CARS (children's autistic rating scale) on him to determine if he was autistic. Just figured since he wasn't talking he must be autistic. Once my son was given the CARS, that was also ruled out.

My son was turned down for speech through the public schools in Florida because he didn't have a speech impediment. He wasn't talking! I homeschool. They informed me the only way they could "help" him was if I would enroll him in the schools. Of course, this is the same school system that wanted to label him as mentally retarded and autistic.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

Sonshine said:


> Of course, this is the same school system that wanted to label him as mentally retarded and autistic.


You should talk to your state's dept' of ed. Federal law _requires_ them to provide services to any child in their district, even those who don't actually attend school. (The only way they can serve preschoolers, obviously).
And that's really weird that they would jump on autism...
I've known several children (all boys) who needed speech services in four different states, and not one was suggested to be _anything_ but a speech candidate...:shrug:


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## MorningGlory (Feb 20, 2008)

While you are waiting for your school system to do something about your child's problem, look up Auditory Processing Dysfunction and see if that doesn't sound familiar. Research that, and Dyslexia. It may not be these, but the information sure helped us out with our child when no one else would help us.


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## bajiay (Apr 8, 2008)

From above, it's the Scottish Rite Children's Learning Centers. My daughter went there as well. Wonderful program they have. Have a waiting list to get in sometimes, but it is free. One thing I learned from my daughter going there is how if the child did not crawl as a baby, it can affect their learning because of the way their brain is working. My daughter had never crawled. She was 7 when she started going there and they would have her crawl around the rooms and down the hall before starting her session. It made a HUGE difference. If he didn't crawl, I would have him do it every day. If he did, I think he will just start talking one day then you'll be asking us how to get him to shut up! If all of the tests and things are ok, don't worry about it.


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## Sonshine (Jul 27, 2007)

I agree about the Scottish Rite. I never took my DS to them, but belong to a yahoo group of Natural Late Talkers and many of them rave about it.


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## momof3boys3cats (Apr 23, 2008)

They had early headstart at our house for months working with him and he went to speech therapy 2 times a week. Instead of trying to help him talk they were teaching him sign language and then he got lazy and quit talking period. We asked the therapist to stop signing all the time with him and they were furrious with us. They said he is up with all kids his age in everything else except speech. I think alot of it is that he has an 8 year old brother that does all his talking for him. They said he was not retarded or autistic just delayed. He had a jaundice level of 27 and 28 can cause brain damage and death in infants. He was very sick and so was I the whole pregnancy. I just want to hear him talk more. But when he eventually does I will wish he would shut up... lol Thanks for the replies.


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## akhomesteader (Jan 5, 2006)

I'm so sorry. I know how frustrating it is for you when you, his mom KNOW there's a problem, but none of the "professionals" see it. All of our children are adopted, and all have different problems. But, most of the folks in the modern medicine world are of the belief that "if it can't be cured with a pill, it doesn't exist". I know that isn't true for everyone in the medical field. I'm a nurse and I know some who are not like that, but the vast majority of the professionals I've worked with are like that. 

It's up to you to do your own research and figure out the cause. I have another son who was born with a metabolic disorder, but most doctors won't acknowledge that it has anything to do with the problems he now has. If I don't give him a fairly high does of vitamin D each day, he can barely walk and has lots of other symptoms of vitamin D deficiency. I took him to many doctors and all acted like I was a fruit cake. When I happen to be visiting my ND (a naturopath who does not treat children), I happen to mention the things going on with my son that worried me. He immediately knew it was from his metabolic disorder that the other doctors insisted no longer affect him, and he knew exactly what I should do about it. He looked it up in one of his books to prove it to me. Within 2 weeks, the symptoms were gone. If I stop the vitamin D, they return. One of my sons has a sensory disorder, as well. The OT insisted that the things I told her don't actually exist. My son could not feel wet or cold when he was standing in a mud puddle in the spring that still had chunks of ice floating in it. He couldn't feel wet when he had an accident in his pants. Lots of other things, too. The OT said that none of the things are really happening because she tested those parts of his brain that deal with that. She did some standardized test where she had him walk up stairs, button and unbutton, cut paper, etc. That was it, and she had the nerve to tell me that he was not doing the things he's doing because her test showed otherwise. She had a very snotty attitude and told me that not only did he not have a sensory problem, but I was wrong about him and he was not really doing the things I said he was doing, as if I was making it up or delusional. I just rolled my eyes, decided to take responsibility for it myself, did the research, and now we're seeing some improvement. 

All that to say that if I were you, I'd do lots of my own research through natural medicine sites, and maybe try to find a really GOOD ND. You can talk to them on the phone first as sort of an "interview" to see if you want to spend the money for an office visit. I've done that many times. Your son may not be autistic, but since many autistic children have significant speech delays, you may be able to find a doctor who does natural therapies for autism and who may be able to help you. The most common doctors who treat autism naturally are called DAN! Doctors. It stands for Defeat Autism Now. It's a specific method for treating autism. There are other natural practitioners as well. Holistic medicine has shown excellent results with many children. We did that (not the holistic medicine, but another alternative medicine doctor) with one of our other children and it worked wonders. I believe there IS a reason for your son being delayed in speech. My older boys never did the talking for the youngest who had the speech delay, but if they had, it certainly would not have helped. Try to your older child stop talking for the younger one. My son hated signing, but finally agreed to doing just the basics when he finally learned that it did help us know what he wanted. It saved him lots of frustration. He used to bang his head a lot, but the signing helped. When he started talking, the head banging stopped. As soon as he could say a few words, he stopped signing. He has some mild delays across the board, too. Some thought he may be autistic, but wanted to wait and see before tacking that label on him. He's not, which is a relief. 

Maybe your son is having such a terribly difficult time with speech that it's a relief for him to be able to sign. I don't know, but I'd do more checking instead of waiting for a professional to help. Maybe Google for "newborn jaundice and speech delays" and try to find natural health sites that are legitimate. Sorry to ramble. It's just that my heart really does go out to you. I understand your frustration with the professionals because I've been in your shoes. If you are interested, let me know and I will give you some of the websites that I found very useful. 

Best wishes,

Jenny
Frontier Freedom


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## bajiay (Apr 8, 2008)

I found that I still have the number for the Scottish Rite if you want it. They could probably give you a number for one in your area.


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