I've been concerned for quite some time now about an ever more apparent speech development delay in Garrett. While his vocabulary is slowly expanding, at nearly 2 1/2 years old he can only say a small handful of words that are understandable to those who don't live with him, and he is not yet putting simple sentences together, as most children his age are. He speaks almost constantly and with incredible voice inflections, but what he says mostly sounds like babbling. When I compare him to his peers, he talks now like they were talking a year ago.
The problem does not appear to stem from his hearing, as he understands and carries out basic instructions from me. He seems, too, to be able to answer simple questions that I ask him, even though I often have no idea of the specifics of his replies. It seems more to me to be a "wiring" issue: he hears fine, but somewhere between his brain and his mouth things get scrambled and the words he produces do not come out as he necessarily intended them to. In fact, after some conversations with my mother-in-law, I am even more convinced that this is where the trouble stems from. Blake had similar speech delays when he was very young, and consequently went through many years of speech therapy.
Earlier today I took Garrett in to see his pediatrician to hopefully begin the process of helping his speech develop as it should. The doctor referred us to the city's Early Intervention program, which is available for children up through age 2. He gave me their phone number, and once we got home, I called to get the ball rolling. Unfortunately, though, no one was in (likely because of the Thanksgiving holiday) so I probably won't be able to get a hold of anyone until early next week.
Before I left the office I was warned that, if after the initial evaluation Garrett's speech was deemed not too horribly delayed, we might be denied the free services EI provides. I'm hoping, though, that given my own observations of Garrett in combination with the family history of speech problems, he will qualify for speech therapy sessions. Besides, the doctor also told me that it's much easier to present a case for further speech therapy to the school board (who succeed the folks at EI once a child turns 3) if I have official in-hand proof from Early Intervention that my child's therapy should not yet be terminated.
I've been warned by several people that working with "the system" often proves to be an uphill battle, but for the sake of my son, I plan to do whatever I can to get him help. So here we go. And maybe, hopefully, it will be sooner rather than later that I will be able to understand what the heck Garrett is always talking about.
11 comments:
Good luck, Linds! And Garrett! Glad that darling little guy has such a dedicated mamma!
I know so many that have been through this battle--and it was always worth it. Hope things go as they should!
My nephew is in EI in MO...they are great and he has improved. He is now 3 so is in the "normal" school system, but is still getting therapy. sounds like garrett has some delays, but sound pretty basic to me. I bet you will be able to get the help you need and he will be up to speed in no time! good luck, and keep us posted!
We did EI in Texas with my Kennedy, as she was delayed considerably because of hearing problems but even after they were corrected, she still needed help. It was great! We really learned so much and now . . . well, she certainly doesn't need any help talking and is actually quite, ah, verbose. :) Good luck! I didn't find that it was a considerably battle--people were quite accomodating and helpful. It was good to get outside help and perspective and so much fun to see progress.
Of course I remember you! Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog so that we can reconnect. I've actually stumbled across your blog before. How fun that both of our kids are the same age. It is so much fun and pretty hard at the same time. I love the way you write about your boys. You are obviously a great mom!
We are going through the same thing right now. Good Luck!
We ended up paying for private speech therapy (because the school district wasn't equipped to deal with stuttering) and even though it's a hassle and we have to travel and all that its so worth it. The earlier you get them in the easier it is, and if for some reason you do have to pay out of pocket most speech therapists will work with you on the price if it's unaffordable so that your child gets the help he needs.
Way to be a proactive mommy. I felt so reassured once we were doing something about our child's speech.
Wow that doesn't sound fun. I remember going to a speech therapy class in first grade. I don't know what it did, but I came out a pretty good speller. My nephew is 4 now...he didn't start talking until he was 3 and now he just doesn't stop and you can understand about 90% of what he says. I hope all goes well for you and Garrett.
Tessa had a speach delay because of hearing loss due to excess fluid (but only 1 ear infection). Our school district was wonderful to work with and soon had Tessa enrolled in speech therapy in a local elementary school along with 2 other 3 year old girls. It took a couple rounds of testing but since she clearly qualified, it wasn't hard to keep the ball rolling. Here's hoping it's the same for Garrett! He sounds like he is at the same level, or even a bit lower, than Tessa was at his age. I was often translating for Scott what Tessa said. That's when I started to realized that maybe something was wrong.
Good luck Lindsay!
When my youngest was just 2, I made identical observations to you. Turned out she had a mild form of apraxia of speech and the early intervention people were able to "intervene." They were almost going to deny her the therapy, though, because she was on track in all other ways. Once the speech therapist made her assessment, it made a difference.
She had therapy for a year before we moved out of state, and she made so much progress she wouldn't qualify now. She is still behind other kids her age, but I know how to work with her myself from watching the speech therapist and she'll be fine.
Good luck!
My foster son was about the same age as your little boy, he didn't seem to be talking like the other kids...he was super smart as a whip though...and EI wouldn't give him help either. My prayers with you in that Garrett gets what he needs! Huggs.
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