One day last month we had 2 therapists and 2 child health professionals at our home to assess him for an hour while they played. He had a great time exploring new toys and new people it was a easy process and they were all supportive and lovely. At the end they all agreed that yes indeed he does have a speech delay of about 30% primarily in expressive language (feelings, telling someone about your day or that you enjoyed things etc), some words are slurred more than they’d expect at his age, and he’s not string words together much yet. At 2 years and almost 9 months he was testing on language at the scale of a 21 month old for expressive language and 24 month old for receptive language. Meaning he was already close to a year behind and we needed to start closing that gap. So he started speech therapy one day a week then will transition to the public school system for possible further therapy when he turns 3.
I’m not sad that we got this diagnosis, I’m happy. Because he can get the help he needs to succeed in life now without starting out from behind. Because despite all the reassurances from well meaning friends and family I listened to my gut and asked for help. Because we live in a place that offers these services to kids who need them. He’s been in therapy for about a month now and so far he loves it, he gets to play one on one with a therapist and loves the undivided attention and chatter. My hope is by the time he hits kindergarten we will have him back on track with speech and for him this language barrier we currently face will never even be a memory. That he’ll never remember struggling to find his words or to be heard properly and that it will not inhibit his love of learning.
EI where we live ends at age 3 then you go through the school system. Honestly I’m not sure how the system in Australia works. But what I do know is if you have those nigging doubts listen to them and ask for help, get an evaluation done with a developmental paediatrician or whoever is appropriate but GET HELP. Please don’t let someone convince you it’s all ok if you feel it’s not, we have these services for good reason to help kids succeed. As my good friend Kristen always says “when in doubt, check it out!” It does no good to you (and your mummy guilt) or your child to worry endlessly about it rather than just coming out and asking your doctor for help.
And to family and friends a friendly word of advice if a parent comes to you with concerns, don’t down play their concerns or give them platitudes. Listen and encourage them to seek out their health professional to get answers or assistance. We do kids and parents no good by down playing doubts and avoiding help if needed.
And one more thing for anyone who wonders if early education dollars are well spent and really work , studies show that every dollar spent on Early Intervention programs for kids is 4 dollars saved in prison costs later because it helps kids who need a hand to overcome these sorts of hurdles and succeed in life. So yeah that’s money well spent. So please if you have a concern about you child’s development as for an evaluation. Be it motor skills, coping skills, language or any of the other myriad of things that we all didn’t get owners manuals on when they handed us those wiggling bundles of joy so many days ago now, if something feels off ask for help, someday you may be like me and be so thankful you did.
I’m not sad that we got this diagnosis, I’m happy. Because he can get the help he needs to succeed in life now without starting out from behind. Because despite all the reassurances from well meaning friends and family I listened to my gut and asked for help. Because we live in a place that offers these services to kids who need them. He’s been in therapy for about a month now and so far he loves it, he gets to play one on one with a therapist and loves the undivided attention and chatter. My hope is by the time he hits kindergarten we will have him back on track with speech and for him this language barrier we currently face will never even be a memory. That he’ll never remember struggling to find his words or to be heard properly and that it will not inhibit his love of learning.
EI where we live ends at age 3 then you go through the school system. Honestly I’m not sure how the system in Australia works. But what I do know is if you have those nigging doubts listen to them and ask for help, get an evaluation done with a developmental paediatrician or whoever is appropriate but GET HELP. Please don’t let someone convince you it’s all ok if you feel it’s not, we have these services for good reason to help kids succeed. As my good friend Kristen always says “when in doubt, check it out!” It does no good to you (and your mummy guilt) or your child to worry endlessly about it rather than just coming out and asking your doctor for help.
And to family and friends a friendly word of advice if a parent comes to you with concerns, don’t down play their concerns or give them platitudes. Listen and encourage them to seek out their health professional to get answers or assistance. We do kids and parents no good by down playing doubts and avoiding help if needed.
And one more thing for anyone who wonders if early education dollars are well spent and really work , studies show that every dollar spent on Early Intervention programs for kids is 4 dollars saved in prison costs later because it helps kids who need a hand to overcome these sorts of hurdles and succeed in life. So yeah that’s money well spent. So please if you have a concern about you child’s development as for an evaluation. Be it motor skills, coping skills, language or any of the other myriad of things that we all didn’t get owners manuals on when they handed us those wiggling bundles of joy so many days ago now, if something feels off ask for help, someday you may be like me and be so thankful you did.
