Possible speech delays?

[v-girl]

So glad that even though we don't use our public schools for education, they are uppity enough to require advanced degrees for speech therapists and special ed teachers. Though they will kick us out of speech once he's ready for Kindergarten and I inform them I am homeschooling him. We pay really high taxes (not that I'd know since we've been here 13 years and it's the only place I've owned a home) so I plan to get my money's worth while I can.

[diggitydot]

If you're in district, I think they still have to provide services whether you homeschool or not. Maybe it depends on the state?

[v-girl]

They kicked my oldest out when we went the private school route instead of public school. We paid a few thousand for private therapy for her for Kindergarten through 1st grade.

[diggitydot]

I think private is different than homeschool. At least when I was a kid in WA, all the homeschooled kids would come to the school for various things (speech, PT/OT, extra-curricular activities, sports, dances, etc.), but the private schooled kids didn't because they weren't considered "in district". I'll have to ask my sister who still teaches in that district. Now I'm curious.

[Chrisada]

We also have great speech through our school system. Like V, our taxes are very high. If your worried, get him tested. Better to start intervention early. The two-yr-old has speech through our school system and will qualify for free pre-school next fall if his speech doesn't improve enough. Also look at your insurance if you don't want to go through the school system. I just found out our insurance will pay to have a speech evaluation plus 60 one hour sessions per year through rehabilitation services. We will be doing both.

[scarlett09]

Although I only saw your boys very briefly this weekend, I don't think you are screwing them up and I think that you are a fantastic mom!

I hope that school and exposure to other kids brings a sudden flow of words and sentences.

[samssugarmomma]

I was going to suggest checking with your insurance as well. We get free evaluations and then 60 visits per year of speech, pt and ot. I opted to go the route of using our insurance because there was a long wait to get evaluated through the school system (our district is HUGE and disorganized) and then there would have been a huge lapse inbetween any diagnosis and actually starting therapy.

I'd suggest looking at getting an eval from your local children's hospital and seeing if you can do therapy there if your insurnace will cover it.


And remember - even if he has a delay, it's not your fault!!

[moonlight]

I wanted to chime in a week ago but never seemed to find the time. DD is also in ST as of Aug this year. She turns 2 yrs old next month and is saying 4-5 words. The ST is very slow going. After 9 weeks of it she just YESTERDAY signed "more" and "mine" and "all done" of course she didn't say those words but at least she can communicate with us. It breaks my heart to type this but she isn't saying MaMa yet. I've heard her say it two times, but it's like she loses words. We are currently going through our insurance and going to the out patient rehab at the hospital. I dont like it there. The speech therapist is so young and starting out in her career. Like someone said before they are mean and bossy up there at the clinic. After all the medical expenses i've already had for her (PT weekly for 12 months, etc) I just don't think I can afford this. We are going weekly and it's costing me about $30 per week. I had the NC Be Early program come out and eval her to see if I can get her on their services and not pay anything out of pocket. ANyone know how that works when you have insurance? I'm still waiting to hear what my charges will be.

Here's my next question. Has anyone had a child have speech problems, later to find out it was fluid in the ears problem? The NC Be Early program scheduled a hearing test (our current therapist kept forgetting to schedule it) last week and she failed it. Said she had fluid in her right ear, and left was clear. I took her to the Pedi today and now the right ear is cleared up but the left is now filled with some fluid. No wonder my baby can't talk that well. She can't freakin hear us! Nothing is certain tho. Pedi said he is more concerned why she failed hearing screen if she did have one good ear. Thought she needs to see ENT to get a better look and find out if she needs a hearing aid. OMFG. They really know how to make your day, dont they?

[ladymoreta]

Here's my next question. Has anyone had a child have speech problems, later to find out it was fluid in the ears problem?

It's not direct experience, but a friend of mine had something similar. Her daughter was still pretty young, but the day after getting the ear tubes, her daughter started saying several new words. I don't think she was technically behind schedule on vocabulary yet, since they noticed the fluid due to ear infections, but it does seem to be more than a coincidence. I hope they help your sweet girl!

[Thirteen]

No advice, just hugs, Moonlight.

[v-girl]

[Tenacious_D]

So sorry to hear that...I thought about the fluid in the ears as well but E has never had an ear infection which someone said is a big sign. I hope once the fluid issue is resolved she will start screaming MAMA!!!

[moonlight]

So sorry to hear that...I thought about the fluid in the ears as well but E has never had an ear infection which someone said is a big sign. I hope once the fluid issue is resolved she will start screaming MAMA!!!

Lack of ear infections is another issue I guess. DD has never had a ear infection, not ever! She has nasal allergies and little colds from time to time, but never a ear infection. Even today the Pedi said she doesn't have a ear infection, but fluid is in there hanging out causing pressure and things to sound muffled. Apparently it's causing her to not hear us as well since she failed the hearing test. I guess that tube in there is such that fluid can hang out and not drain correctly until kids are a little older. She was born 'tongue-tied" and we had the bottom part of her tongue clipped when she was about 12 days old by the ENT in our area. I guess we'll be going back to him since he's the only Pedi ENT in our area. Hoping I won't even need to wait all that long since he's seen her before.

[Tenacious_D]

Hmmm...I thought E had some allergies as well because he tends to get congested. This is helpful info. We are seeing the Ped next Thursday and I'll see what they see/think. It makes me so sad when you realize that your child has had problems or uncomfortableness but no way of expressing it Thanks for sharing this.

[moonlight]

Quick update. Since she is a current/exsisting patient at the ENT office due to having her tongue clipped there after she was born... I was able to set a appointment with them Tomorrow! And we will see the same doc that did her tongue.