Language Delays

[Guest guest]

The week before Thanksgiving Break...our SLP that works with andra (4yrs.,

Clarion since 9/99) at school

stopped me when I came to pick up and told me that she really is concerned

with 's lack of consistent

speech and language production. (This is a concern that I have had since she

was about 2 1/2 yrs.) is

enrolled in our county DHOH TC program. After the implant we decided to remain

in the TC program because

she had oral-motor difficulties and we felt that abandoning sign would hinder

rather than help her communication.

Now, at 4 1/2 , we are really anxious because we have a little girl that has

very rudimentary communication skills

(combination of sign and speech)...she uses mostly 2-3 three word sentences,

occassionally she will string

4 words but still not very complete...such as, " Daddy go walk " or " Where black

kitty? " (her speech is very

intelligible, though...we have people tell us frequently how clear it is)

She knows her colors very well, but could not tell you the teletubbies names

even though

we had read teletubbie books over and

over again. One of our frustrations is that has so many issues (mild CP,

Sensory Integration Dysfunction,

gastric tube because of feeding difficulties..just to name a few). She does not

respond well to questions...she will

tell us what her name is and how old she is, will answer yes and no questions.

Cognitively, she really does

seem to understand a lot of what is going on around her. She is hearing well

with the implant, her audie confirms

what we see at home...hearing around 25-30 db. We are at a loss as to where to

turn for help in getting

a better picture of what is going on with her. The CP clinic at Shriners

suggested we see a developmental

pediatrician. is currently in SI therapy and the SI people tell me that

her motor planning difficulties are

probably hindering her speech and sign production....I know that this is pretty

jumbled up but the school

therapists and teacher want to call another IEP and discuss concerns, set new

goals etc., I feel that I need

some concrete answers on what we are dealing with rather than just developing

another plan of attack, do

I ask the school for assessments, go outside of the system for opinions and

possible Dx??? I feel that we

have been fiddling around with this for too long and now here we are 2 years

later and 1 year post implant and

even though she seems to be making progress, there are some obvious glaring gaps

and concerns.

Any suggestions????

Jeane

(really confused!)