We're at the beginning of our journey and needing some advice

[Guest guest]

Most of you moms (and dads) probably don't remember us. We've only

posted once or twice back in July/August when we were just beginning

our EI journey. My son, , is almost 27 months old now and is

receiving speech/OT services once/week and and OT with an EI

preschool teacher once/week. At 19-20 months he wasn't using any

words to communicate his needs, but would repeat 3-4 words when

asked. He wasn't making much eye contact and would just point and

grunt when he wanted something. Many of you very nice ladies on this

board encouraged me to call EI and have him evaluated now, rather

than wait until his second birthday. Thank you for that advice!!!!

I set up an appointment and had him evaluated by an audiologist,

speech therapist, and psychologist. They told us he clearly

qualifies for special education services. I'm not sure I agree, but

they said he might have a cognitive delay as well as an obvious

speech delay. At the time, he wasn't following simple one-step

commands or requests. For example, if I asked him to go get his

shoes, he would just look around and/or ignore me. I'm not sure if

there truly is a cognitive delay or if he was just being stubborn.

(He has proven that he is stubborn in the past) In my mind though,

it didn't matter because having a cognitive delay would mean he

qualified for another hour of service/week. The more help available,

the better… right? At that age, it's so hard to know what

is " normal " development and what they " should " be doing. Back then,

I suspected he might have mild autism, but after having him evaluated

by a pediatric neurologist, I learned that most of his tendencies

were most likely the result of his frustration with not being

understood and his limited ability to communicate. The neurologist

said he had a developmental speech disorder and that I should just

continue with the speech/OT. I left his office thinking " great

news! will catch up. " However, then I started wondering about

the word " disorder. " Isn't that a lifelong condition? Could he have

given me a diagnosis for apraxia? Would he have recommended an SLP

if there was cause for concern?

I think the EI services are really helping him. By mid-October, he

began using about 6-8 signs to communicate needs and once in a while

would put two of them together. Lately, he has been saying more

words, calling me " a momma " and my husband " dada " and even naming

several shapes and almost all the letters in the alphabet. He will

follow one-step commands and some that require him to move to another

room. (I'm not sure what it all means, but it sounds pretty good.)

However, I am concerned about the amount of actual " speech therapy "

he is getting. I'm not sure how speech therapy works at this young

of an age and how much is needed to get the best possible results.

Most of what they do with him is OT. I am just now beginning to

understand the reason for the OT and how it relates to speech. But

how much speech is enough? The program he is won't provide a

diagnosis. They " treat the child, not the disability. " But I am

concerned that he is receiving a broad umbrella of " treatment " and

want to be sure it is enough. All the research states that early

intervention is so important and that if a child has apraxia, he/she

would require intense speech therapy as early as possible. He hasn't

been diagnosed with anything except a speech delay as of yet, but I

don't want to lose any precious time here.

Would anyone mind telling me about her child's diagnosis? How and

why did you " get the ball rolling? " Is apraxia only diagnosed by an

SLP? At what age was your child diagnosed? Did you simply get a

referral from your PED and set up an appointment with an SLP? I have

heard it cannot be diagnosed until around age 3. Am I jumping the

gun here? And what sort of speech therapy do you receive? How

often? What do they do? Any suggestions, advice, or comments would

be appreciated. Thank you so much for reading!