Re: OT- Speech delays

[Guest guest]

Both of my older kids are apraxic, which basically means that they comprehend

everything

spoken to them, but for whatever reason, they cannot form

words/sounds/sentences/etc

as a typical child can, so they are both in speech therapy. DS, who is 5y3m

started speech

therapy at age 19 months and is currently in the Early Childhood Program within

the

school district--a preschool program. DD is 2y2m and started speech therapy

(in-home)

at 18 months. They both were evaluated through Early intervention (EI) of

Illinois. The

program goes by different titles in each state, but most all states DO have the

program.

We don't qualify for free services, but they ALWAYS evaluate for free. We have

gotten our

evaluations and then chosen to go through our insurance because our BCBS plan

actually

has an EI benefit for age 0-3, and it's cheaper to pay copayments than the

monthly fee

bracket that our income puts us in for the EI program.

In fact, we just had EI come in again, this time for , because he's got

torticollis on

the right side of his neck. They come to your house, typically with 2

specialties

(developmental, speech, physical, occupational therapists) and evaluate your

child. If your

child has at least a 30% delay in any one category or a smaller delay in 2 or

more areas,

you typically qualify for services. They specialize in In-Home treatment, which

is what I

was looking for this time around because, if I could, I'd stay in my house

24/7 with the 3

kids now!! :-) I have realized that (at least until the kids are a little

older) it takes me

longer to get everyone ready to do most errands than it does to actually do the

errand

itself!! Crazy.

Anyway, your pediatrician should have the contact info, or you might be able to

find it

online using a search for " early intervention in ____ " (your state) or

" zero-to-three. " One

last thing--My ped is awesome and willing to go off the parents' gut feeling, so

he didn't

fight me with a referral for services even though ds was really young when we

started, but

some peds do. I hope that yours is like mine because it definitely takes some

stress out of

the scenario!

Hope this helps a little, anyway!

Stacee

> I have four children and the second one (my oldest son) had some speech

> delays, as well as motor delays. In every state of the US, there are

> programs which evaluate kids free under the age of three to determine

> whether or not they have delays which qualify for services. received

> speech therapy in-home with a good therapist and then, at the age of three,

> went on to be treated by a speech therapist in the local school district.

> It benefited him greatly. He turned five in October and is still receiving

> speech therapy. Not all kids need it for that long, though. Listen to your

> instincts as a mom. If you think your daughter is delayed in speech, then

> have it checked out. All the best to you,

>

> Carol

> Re: OT- Speech delays

>

>

> Hello everyone. I wanted to ask everyone if any of your children had

> speech delays? My daughter just turned 2 and to me she is not

> speaking as much as she should be. I am getting kinda worried about

> her and I am even thinking about getting her checked out. She says a

> few words and when I ask her to repeat what I tell her she says

> something different. Sometimes she does repeat me but most of the time

> she just speaks in " her own language " ,kwim.

>

> My son was very vocal and spoke very young that is what surprises me.

> I know you should not compare but she is 2 years old and I feel she

> should be a little more vocal than she is.

>

> If anyone has any info I would really appreciate it!

> and

> BL CF 12/16/03

>

>

>

>

>

>