(newbie - Hi!) Diagnosis before age 2? Also, anyone know good Albuquerque SLPs?

[Guest guest]

Hi, all!

I have an 18-month-old daughter who shows a lot of signs of apraxia.

I know it's early for a professional to give a diagnosis, and I'm

wondering when I might reasonably expect one. I'm sure that depends

on her symptoms and the SLP...I just want to make sure she's going to

get the right kind of therapy, so if it would be the same whether

it's apraxia or something else, I guess it doesn't really matter.

I also want to know whether her symptoms could be caused by something

else. I haven't been able to find any other condition that shows

these symptoms, but I don't want to seem like I'm pushing for an

apraxia diagnosis unless I can be sure that's what she has.

At 9 or 10 months, Lainey started calling her brother's name (dan-nuh

= Xander). I know that sounds crazy, but her brother (who's 5 now)

had 20 words at his 1st birthday, so crazy things are pretty common

in our family. I still kept working hard to not compare the two and

expect her to talk like he did, so I'm not sure when she stopped

saying that or when she got quiet.

My first little worry was when we tried to get her to say 'bath'

or 'ball', you know, those easy first-word type words. (She was

about 13 months, I think.) If she tried at all, she would always

say " da. " I got her to repeat " bababa " , but it came out as " dadada " ,

and it didn't seem like she could tell that it was different.

But of course we told her ( " No, not dadada, bababa. " Ugh, I hate

thinking of that now -- we said it nicely, smiling, but knowing what

we know now it seems so mean!). It didn't take long for her to stop

trying at all. If she ever did try, she'd tuck her head down and

whisper, only once. She was 14 months old and seemed embarrassed to

try to talk.

Oh, and her first 'word' was please - she used it in context, any

time she wanted something - but she was actually blowing a

raspberry. We thought it was SO cute!! And it was, but now it's

sad, too.

She says 'ssss' for ice, shoes, and (now) please. Actually it's

become her 'anything' word, which used to be 'da.' I got her to

try " plant " one time; she said " t " . She does say " no " VERY well,

lol...and she says 'I' for hi. A month ago she said " yeah " a lot,

but not anymore. Now she nods for yes.

She mostly grunts and points. She's actually very good at

communicating; I usually know what she wants, but not always. When I

can't get it, she sometimes throws a fit, but more often just gives

up and walks off.

Early Intervention came out and did an eval; everything except

expressive language tested at close to or above 24 months.

Expressive language was at 11 months. She's on their waiting list,

which is REALLY long, which is why I'm turning to private SLPs now.

The EI evaluation also discovered that she has some sensory-seeking

behaviors, and she has low sensation in her mouth. This explained a

lot - why she likes to chew on crushed ice, puts her fingers in her

mouth with every bite of yogurt, likes hot salsa and chili-cheese

chips, etc. I put peanut butter on her top lip yesterday, and she

couldn't lick it off, her tongue would only go down. Poor baby, she

looked at me with a little scowl like, " Jeesh, Mom, did you have to

point out another problem? " Oh, and she LOVES to roughouse with her

60lb 5-year-old brother. He gets hurt more than she does!

One more thing. When I finally realized she had a speech problem, I

also realized I'd been talking to and treating her like she was still

11 or 12 months old. So of course my behavior toward her changed

quite a bit. (She understands SO much!) And then her behavior

changed too. Before, she didn't seem to 'like' me -- didn't want me

to hold/cuddle her, didn't want help with anything, wouldn't let me

hold her pacifier or stay to pat her in her crib. I just thought,

ok, she's very independent, I don't understand her, but I'll let her

be herself. As soon as I started treating her like a smart 18-month-

old, she actually got clingy!! She cuddles all the time, hands me

her pacifier, loves me to hold her, pulls my hand down to pat her

chest in her crib. She listens to me, and does what I tell her (as

much as the next 18mo old, anyway, lol), where she used to either

ignore me or laugh and just do what she wanted.

Example: last night she kept waking up without her pacifier and

crying. I went in there a couple of times to give it to her and

cuddle her for a minute, and she'd go right back to sleep. The third

time I went in, when I laid her back down, I said, " Okay, go back to

sleep. No more fussing, ok? I'll come get you in the morning. " She

nodded...and didn't fuss any more all night. I know, right? And

that's the second time she's done that!!

She has also started vocalizing a lot more since I started

encouraging all of her sounds. Over the past couple of weeks I've

heard 'ba' and 'ma'; she'd never said these before. (But she's said

more complicated sounds like zh, s, sh, and v for a long time.) And

she'll say " whee " or " wowee " on the slide, and she tries to

say " toodles " (from Mickey Mouse) - it's just a high-pitched squeal,

but it's something!

Okay, I just realized how long this post is. If you have read this

far, I am very grateful and am amazed at your tenacity. Sorry, I

guess I haven't really had anyone (who could understand) to talk to

about this.

So. Is there anything else that could be causing this? And can

anyone recommend an SLP in the Abq area?

Thank you!!