Re: 3 year old with only 2 words

[Guest guest]

Hi Hillary,

Elias sounds similar to my son, Miner. He will be 3 in November. I took

him for 2 seperate evaluations 3 months ago, and they both " suspected "

apraxia, but said he had too few words for a diagnosis. At the time he was

saying maybe 4-6 words on his own and could do most animal sounds

cosistently. He wasn't very vocal and did charades or would grab my hand

and pull me around (or just get it himself) to communicate. Physically, he

is probaly above average and he seems to understand everything we say and

points to whatever we ask in a book... (He was given the overal speech of a

15 month old)

After his evaluation, I got Early Intervention to committ to speech therapy

1x a week (they offered 2x a month). His speech therapist is great. I have

been checking out " Baby Signing Time " videos at the libarary and Miner

really loves them. He doesn't sign a lot of things, but it has helped him

understand you can talk with your hands and has eased some frustration! We

have been doing physical prompts with our hands by our mouth to help trigger

his brain. (rub your lips with your finger for mmmmm, wag finger back and

forth for tttt, open close hand for ppp) It is working real well when the

cards and prompts are in front of him-- he doesn't seem to use it much

otherwise.. Most sounds out of his mouth are Ehhh or Ehss.

After finding this group 3 months ago, I started Miner on the Nordic

Naturals fish oils. (10 weeks ago) I was giving him the JR. dosage, and

doubled it about a month ago. I can say I noticed a physical difference to

his body about a week later from, initally starting 10 weeks ago. His skin

had always been dry and I figured his hair was just more dry since it was

curly. His hair texture actually changed and his skin was SOFT without

slathering him in Eucerin constantly. (haven't even used it in 2 months)

Anyway, that really helped me realize his body was deficient in the omegas;

which are critical for brains.

Based on all the testimonies in this group, I started 1 scoop of Nutriveda

(had my doctor ok it first) 8 weeks ago. 2 weeks ago I upped it to a

heaping scoop and 3 days ago, I upped it to 1.5 scoops.

I am still waiting for the magical surge, but can say Miner is definitely

making more attemps. He is not near as quiet as he used to be. (A few

months ago I couldn't get him to make a noise in an echo microphone.) He

seems more frustrated. He probably has 10-15 words now he uses

independantly without prompting that I can understand if I know the

context. One thing that has worked for me is to sing the same songs every

night to him. Now I can pause at various easy words, and he trys to say

that word, and then I go on.

I am anxious to read other's response to your email to also get some ideas

of what I can do better. My plan now is to have him reevaluated next month

and hopefully get a diagnosis so I can push for more intensive speech

therapy when he turns 3. I've seen others write that they have taken their

kids to specialists, but I am not sure what kind...

I sure hope you find what works for you and Elias. It is so hard to watch

these little kids struggle so and miss all the clever thoughts going through

their little minds!

Malinda

On Sun, Sep 19, 2010 at 8:28 AM, hilsandelias <hilarie@...> wrote:

>

>

> Hello!

>

> I've been so frustrated with professionals doing developmental and speech

> assessments on my 3 year old son without having any idea what his diagnosis

> is, I thought I would post here and see if anyone has a similar experience.

>

> Elias babbled like crazy as a baby, and even said " cat " (gat) and " light "

> (ight) when he was one year old. He waved and pointed right at the average

> age. Around 18 months he regressed and stopped waving, pointing, and using

> his two words. His pediatrician was concerned at his 18 mo appt and had us

> see a developmental specialist for evaluation. Elias was up to speed on all

> of his physical and social milestones (great interaction, showing, and eye

> contact) but had a receptive and expressive delay; they said he was more

> like 13 months in language.

>

> Since then he slowly picked up waving and pointing again and he has gone

> through stages where he can make some sounds of the alphabet like if I say

> " The C says? " he would say " kuh! " but he has also lost those. The only

> consistent sounds right now are " What does the dinosaur say? " " Rahhh! " and

> " What does the snake say? " " Sssss " as well as " Uh-oh! " when he is hurt or

> sees someone else get hurt. He shakes his head NO only, but we suspect it

> means Yes OR No, not just no.

>

> He has never tried to imitate a sound or a face before until this week. We

> have been working on " The cow says moooo! " because a goal in our speech

> therapy right now is to get him saying Mama. I see him trying to say Mooo,

> he presses his lips together in exactly the right way, but then he just

> blows air and can't really make the Mmmm sound. However! When he eats

> something he likes or sees someone eating he will at times say Mmmmmm, so I

> know he CAN make that sound!

>

> Is there anyone at all who has ANY idea what this might be? We've had 4

> different speech/development evaluations and everyone says " I just have no

> idea! " We are so frustrated because we want to be following the correct path

> in treatment as soon as possible.

>

> Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

> -Hillary (Austin Texas)

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

your question was what can this be right.  well I know many many personal

friends in my area that have the same issues.  It can be a form of autism. 

especially the 18months you mentioned.  The mmr for some children send them

overboard and they change.  Your child may be only speech affected that would

be called ppd-nos.  there is a site called generation rescue that will explain

what the shots have done.  There is hope.  My daughter was mute and with

special meds she now can speak perfectly.  long long story though.  my

daughter would still be mute and must have certain meds to talk.  anyway there

is a book called louder than words that is a good first read about autism.  I

know it is not that same story as you but her son struggles to talk and they try

different things to help him talk.  they also talk about different foods that

some children might be sensitive to.  There is no one fix but keep you mind

open to many different

possibilities.

>

>

> Hello!

>

> I've been so frustrated with professionals doing developmental and speech

> assessments on my 3 year old son without having any idea what his diagnosis

> is, I thought I would post here and see if anyone has a similar experience.

>

> Elias babbled like crazy as a baby, and even said " cat " (gat) and " light "

> (ight) when he was one year old. He waved and pointed right at the average

> age. Around 18 months he regressed and stopped waving, pointing, and using

> his two words. His pediatrician was concerned at his 18 mo appt and had us

> see a developmental specialist for evaluation. Elias was up to speed on all

> of his physical and social milestones (great interaction, showing, and eye

> contact) but had a receptive and expressive delay; they said he was more

> like 13 months in language.

>

> Since then he slowly picked up waving and pointing again and he has gone

> through stages where he can make some sounds of the alphabet like if I say

> " The C says? " he would say " kuh! " but he has also lost those. The only

> consistent sounds right now are " What does the dinosaur say? " " Rahhh! " and

> " What does the snake say? " " Sssss " as well as " Uh-oh! " when he is hurt or

> sees someone else get hurt. He shakes his head NO only, but we suspect it

> means Yes OR No, not just no.

>

> He has never tried to imitate a sound or a face before until this week. We

> have been working on " The cow says moooo! " because a goal in our speech

> therapy right now is to get him saying Mama. I see him trying to say Mooo,

> he presses his lips together in exactly the right way, but then he just

> blows air and can't really make the Mmmm sound. However! When he eats

> something he likes or sees someone eating he will at times say Mmmmmm, so I

> know he CAN make that sound!

>

> Is there anyone at all who has ANY idea what this might be? We've had 4

> different speech/development evaluations and everyone says " I just have no

> idea! " We are so frustrated because we want to be following the correct path

> in treatment as soon as possible.

>

> Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

> -Hillary (Austin Texas)

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

The biggest change for my son was fish oil. You can get it at Whole Foods. I

started my son off on Nordic Naturals 369 jr. and we've moved up to nordic

naturals 369. I'm going to get Nordic Naturals ProEFA and ProEPA next, but as

far as I can understand you need to order them online. You can check the

archives, but he went from 10 word approximations to learning 10 words a day

within three days on fish oil.

I also did baby sign with my son, just to relieve some of the frustration. We

checked out Signing Time from the public library and watched them together. I

got the brush off from early intervention and assessment and speech through the

university, but no diagnosis. And he did not respond well to the therapy. Some

people say that Prompt therapy is super for their kids. and there is a prompt

instructor in Austin. We don't have the money to go to her, so I can't say what

she is like though.

I also have my son on Nutriiveda, which seems to be helping him as well--more

globally and less verbally. If you want to try some, I have some extra

canisters and I'm in San Marcos. E-mail me...

Liralen

> On Sun, Sep 19, 2010 at 8:28 AM, hilsandelias <hilarie@...> wrote:

>

> >

> >

> > Hello!

> >

> > I've been so frustrated with professionals doing developmental and speech

> > assessments on my 3 year old son without having any idea what his diagnosis

> > is, I thought I would post here and see if anyone has a similar experience.

> >

> > Elias babbled like crazy as a baby, and even said " cat " (gat) and " light "

> > (ight) when he was one year old. He waved and pointed right at the average

> > age. Around 18 months he regressed and stopped waving, pointing, and using

> > his two words. His pediatrician was concerned at his 18 mo appt and had us

> > see a developmental specialist for evaluation. Elias was up to speed on all

> > of his physical and social milestones (great interaction, showing, and eye

> > contact) but had a receptive and expressive delay; they said he was more

> > like 13 months in language.

> >

> > Since then he slowly picked up waving and pointing again and he has gone

> > through stages where he can make some sounds of the alphabet like if I say

> > " The C says? " he would say " kuh! " but he has also lost those. The only

> > consistent sounds right now are " What does the dinosaur say? " " Rahhh! " and

> > " What does the snake say? " " Sssss " as well as " Uh-oh! " when he is hurt or

> > sees someone else get hurt. He shakes his head NO only, but we suspect it

> > means Yes OR No, not just no.

> >

> > He has never tried to imitate a sound or a face before until this week. We

> > have been working on " The cow says moooo! " because a goal in our speech

> > therapy right now is to get him saying Mama. I see him trying to say Mooo,

> > he presses his lips together in exactly the right way, but then he just

> > blows air and can't really make the Mmmm sound. However! When he eats

> > something he likes or sees someone eating he will at times say Mmmmmm, so I

> > know he CAN make that sound!

> >

> > Is there anyone at all who has ANY idea what this might be? We've had 4

> > different speech/development evaluations and everyone says " I just have no

> > idea! " We are so frustrated because we want to be following the correct path

> > in treatment as soon as possible.

> >

> > Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

> > -Hillary (Austin Texas)

> >

> >

> >

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Of course I would need to see him for an evaluation to give a definite

diagnosis, but it sounds like he has signs & symptoms of motor planning

difficulties (apraxia). Have you read

[Guest guest]

Hello,

We too live in Austin, TX and had a similar experience with people

not knowing what our son had. We started our journey when he was

3 going through the school, a university, and various SLP's with no one helping.

When he was almost 6 we found Kay Giesecke in Dallas http://apraxiadallas.com/.

She diagnosed him with childhood apraxia of speech. She told us exactly what he

needed for therapy. It was worth every penny seeing her. She is wonderful.

You might want to check out Big Sky Therapy in Westlake:

http://bigskyfriends.com/. There are two SLP's there who are familiar

with apraxia now. They have only been around a year or so.

Personally, we do the speech therapy ourselves. Our insurance does

not pay for therapy over 3 years old. And, we cannot afford the

out of pocket costs for therapy.

I don't know if your child has apraxia, but these people can

help identify it if it is.

Good Luck

Dana

>

> Hello!

>

> I've been so frustrated with professionals doing developmental and speech

assessments on my 3 year old son without having any idea what his diagnosis is,

I thought I would post here and see if anyone has a similar experience.

>

> Elias babbled like crazy as a baby, and even said " cat " (gat) and " light "

(ight) when he was one year old. He waved and pointed right at the average age.

Around 18 months he regressed and stopped waving, pointing, and using his two

words. His pediatrician was concerned at his 18 mo appt and had us see a

developmental specialist for evaluation. Elias was up to speed on all of his

physical and social milestones (great interaction, showing, and eye contact) but

had a receptive and expressive delay; they said he was more like 13 months in

language.

>

> Since then he slowly picked up waving and pointing again and he has gone

through stages where he can make some sounds of the alphabet like if I say " The

C says? " he would say " kuh! " but he has also lost those. The only consistent

sounds right now are " What does the dinosaur say? " " Rahhh! " and " What does the

snake say? " " Sssss " as well as " Uh-oh! " when he is hurt or sees someone else get

hurt. He shakes his head NO only, but we suspect it means Yes OR No, not just

no.

>

> He has never tried to imitate a sound or a face before until this week. We

have been working on " The cow says moooo! " because a goal in our speech therapy

right now is to get him saying Mama. I see him trying to say Mooo, he presses

his lips together in exactly the right way, but then he just blows air and can't

really make the Mmmm sound. However! When he eats something he likes or sees

someone eating he will at times say Mmmmmm, so I know he CAN make that sound!

>

> Is there anyone at all who has ANY idea what this might be? We've had 4

different speech/development evaluations and everyone says " I just have no

idea! " We are so frustrated because we want to be following the correct path in

treatment as soon as possible.

>

> Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

> -Hillary (Austin Texas)

>

[Guest guest]

What do you use for speech?

>

> Personally, we do the speech therapy ourselves. Our insurance does

> not pay for therapy over 3 years old. And, we cannot afford the

> out of pocket costs for therapy.

>

> I don't know if your child has apraxia, but these people can

> help identify it if it is.

>

> Good Luck

>

> Dana

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks so much for the thoughtful replies, anecdotal stuff is so helpful because

of the lack of " answers " we get. Just knowing we're not alone is so important in

staying positive!

I wanted to ad that Elias doesn't have any vaccinations at all. We were going to

do a delayed schedule starting at 2 years but because of the speech delay we

have held off on giving anything at all.

-Hillary

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks fr the local recommendations, I really appreciate it! I have been so

frustrated to just be handed a list of SLPs with no idea who is good!

The private therapy is so expensive, our co-pay is $30 a session. I think we

will be doing our best to get a diagnosis and then research the best methods to

practice at home and supplement with a really great SLP twice a month. I'm

trying my best not to lose my mind or money.

-Hillary