Speech Delays in Preschoolers
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Speech Delays in Preschoolers
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June 2008
I'm interested in finding a pre-K program my 4 year-old can
attend next fall that provides language and communication
support. He's a bright and generally happy guy, but he
struggles with language and we want to do everything possible
to get him up to speed so he can attend our local kindergarten
the following year. I've heard great things about Happy
Talkers, but it's in Dublin which is quite a drive. Does
anyone know of any other similar programs closer to the
Berkeley/Oakland area?
anon
We've been going to the CSU East Bay Speech and Language Clinic
for my son's speech/language delay. He goes twice per week for
a one-hour, one-on-one session. Our clinician is terrific,
relates extremely well to our three-year old and his speech has
improved over the past two months as a result. My little guy
loves to see his ''friend'' Ashleigh, aka the clinician.
I've heard that it can be difficult to get into the program,
but if you're able to the cost is much more reasonable than
private speech therapy @ $300 for a nine-week quarter (18
sessions). There's a summer session coming up that could be
ideal since so many families take it off due to vacations,
etc. It's more of drive than Berkeley/Oakland, but we've found
it very worthwhile overall.
Here's the link...
http://class.csueastbay.edu/commsci/abclinic.htm
MB
Tilden Elementary School
in Oakland is great for children with
language delays. I have personally seen the positive effects
it has had on my friends daughter.
http://tilden.ousd.k12.ca.us/
Sara
If your son has a true language delay, he is eligible for free
preschool (special education) through your local school district.
If you live in Oakland, you can call the Diagnostic Center at
879-3070 for an assessment. If he meets the criteria (is delayed
enough) you will be offered a preschool placement. It's a good
program and early intervention is important. Good luck!
anon
May 2008
My child just turned four a couple of months ago, and I'm
having trouble figuring out whether she needs speech therapy or
is just experiencing normal speech difficulties for her age.
For the past three or four months, she often stutters 4-5 times
on the first sound of a word. She is also completely unable to
make the ''R'' sound. She loves to talk, and it seems to me that
the stutter tends to happen when she's thinking about what she
wants to say or changes her mind mid-sentence. There is a
history of stuttering on one side of the family, which has
prompted my concern. I'm not sure whether to pursue this now
or wait, and would really appreciate hearing from others.
Also, if you do think I should pursue it, what are your
suggestions about how to do that?
Not sure if there's a problem
I am not a speech teacher but I have been teaching for 20
years. The 'r' sound (or lack thereof) will not be considered
a problem until age 7. Eventhough your child has not entered
kindergarten, public school districts do screen for
speech/language issues starting at age 3. You can call your
local school district office to get more information.
teacher mom
The place to start would be to have your child evaluated by a
speech-language pathologist associated with a children's
hospital.(If you get a referral from your pediatrician, your
insurance will pay for the evaluation.) The speech-language
pathologists at Oakland's Children's Hospital, for example, are
excellent. I have personal experience with them, as my own child
had an issue and was evaluated by them. Even though I am a
language professional, they picked up on important things that I
myself hadn't even noticed. The evaluators will tell you where
to go from there - they'll answer all your questions about what
is going on, how to address it and roughly what lies ahead for
you, and they will recommend speech pathologists in your child's
needed area. Regarding age of when to start, I don't know about
the stuttering issue (if that is even what it is; my son would
do something similar to what you describe though it was clearly
because he was thinking and it was not stuttering), but as for
the articulatory issue: (a) r's are developmentally one of the
harder sounds, it just may mean your daughter has a slower
maturation curve, and (b) children respond differently to
articulatory speech therapy at different ages. There are a lot
of drills and homework practice, and I found my own son at age 7
extremely motivated and able to focus, so he completed his
re-training in 4 months. Not sure how focused a younger child
will be. Again, the evaluator will be able to tell you much more
from their own experience. (One last thing - avoid relying on
speech therapy offered by the public schools, go for one
associated with a hospital or a reliable private practice. My
son's speech therapist (associated with a hospital) said that in
her experience working in a school setting, schools are woefully
understaffed and underfunded, so that children must meet in group
sessions and nothing gets accomplished. Children need the
one-on-one.)
Anon.
First, I'd ask your pediatrician what he or she thinks about
your child's speech - I found that many pediatricians tend to
think more ''developmentally'' as our pediatrician thought our
son's difficulty with articulation was developmentally/age
appropriate though my gut told me that there was more to it.
Our pediatrician referred us to Children's Hospital Speech
Pathology Clinic for an evaluation when he was about 2 1/2.
When he turned 3, we went through our school dsitrict (OUSD) as
they will screen a child and provide appropriate speech therapy
services if needed. This route worked for us. Good luck!
Been there, done that
In the first grade, I couldn't say ''s'' -- it didn't impact my
ability to understand or be understood, (which is some school
discticts' criteria for speech therapy) but my parents had
me ''fixed'' and i'm glad they did. One of my best friends in the
world stutters like a champ, and while he's married, two kids,
successful career, etc., he's a stutterer, and it's ... annoying
for him and others. I'd say that if a speech therapist can
help, let them help.
Dave
As a teacher with over 10 years experience and a mother of a
son with a speech delay, I say call the Regional Center of the
East Bay NOW. Their services are free- paid for by our tax
dollars.
I think the younger a child's speech issues can be addressed
the better the hope for the future. Besides your time, what
have you got to lose? I was concerned about the social fallout
for my son with his speech issues. As you notice your child's
stuttering, so do others. Sometimes kids (and adults) can be
less than kind and patient. Now at 6 years old his speech is
clear, he's an excellent reader and I'm glad he got services.
happy mom
My 7 yr old stutters in a similiar pattern. We had him
assessed by the school district just before kindergarten (at no
cost to our family). He is pulled out of class once or twice a
week for about 20 min. by a speech therapist. His stuttering
has really improved. On the clinical scale, he has gone from
moderate to mild in the 2.5 years since he started the
therapy. Also, his attitude towards stuttering is really
healthy and positive. The therapist is nice and gives him
treats. The stuttering foundation has a good website. Cameron
School in EC has some info., as well. Good luck.
anon
We began to take notice that our our 5 year old son seemed to
be struggling with getting out a number of different words and
sounds at around 3. I asked his pediatrician about it and she
said that it was common and that he should grow out of it. At
his 4 year check up, he was not only still stuttering, but it
seemed to be getting worse. She was still unconcerned but by 4
1/2, I was. So I requested a referral to be seen by a
specialist. He was assessed by a therapist at Children's
Hospital who indeed thought that he could benefit from speech
therapy. We then got an approval for 12 sessions with a
children's speech therapist at Alta Bates and have been seeing
her since February. I also called our school district, Alameda
Unified, and have gotten him pre-approved for ongoing therapy
once he enters kindergarten in the fall, should he need it.
What really drove me to pursue all of this now was that I
wanted to get a good headstart on addressing the issue before
he entered kindergarten and his stuttering became a social
concern for him. We are almost done with our initial 12
sessions, and we are now starting to see noticeable
improvement. Feel free to email me directly if you have any
other questions.
dada
Dec 2007
My 4.5 year old daughter pronounces ''s'' with a slight twist
of ''th'', and you can see her tounge protruding from her teeth,
when she says anything with ''s'' (so I think hers can be
classified as the ''inderdental'' type). It is not very severe,
and does not interfere with her intelligibility (everybody can
understand what she is saying). She is bilingual and lisping
occurs in both languages (whereas in the other language, ''th''
sound does not exist). I am concerned, because if it contiues
like this, she might be one of those people with a slight lisp
in adulthood. What if she wants to become a singer or
something? Is it time to take action yet, or is it too early?
If I needed to take her to a speech therapist, do you have any
recommendations? I don't even know where to start from to look
for a speech therapist. Does Kaiser have them, or can an
initial assessment be done in pre-school or when she starts
school next year?
Thank you for your advice.
anon
Your school district will assess your child's speech needs
beginning at age 3, I believe. Contact your local school
district. Do it now, you are not too early!!!
I recently went through this with my child and so can give you
some information:
The place to start is to get your child evaluated by a pediatric
speech therapist associated with a hospital. I am familiar with
two, Children's Hospital Oakland, via their speech & language
center on Claremont Ave., and Herrick/Alta Bates Pediatric
Rehabilitation, speech & language center, on Dwight Way in
Berkeley. Both of these are excellent. I don't know if your
Kaiser insurance will allow you to be referred their by your
pediatrician. If there is a Kaiser in-house evaluation process,
then do it there I suppose. But starting with this type of
evaluation is key. I would start here rather than having her
evaluated in the schools.
The evaluator will then tell you how to proceed and where best to
sign up for speech therapy. They will tell you if this is
something to be concerned about at 4.5 years or if she'll outgrow
it, if there is an anatomical issue, exactly which sound contexts
she lisps in (i.e. it may be only when S is before/after certain
sounds) and if there are any other issues in addition.
I can recommended extremely highly the speech therapists at
Herrick Speech & Language, Angela Korpela and Meredith
Trowbridge. They do evaluation as well as the therapy itself.
They are both fantastic, work extremely well with children, very
knowledgeable. Their scheduler Cathy 204-6729 can put you in
touch with them. You may want to initially ask to talk to Angela
as she has been practicing there for 18 years and can inform you
about your daughter based on much prior experience. I spoke to
her myself initially and was so impressed I was willing to be on
her waiting list just to get a chance to work with her. My son
actually wound up with Meredith Trowbridge, who joined the group
this June (we didn't want to wait any longer) - Meredith was
fantastic. We were told that 6 months would be extremely speedy
progress on my son's issue, and Meredith helped my son finish in
4 months.
Some advice:
1) Insurance approval is difficult to get. Speech therapy is
expensive to pay out of pocket, but that's what we did and I am
so glad, my son's speech is beautiful.
2) Your child will be assigned daily excercises by the speech
therapy. Do these diligently. This is where the real progress
is made. The weekly 45 minute sessions are for progress
diagnostics, assigning and introducing new techniques and drills,
and teaching the child how to focus in on the issue and be aware
of it and be able to hear not good/good sounds. But don't expect
progress just by the therapy sessions, in my experience
everything hinges on teaching the tongue muscle new skills by
daily repetition at home.
Good luck!
Believer in speech therapy
I posted just above about Herrick Speech and just wanted to add
one more thing: while speech therapy is expensive, paying out of
pocket is less expensive than it could be. If you are denied by
your insurance, then Herrick/Alta Bates can set you up with an
uninsured discount, which was something like 40 or 50%, I don't
recall the exact figure, and then if you pay your bill within 30
days you can call a special phone number on the bill to receive a
prompt payment further 20% discount.
Also, age may make a difference in the speed of the progress,
talk to Angela or Meredith about this. My child was highly
motivated at 7 to be able to finally speak clearly, I don't know
if he would have been as focused at a younger age...maybe..I just
don't have any experience of this sort.
Believer in speech therapy
I am a Speech-Language Pathologist. What you are describing is not developmentally
wrong. In the scheme of possible speech issues, it is relatively minor. Correcting an
''s'' takes quite a bit of self-discipline and I find it is often hard for 4-year-olds
to
follow through, although many 4 year olds can fix it if they are into it. If it is not
affecting her intelligibility and she is not being teased or doesn't feel bad about it,
then
it isn't imperative that you take care of it now. It won't necessarily get harder for
her to
fix later if it persists (and it may be easier to fix when she is older and more mature
and can tolerate the repetitive exercises). Really, unless she will be a professional
speaker when she grows up, there is nothing super horrible about having a tiny lisp.
SLP
Oct 2006
This is my question; my child is not verbal at all. he likes to
talk but is totally non-understandable. the doctor says it is up
to him to make it happen i.e. certain constanants etc. are vacant
from his speech. the doctor says it's developmental. he has to
develope it on his own. we read to him, he loves books. he likes
to learn and seems like he wants to talk but just can't find the
words. literally. has anyone ever been in this situation? what
happens at ''speech therapy'' clases. is it necessary to get them?
he is developing normal, does it even matter? he is just three in
November? he will catch up adventualy?
concerned parent
when my boy was almost 3, he started speech therapy for
articulation issues (just couldn't undertsand him!) it was free
through the school district, call the special ed office. I
brought him in once a week, it's not a ''class'' it was 1-on-1 game
playing with a teacher. he loved it! and he got much clearer
christine
My now 4 year old daughter is well understood by all. She has
had speech therapy for a year (with the summer off). She was
getting frustrated because it was hard to understand her. She
goes to the Cameron School. It's early childhood prevention
through the West Contra Costa School District. You have to live
in the District to go. If you do, call them, get your child
assesed and go. She loves it, can't wait for her 2x a week
sessions. There's four children and they meet for 45 mintues
and is great. They do fun things, projects, art etc. It's THE
hidden jewel in the district. She's so happy. Even this
morning the preschool teacher commented how great her speech
is. Much luck!
cheers for speech
Here in Oakland (you will need to check with your school dist)
your child is eligible for speech, lang and occupational therapy
starting at age 3 if s/he qualfies. The diagnostic evaluation is
free, why not have your child tested? My daughter was not a
severe case, but she did qualify and the past 6 months of speech
and OT have done wonders for her (she is almost 4 now). She gets
free services at our local elem school and they have been great.
Montclair Mommy
At 3, the schoool system becomes responsible through early
intervention programs. Contact your local school district about
having your child evaluated once he turns 3, and they will
determine if he is eligible for services through the school
district.
If you want to do something immediately, or if he is deemed
ineligible by the school district, you could have an evaluation
done by a private speech therapist. Treatment will depend on his
diagnosis.
My son underwent therapy through the school system and with a
private therapist starting at age 3. He was having problems
socializing at preschool because the other kids couldn't
understand him. His was an articulation issue, and the sessions
primarily consisted of playing games that involved making
specific sounds that he had trouble with. We also had homework
to practice at home. My son might have outgrown it on his own,
but I think the therapy helped him improve more quickly
Speech Therapy Graduate
at three I believe they are supposed to be putting two words
together, my son has a speech problem but he has CP. he is now 5
and his speech is not clear, he does alot of mumbling,
I would say, get him evaluated, when it comes to your childs
development dont listen to people/doctors that tell you to ''lets
wait and see'' that does not work, my son started speech therapy
at 2, you should push to get him evaluated the school district
can do that for you. They start them at 3, they can also do the
eval if your doctor refuses to do anything, and is telling
you ''lets wait and see'' go with your mommy instinct...
good luck..and I hope all is well
claudia
Pediatricians can tend to be too conservative about child
development, particularly if you have a boy. ''He'll grow out of
it'' is not always the right answer. I recommend having your child
evaluated by a developmental pediatrician or by the Regional
Center. If there is a problem, you absolutely need to find out
sooner rather than later
Jill
Your son's doctor might be right (2- and 3-year-olds are often
hard to understand). Since you are worried, check out this
website to make sure your child is meeting developmental
milestones in his speech.
http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/child_hear_talk.htm
If not, show your doctor the list, and ask for a referral for a
speech language evaluation. A speech language pathologist can
assess his communication development to tell you whether or not
your child needs speech language therapy. Once your child turns
3, you could also contact your local school district for an
assessment. (Then you won't need the pediatrician's referral)
A speech language pathologist (and mother)
If your child is close to three (as in less than 3 months until his 3rd b-day) contact your
local school district and have him assessed by the speech therapist. If he qualifies for
speech therapy, the school district will cover it. You could pay privately, but the
assessments are expensive and hourly therapy ranges from $80 to $120 per hour. You
can contact the Regional Center of the East Bay 510-383-1200 as well (ask for the
assessment intake worker for kids under three years of age). But they will only cover
services until your child is 3 years old. It takes a while to go through the assessment
process...so the District might be a better bet. Good luck,
Anonymous
My son also had no understandable words but used a lot of imaginary
conversational sounds at 2-1/2, too. People kept telling me not to worry because
boys develop speech later than girls, Albert Einstein didn't speak until he was seven,
their uncle/son/whoever was just like my child and now holds a Ph.D., etc., etc., etc.
Suffice it to say, now at 3 years old my son should have 900-1,000 vocabularly
words, be speaking in 3 word sentences, and have 90% of his words be
understandable. None of which is close to the case. (For language development
milestones see www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/
language_development.shtml)
Call your school district for a speech assesment. They start providing services at 3
years old and will assess children who are near that age. Even if you choose not to
use the district's free services (paid for by your tax dollars), at least you'll know
where your child's language development stands. My son's assessment helped me
understand his particular issues and his speech therapy (twice a week for 45
minutes each) gives me techniques for helping him produce sounds that
increasingly make his speech more understandable (along with increasing his
vocabulary).
I don't care if he would have ''grown out of this'' someday. My child deserves to use
words to make friends, use words instead of screams or fists to resolve conflicts,
use words to talk about his feelings, ideas, dreams, fears--just like other children
his age. So why wait this out when speech therapy can help him do this now? What
I really don't understand--especially since speech delays are easier to resolve earlier
rather than later--is why so many people encouraged me to chance it and just wait
and see.
Susan
You should contact a speech therapist. A speech therapist will
evaluate your child's speech, or lack there of, and ability to
understand language. Speech therapy will help you child use
language and it's usually fun. There are lots of speech
therapists in the area - here is the practice that evaluated my
child when he was young (3.5yrs) Amy Faltz and associates
510-654-3381 they have an office on Piedmont ave and one on
Solano ave.
Laura
You might wait until he turns 3, then contact your school
district for an evaluation. It is free, and if they find that he
is in need of speech therapy, that is free as well. I suggest
waiting until he turns 3, because prior to age 3 he would fall
under the jurisdiction of the regional center, but once he turns
3 he would start receiving services through the school district.
The transfer over can be kind of a hassle, so you might as well
wait until he actually is 3. Good luck!
been there!
You have every right to have your child evaluated if you
believe he has speech issues. Since he is almost three,
contact your city's school district and explain your concerns.
They will perform the evaluation and decide whether or not he
qualifies for speech therapy. Your child is entitled to this
by law through the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act. As a teacher and a mother of a child who received speech
therapy, my advice to you is to trust your instincts and have
your child evaluated.
P.S. Your son should have his hearing tested, too.
EGW
Insist on a speech evaluation. All children develop at
different rates, some do speak later than others. Most children
are intelligible by age 3. Your child should also have a
hearing evaluation and any good speech pathologist will require
one prior to the speech evaluation. They might find that there
is nothing wrong, but if your child is truly having problems,
therapy is needed. Not being able to communicate becomes very
frustrating, particularly as children start preschool. Insist on
an evaluation
Elizabeth
Oct 2006
I'm looking for speech therapist recommendations for my 3 1/2
year old son. I'd like to find someone who is mostly play based
and not too structured...someone that my son will look forward
to seeing once or twice/week! We're looking to find someone in
the Berkeley/Oakland/Albany area.
Thanks!
Our pediatrician recommended that we try our local school district for speech
therapy. My son sees a therapist two times a week for 30 - 45 minutes. He has
made vast improvements and there was no fee to me.
Please request an evaluation from your school district! Pinole Mom of 4 year old
Louise Fender (655-2175) helped my daughter with her speech. She played
games--something different every time--gave little treats, and was very effective.
My daughter really looked forward to seeing her. She also came to our house in
North Berkeley, which was great. I found her through a BPN listing and am happy to
second the recommendation
Mary
Feb 2005
I am really worried about my sons speech language development.
He has good vocabulary, but for example he transposes
words/letters. His articulation of words is at times hard to
understand (it is cute - still like baby talk), though his
vocabulary is broad. Like he can't pronounce the letters: f or s
at the beginning of a word. Snake is ''nake'', frog is ''wog''. I'm
wondering where do I get him tested? What is available for
assessing preschoolers and where do I start?
Also is it covered by healthcare? Are there pediatricians who
can do testing? other resources? preschools and schools for
children with language learning issues, any information at all.
I've researched online and also in the archives but the
information is not recent, and most is for older children.
thank you in advance for any advice.
desperately worried mom
I am currently taking my 3 year old son to the Cameron School
in El Cerrito for speech/language therapy. I'm not sure where
you are located or what their policy is as far as treating
children in Berkeley/Oakland since they are part of the West
Contra Costa school district, but it's worth calling and
checking out. The number is 233-1955 and since it is state
funded, there is no cost to us.
taylorsmama
From what you describe, it sounds like your child may have a
phonological disorder (sound system problems for speech
production). Speech Language Pathologists are the professionals,
who assess and treat speech & language problems. You may find
these professionals listed in the Yellow Pages or by visiting the
American Speech, Language and Hearing Association website.
However, there aren't many professionals in private practice and
they are typically quite expensive. You may consider contacting
your local school district, because as a parent of a child over
36 months, you may request that your child be assessed. He may
not qualify for services because the districts have strigent
criteria. California State University East Bay (AKA Hayward) has
a university clinic, where I am the Clinic Director. You can
seek info about our clinical services on the University Website
or by calling 885-3233. SFSU also has a training clinic.
Lastly, you may want to discuss your concerns with your
pediatrician to seek out his/her advice.
I hope this cursory response is helpful.
Shelley Simrin
Call your local school system and ask for an appointment for
your child to evaluated by the preschool speech/language
therapist. They may refer you to a SELPA (Special education
local plan area) for the appoinment. It is a free service and
you can get your questions answered by a qualified therapist.
If you have amazing insurance, an evaluation may be a covered
benefit. Ask your child's primary care doctor for their
referral.
anon
Call the school district, and ask them where to address a
request for an evaluation. The school district provides these
services, even before your son enters school (and yes, it's
free).Then, put your request in writing, and send it certified
mail. You may also want to talk with your pediatrician about
normal development,what to expect when, etc. Many kids are saved
a great deal of trouble by getting early intervention with
speech and/or hearing so you are absolutely doing the right
thing to follow up. Good luck. You can find information also
at ''LD Online''
Carrie
You don't say where you live, but school districts are usually
the ones that carry out the Federal and State (I believe) mandate
to offer free speech therapy/testing (and other learning
disorders) to kids 3 and over (see the California Department of
Health Services Early Start program website:
www.dds.ca.gov/earlystart). My daughter is 3 and currently in
speech therapy through the Oakland Unified School District. I was
very impressed with the speed with which they did the testing
(one nurse visit followed by one speech evaluation) and then the
therapy started (w/in one week of the evaluation). Granted, I had
to follow up and push a bit, but it was great. And its free.If
you are in Oakland, call the OUSD Diagnostic Center and say you
want to get your child tested. If not, I don't have a number for
you but maybe the OUSD Diagnostic Center could direct you, or
check the website above.
You can also do it privately, and during the summer break we will
be doing this through Children's Hospital. For us it all started
with the pediatrician who sent us to an ENT who got her hearing
tested, which found a deficit, which lead to surgery, which fixed
the problem, and in there he ''prescribed'' a speech evaluation.
She has articulation problems like your child. This was all paid
through via insurance. Then once she turned 3 we went to OUSD
who as I've said we've been very happy with and will stick with
for now. Good luck.
Hilary
Start with your pediatrician. Depending on your health insurance, initial testing may
be covered. My son's testing was covered by Kaiser. Depending on the results, you
will then probably be referred to your local school district. School districts in
California provide free therapy and/or preschool for a variety of problems that can
be considered learning disabilities, for kids aged 3 to 18. Speech problems
definitely fall under that category! My son was enrolled in the county early
intervention program for speech delay, and is now transitioning to our local school
district. The good news is, therapy works! Fear not, I am sure they can help your
son!
anonymous
My daughter had the same problem until a bit older. Pre-schools
pressured me to take her to a speech therapist to get tested. I
consulted a linguist who is a specialist in language acquisition
and was told that the only reason to get speech therapy is
psychological. Kids can tease at school. Otherwise, as children
develop, they become able to pronounce the letters without the
need for therapy. The inability to pronounce letters correctly
does not interfere with the child's ability to perceive
differences in sounds, and therefore will not affect how the
child learns to read and write (if I imitated my daughter's
wrong pronunciation she would point out my mistake). Thus, we do
not see older children, teens or adults with this problem. My
daughter is 10 and has been speaking perfectly since she was
about 5. At that time, again under school pressure, I asked her
whether she wanted to go to a special teacher (speech
therapist). She said she wanted me to teach her. I chose a
letter at a time, showed her first how to position her mouth,
teeth and tongue to make the sound, and drilled her and
corrected her for about two days. As she got a letter, we moved
on to the next. We did this for all but one, which she got on
her own. She never had speech therapy and this never affected
her performance in school. I am sure speech therapists will
provide you with many reasons to seek their professional help,
but I am personally very invested in demedicalizing our
differences, so I was happy to learn from a specialist with no
financial interest in promoting therapy that this is an issue
which does not need ''treatment''.
Been there
The pronunciation you described (''nake'' for snake and ''wog'' for
frog)is not that unusual for a 3-year-old. I studied Speech
Language Pathology and checked the norms after reading your
post. Though half of 3-year-olds pronounce /f/, most (90%) can
by age 4. /s/ takes longer with half pronouncing by age 4.5 and
most by school-age. Nevertheless, if your son's speech is
markedly different than his peers, I'd have him assessed. He'll
probably have fun during the process and it should ease your
worries. Also, if there is a problem, you won't feel guilty
about ignoring it. Start with your local school district. Put
your request in writing and follow-up with a phone call. I
think they have 60 days to do the assessment. You could also
check to see if the Scottish Rite in Oakland can help you. Cal
State Hayward's Dept. of Comm. Sciences and Disorders could also
assess him (510-885-3233). Please feel free to email me if you
have more questions.
Paula Crosatto
Call your local Regional center and tell them you would like
your child tested for speech issues. Be persistent, it may
take a while. This will be free. After your child turns 4 the
school district is responsible for testing/treating your child
for free. You can also ask your pediatrician to a referral for
speech/language testing. Where you go will probably be
determined by your insurance plan. Both Alta Bates and
Children's have speech testing. The first thing your
pediatrician should do is order a hearing test. If you're
worried you should go with your gut and get reassurance but I
have to say that what you've described does not sound at all
unusual or worrisome to me (a special education parent whose
child has serious language/learning/attention problems). I
think it is way too soon to tell about dyslexia and that you
need to look at the whole picture of your son's langauge
development. Does he understand what is going on around him?
Does he understand what he is supposed to do in different
situations? Does he communicate with you? With other
children? Experts say the best way to help any child develop
is to get down on the floor with them and do one on one pretend
play.
please try not to worry
It sounds like your son has a problem with what is called
phonology. I know that the Oakland Unified School District
offers classes for preschool children with phonological speech
issues, and I would imagine that other school districts would
as well. The first thing you should do is to contact the
diagnostic center for your local school district to request a
speech/language assessment (no cost to you), and see what
services they have to offer (also no cost to you).
Charlotte
I don't know if this will be of any help at all to you, but I'll
post it anyway. My friend has a little girl with (It sounds like
from your discription anyway) the same issues your son does. She
has been doing speech therapy, I think it is a group class, since
she was 3, and now she is 4 and a half. She is making great
progress. The state pays for it through the school district, so
there is no finanical problem for you. I'm not sure if you need
a doctors referrel or not. They also tested her hearing through
the same program. I have heard about it before through this
site, so you might want to check the archives. The good news is
that I can almost always understand my friend's child now, and I
think that makes everyone feel great. ( I was also going to look
into this, as my son's speech was difficult to understand, but
suddenly it all came together right around his 3rd birthday)
Good Luck. Your son is lucky to have a proacitve Mom.
annon
Feb 2005
My lovely 3 1/2 year old son is a wonderful boy in all ways.
Lately I've been getting really worried about his speech. Lately
I've noticed that the clarity of his speech is sounding less and
less clear than that of his peers. He's very bright, seems ahead
in gross and fine motor development, very active, artistic,
communicative, social, friendly and an 'easy', happy child.
Everyone keeps saying it is too soon to tell, but I want to
catch anything now before he starts feeling self esteem issues
when people don't understand him. I'm wondering how other
parents have handled these issues and how they have prepared
their child for what is ahead without scaring them or leaving
them in the dark.
He has good vocabulary, sentences seem fine most of the time but
for example he transposes words/letters. (Like he'll say: ''I
don't want you to go TA all'' instead of ''...I don't want you to
go AT all.'' He sometimes repeats himself till he gets a verbal
response to make sure he's been heard or understood. When he is
very tired sometimes he stutters slightly - finding it hard to
get the words out. His articulation of words is at times hard to
understand (it is cute - still like baby talk), though his
vocabulary is broad. Like he can't pronounce the letters: f or s
at the beginning of a word. Snake is ''nake'', frog is ''wog''
or ''pog'', dog is ''gog'', socks are ''kocks'', cornflakes
is ''compakes'', Jeremy is ''Je-emy'', and so on...I'm now almost
sure he has something going on - like maybe dyslexia. He is such
a charming and adorable child and so communicative that he can
still get people engaged with him with ease. I want him to
continue with that ease and am worried I may not catch whatever
it is in time to assist him fully.
If you or someone you know has experience with anything like
this, would you please give me some information? Where do I get
him tested? What is available for assessing preschoolers and
where do I start?
At first I thought he just needed regular exposure to other
kids, as he was home with me till four months ago. Now he is in
preschool part-time the overall difference is not hugely
significant. He's been exposed to a lot of activities and
experiences as I took him to lots of places so is quite
knowledgeable, observant and creative.
I'm a single mom and with meager resources. If anyone knows
ANYTHING about learning disorders, please can you write
something - assessment centers? is it covered by healthcare?
pediatricians who can do testing? other resources? preschools
and schools for children with language learning issues, any
information at all.
I am just beginning this journey and desperate to learn all I
can to support him to realize his best potential. I've
researched online and also in the archives but the information
is not recent, and most is for older children.
thank you in advance for any advice.
desperately worried mom
I'm so sorry that your son's speech is worrying you. My son also had
trouble with articulation at age 3, and I spoke to my pediatrician about it.
He referred us to the wonderful Speech Therapists at Alta Bates Herrick,
who did very thorough speech and language testing. As it turned out, his
articulation was at about 18th percentile for his age; they said he would
have needed to have articulation at less than 15th percentile to qualify
for speech therapy (at least the free therapy paid for by public schools;
this sort of free speech therapy is available to children as young as 3
through your local school system, I think). But because his language
and cognitive abilities were so much higher than his articulation, he did
qualify for speech therapy, paid for by our HealthNet HMO. I was so
glad, since he had such great ideas he wanted to communicate, but
even his preschool teacher didn't always understand him. He qualified
for speech therapy at Alta Bates Herrick once a week for about 6
months. In that time his articulation of 'w', 's' and 'l' sounds improved
dramatically, and his 'r' sounds are much better.
I would encourage you to talk to your pediatrician and have your son
tested now, and not wait. The sooner you can do it, the better, as
children at 3 don't mind repeating things over and over as much as
children at 6, when speech problems are normally picked up.
Good luck!
I'm sorry that you are so desparately worried that your son who
sounds wonderful in most respects may have a learning
disability. As a parent of a child with severe learning
disabilities I was offended by your tone of horror at the idea
that your son may have learning differences. If your son really
is dyslexic it is not going to be the end of the world or even
something you would have to prepare him for at the age of 3.5.
Although language based, dyslexia specifically refers to
problems with reading and since your son is only 3 and has not
yet started reading you have plenty of time to address any
problems he may have. I think the best way for you to help your
son maintain his current ease with the world is for you to try
to relax a little about his pronunciation. You can't prepare
him or any child for what is ahead because no one can tell how
any child will fulfill their academic potential. Do you really
want to start telling him he might have to learn differently
from other kids before he is even in school? Go to
schwablearning.org for information.
good luck
I am a speech-language pathologist working with pre-schoolers.
It sounds by your description that some of the things that your
son is doing may be developmentally appropriate. To have a
speech-language evaluation, the best place to start is with your
school district. Each district has a preschool program where
they do evaluations and therapy, if indicated. Unfortunatly, it
usually takes a long time to get an appointment. The department
that you contact is usually called Special Services. I would be
more than happy to answer any more of your questions- you can
email me directly. Good luck.
loren
Your school district should provide free testing and evaluation
for all 3 year olds and above. Once a child is in Kindergarten
they need to be in the public school system otherwise you will
need to go and have your child tested privately (very expensive).
I'm not sure what district you are in but we are in the Contra
Costa School District where this testing is readily available.
Depending on what your child is eligible for, therapy is
available weekly, or several times per week (my friends son went
4x per week for 20 min sessions). My child attended once per week
for a 60 min speech therapy class. All this paid for by your tax
dollars.
We went through all this when my daughter was 3 years old. She
stayed in the program for over 2 years.
All preschools should have this information posted on the
bulletin board. The school district sends out flyers to all
preschools. You do not need a referral.
As I stated previously, this service is paid by your tax dollars.
If you have any misgivings about your childs speech development
(and it's sounds like you do), you have everything to gain and
nothing to lose by having them tested.
My advice is to call your district office now and have your child
tested, esp. if you intend to have he/she go to a private
elementary school. They won't be eligible then.
As in all these situations you need to be your child's strong
advocate.
Good Luck
My now 16 year old son could barely talk at that age, but many of the words he did
say were exactly the pronouncement you say your son has. He found his way on his
own and his speech was fine by kindergarten. Speech delays are not uncommon in
boys. However, in retrospect, I might have had him tested, he has struggled some
with school although there have been other, non learning disability factors involved.
If you're worried, I believe your local school district is legally obligated to
provide
you with educational testing if you ask for it, even if your child is preschool age.
I
think they also must provide you with speech therapy if necessary. You may have to
wait awhile, but they are generally very good, they've seen a million kids & know
their stuff, and it's free! Call the district and find your way around. I'm sure
others
will post having been through this process. Good luck.
Jenny
Call your local school district. They are obligated to assess
him and provide services, if they determine there is a need. If
you live in Oakland I am happy to get you phone #'s and email
addresses of the people to get you started, but unfortunately
don't have contact info for other districts. Good luck.
Sept. 2004
I was wondering if anyone had recommendations for a preschool
for our 2 1/2 year old son for the 2005 school year. He has a
language delay with expressive being more delayed than receptive
but I don't want to put him in a school specifically for delays
since he's making such great progress. But I would like a
school that has some kind of experience dealing with his kind of
delay. We're new to the area and have learned that the
application process begins soon for schools! Any advice would
be appreciated!
Amy
recommended:
Tilden School
July 2004
We want to pay privately for extra speech therapy to supplement
what my son receives in school. He is going on four and is
diagnosed with childhood apraxia of speech. (We have Kaiser
health insurance and it isn't looking like they will pay for it).
We just scheduled him to see Patricia Dodd with Faltz Associates
on Solano Ave. Is anyone familiar with her, and would you
recommend her for a child of his age and/or diagnosis? Or does
anyone recommend any other private speech therapist? Any relevant
information would be much appreciated!
Jessica
Angela Korpela or Michelle Gibson at Herrick Pediatric Rehab.
are quite experienced with apraxia - 510-204-4599, though you
would be paying out-of-pocket. Also if you don't already know
about the website www.apraxia-kids.org, it has some helpful
resources. Good luck!
parent of apraxic toddler
My son saw both Sarah Thompson and Martha Wagele at Faltz
Associates from age 5 till about 7. (From 4-5 he worked with
Kris Baines at Children's, but he hit the wall with her so we
needed to change.) He worked better with both of them than he
did with Patricia, who did his assessment.
Martha left Faltz and was in private practice last I knew. The
contact number I have for her is 510 525 6649.
- Nancy
I'd like to share our experience with Patricia with just a few
disclaimers at the end. We actually used Patricia Dodd at Faltz
for a few months this past spring. Our daughter was 3.5 at the
time and had/has severe speech and language delays. We actually
stopped the speech therapy sessions for a few different reasons.
Although Patricia is an extremely sweet person (my daughter
liked her a lot) as a parent I didn't find her to be very
personable at all. Extremely formal, not really into chatting
about or learning about how our daughter behaved outside the
office walls. To me this is good information for the therapist.
It didn't seem like she felt a strong need to collaborate so I
didn't feel like it was a joint effort. Also, to me she seemed
very ''by the book''...very straight forward, not too much
innovation or creativity. And given all this, very expensive (I
know all private practices will be).
With that said, we have never had a formal diagnosis for our
daughter so we aren't quite sure ourselves if the way, for
instance, to tackle the speech delay is speech therapy. My point
is, I may not have been completely convinced it was the right
route in the first place, so opinions could be tainted. I guess
I would like to pass on the information but give ALL the
information so that I'm being fair about it as well.
anonymous
My son, who is now 6 yrs old, has been seeing Patricia Dodd for
about 2 years. My Son's diagnosis is PDD/language delay. He
also receives speach from his school. We continue with the
private speach therapy because we feel that she challenges him
more than the school therapist does. She has a good
relationship with him and is able to keep him focused. If you
have any other questions please feel free to contact me at my e-
mail.
Sandy
March 2004
I have soon to be 4 year old twin girls. I am somewhat
concerned about their speech and development. They were born 6
weeks premature, and were in the NICU for a couple weeks
because of difficulty feeding, but were basically okay. They
are doing well in preschool, but are behind almost all the
other kids as far as speech and behavior. One twin, for
example, will not answer ''yes'' to a question. If I say, do
you want some ice cream?'', she'll say ''Want some ice cream!''
If I say ''Say 'Yes. I want some ice cream.' '', she'll respond
with ''Say yes! I want some ice cream!'' The other twin is just
beginning to use ''Yes'' appropriately, but she did the same
thing for a long time. If they have any distraction at all,
they seem unable to focus on what I'm saying to them. They both
have low frustration levels, and have temper tantrums and
crying jags when they don't get their way, or are tired. They
have a hard time sitting still, and we are just now to the
point where we can go out to a restaurant and expect them to
sit for 30 minutes in a chair. All the other kids their age are
so much more articulate. We have had behavioralist specialists
see them, and all they say is that they are behind, but they
don't know why. They have said that they are not autistic, or
on the auitistic spectrum. One specialist recommended a special
ed classroom, but I did not like the classroom or the teacher's
methods. We are working on some speech therapy at home with
recommendations given by a speech therapist. I am just
wondering if anyone with twins has had a similar experience, or
should I be more worried? Signed: twin mom
Signed: twin mom
I was really taken by your posting and suggest you talk with my
local HANDLE practitioner, Sindy Wilkinson, who specializes in
children with neurological development remediation through short-
term, non-drug, movement exercises. I have been seeing her
myself this year after my daughter had such fantastic results.
Sounds like the delays you are describing seem to be based on
neurological systems that need nurturing and
practice to do their jobs efficiently. In this context, with
what you relayed, your girls' difficulties actually make
sense . From what I know, ''Echolalia'' - or the repeating of
words - is part of learning speech, and that one of the twins
has demonstrated that by her moving on to more appropriate ''yes''
responses after mastering the repeating behavior. I encourage
you to talk with Sindy. She has a really accessible nature, is a
parent of two girls herself, both of whom prospered from HANDLE
and that is why she became a student of and now a certified full
practioner of HANDLE. Sindy can describe how this all makes
sense from the HANDLE perspective. My daughter and I have
learned that there are simple and fun ways to do little
games/play exercises, which will assist even 4 year olds'
neurological systems to mature and ''catch them up.'' My 14 year
old progressed much, much faster than I did, with my being 53!
Sindy Wilkinson, MA
HANDLE Practioner and Licensed Marriage and FAmily Therapist
(and she knows about parenting!)
Lafayette 925-962-9506
Wishing you well. Having a context of understanding helps so
much.
A fellow loving MOM
Feb. 2004
My son, who is 2.9 months old was diagnosed with a developmental
language disorder(mixed receptive and expressive).He is at a pre
school right now, but the teacher has no experience with kids
with language disorders, so I am looking for a new school for
him. Does anyone know of a good school that has experience with
this disorder? I would also like to talk with someone that knows
about this disorder and have been trough what I am going right
now. He is being seen by a speech therapist once a week,trough
Regional Center, and is making progress, but I need more
resources. I called Scottish Rite Temple and the waiting list is
a year long. I am pretty sure that he is going to be eligible
for OUSD in September, but he is turning 3 in May and I need to
get him in a different pre school ASAP. Can someone help??
Thanks a lot.
Recommendations received:
The Lake School near Lake Merritt
Other advice:
Do you need just a few hours of preschool, or do you need full days?
For just a few hours:
--Small Voices is an early-intervention program at the Alta Bates Herrick
campus in Berkeley. Usually kids go there for free because they are
Regional Center of the East Bay clients (call 383-1200 and ask for an
intake coordinator to get your boy evaluated).
--Similarly, CEID (in Berkeley; see www.ceid.org) has a preschool
program that accepts kids with language delays, 527-5244.
--Finally, if your son turns 3 in May, you might think about having an IEP
with the Oakland diagnotic team (870-1760) in the spring--perhaps
they'd let your son go to one of the Tilden preschool classes for a month
before school lets out in June.
BUT for full days:
In my experience, private preschools tend not to go out of their way to
deal with speech-delayed children. I'm sure there are exceptions; for
example, I've heard positive stories about Duck's Nest, Chatham School,
some of the Jewish synagogue preschools, and the Berkeley JCC. You
might try the Merritt College lab preschool or the Mills College lab
preschool, too, since they have a more educational focus. Good luck.
Been There
There was a preschool program called ''First Step'' at Broadway and
Fairmount in Oakland that took kids with various kinds of special needs.
It was for babies/kids 6 weeks old to kindergarten, and 4 hours per day
were somehow subsidized. I never checked it out, but the contact info I
have is Donna Wolf at 238-0880.
September 2002
Hi - I am wondering if anyone has a speech therapist they can
recommend to me? My son will be 3 in Oct. He is talking great.
I just think he could be talking clearer and could benefit from
a therapist. I don't think insurance would cover it. I also
don't think he would qualify for therapy under any program. He
really isn't delayed, just fuzzy. Any suggestions?
If you live in Oakland you can call the school district and
ask to have your son evaluated, even though he's not elementary
age yet (we had our 3-year-old evaluated last year). If the
evaluator agrees that there's cause for concern, you can start
free speech therapy through the school district, which is mandated
to provide this service to preschool- and school-age
children who need it. The quality of the therapy obviously depends
on the therapist. We've been reasonably happy with
our daughter's speech therapist, Linda Wyman, who works out of
Redwood Heights and a few other area schools. Good
luck!
Leah
Our son has had speech/language therapy since he was less than
three years old. There are some very good therapists in the area.
Mary Gage-Hermann used to or still does work through Childrens'
Hospital in Oakland. She's terrific with little kids. Debbie
McCloskey is wonderful, as well. I would recommend both without
reservation.
Tobie
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