Speech Delay

 

I have often wondered and worried about Max's speech. From the time he said his first word I felt like he was a little behind.

His first word was "ball" and it sounded more like "bah" but it was always directed toward a ball so I knew what he was talking about. He was 10 months when he started saying ball.

Then months went by, about three before he uttered any other words. He then said "car" at about 13 months, but it sounded more like "cahh", but again it was directed toward either honking or passing cars so I knew he knew that word.

Then more words started trickling in so I felt a little better. Though he didn't call me "Momma" until after he was 18 months. But he knew his shapes and his basic body parts so I figured he was doing okay.

At 2 years old I mentioned it to my pediatrician. He felt like he was doing OK and that he would probably catch up. Max had the right "amount" of words as he did know lots of words, but he didn't say them properly. He knew his shapes if I asked him to point to them. But if he had to repeat them back to me circle was "goo" and square was "care" and rectangle, triangle were both "Kettit". He often dropped one of the syllables in 2 syllable words. He was hard to understand and he would throw tantrums all the time.

Every time I FINALLY discovered what he was saying I would celebrate because I could actually understand what he wanted. But I didn't realize I was the only one. He would say things to Chris and Chris would often ask me what he was saying, and I would have to translate. He wasn't pronouncing words and he wasn't talking well. I figured he was a boy and a "late talker" and that he would catch up.

At about 2 1/2 I really felt like there was a problem. But we were dealing with so much at the time. The birth of his baby sister, the move to our new house. We had so much going on, so many changes, so I just said, I'll wait until he is 3. Just before he turned 3 my mom really encouraged me to seek out help and get him evaluated. I knew she was right, but didn't really know my options.

At his 3 year check up I mentioned to my pediatrician my concerns. The fact that he was not forming his own sentences at all. He could say the ones we use frequently like "What's that?" "What are you doing" "It's OK". Also, I would ask him things and he would just stare blankly like I was speaking Russian to him. He was throwing multiple tantrums daily centered around me not understanding him, and I was getting overly frustrated with him. We were not doing well together. My pediatrician gave me some options to get him evaluated starting with the school district.

So I called Jordan School District who sent me a packet. I filled out all the pages and pages of questions I had to ask him (he doesn't answer most questions) and instructions he had to follow (again, not much comprehension of those). It was tough to get through. Then I sent the paper work and they called me to schedule an evaluation. They couldn't get him in for 6 weeks. 6 weeks out.

So we waited. In those 6 weeks he started pronouncing words so much better. Elephant went from "eeh" to "ettent" to "ephant" to "etaphant" in approx. that much time. He was saying "BAnana instead of "nanna". And he was even putting 2 words together is a sort of sentence on his own.

At his evaluation they checked his hearing, his eye sight, and asked him lot of questions. He was somewhat cooperative thank goodness as he frustrates easily (probably from the years of miscommunication). In the end they told me he scored low and needed to come back for ANOTHER evaluation. At least this one was only 2 weeks instead of 6. But still... more waiting.

I was relieved after this evaluation because I KNEW there was a problem despite everyone telling me that he was a boy, that they could understand him, that he would catch up. I was so happy we were finally going to get him the help he needed! I was ready to do WHATEVER IT TOOK!

At his final evaluation he was nervous as he always is in new places with new people. He was shaking and shy. He whispered most of his answers even when I asked him to talk louder so they could hear. They asked me and him TONS of questions. I mean I felt overwhelmed by questions and so I can imagine how he felt. The teacher kept commenting on how he was "flat and emotionless". I told them he is scared. She also commented on his hand tremmoring when she was testing his fine motor skills. Again I said he was scared. She almost made me feel like they were suspecting he was autistic. She didn't even seem to believe me when I told her that he knew all his letters and could identify them not in chronological order.

After the long evaluation they told me he scored in the 1% for speech, language, comprehension, and social for kids his age (39months). I was shocked. I knew he was delayed, but I didn't know it was that severe.

That's when reality sorta hit me. This wasn't a problem that was just going to go away. He wasn't going to grow out of it. He was going to need help. And maybe not for months, or a year. Maybe for years. Maybe this is something he will continue to struggle with his whole life. Who knows? A flood of emotions hit me. Why didn't I get him evaluated sooner. We could have saved both of us from more than a year of frustration and tantrums. What if my "wait and see" attitude will cause him to struggle more than if I would have started speech therapy when he was 2. My Adorable little boy wasn't "normal".

They told me he qualified for speech preschool and that he would start in the fall.

I am so glad that he will get free services through the school, but I don't want to waste a minute longer. I have been waiting for too long already and wanted to start therapy immediately! So I contacted the rehab services at Primary Children's to see if we can get him some therapy before he starts preschool in the fall.

Of course they can't get him in until the beginning of July, but that is earlier than August 28th. So we are beginning the long journey of helping Max with his speech and language. I really hope that he will catch on quickly and progress fast, but time will tell. I love my little guy so much and look forward to being able to communicate with him better and for all our lives to improve.