[Princess.cranky....]

At the same time I wouldn't like anyone to read this and start freaking out because their 17/18 month old dose not have heaps of words.

It's always better to ask if your concerned but also keep in mine that few words at this age is very common and doesn't necessarily mean there is a problem.

This post has been edited by Princess.cranky.pants: 01/08/2012, 11:56 AM

[Penguin78]

IMO 18 months is way to early to consider a speech therapist. Mine didn't really start talking until around 18 months. I know of a few other kids who were closer to 2 years before they really started talking - there's a pretty big range as to whats considered 'normal' and all kids will develop at their own pace. I would mention it at your DS's 18 month check up if you are concerned but I wouldn't be too concerned at this stage.

As for speech therapists - I have an appointment for my DS next week - his kinder teacher identified a possible problem and suggested we have him assessed. His first appointment will be $75 and future appointments are $65 if he needs ongoing treatment. When I made the appointment they did say the this appointment next week was the only one available until much later in the year so they do book up in advance. Obviously I odnt know what the sessions entail as yet

But honestly, I'd mention it at you son's check up, but I wouldn't really be overly concerned at this point.

How can you say 18months is way too early??

It is never too early to have a professional check up on your concerns.

Yes, a lot of 18month olds only have a few words, so there is a good chance that the OPs little one is fine, but whats the harm in getting it checked?? You made an irresponsible comment there, particularly considering your own LO has speech problems!!

[baddmammajamma]

My DS is 22 months and has about 10-15 words. We have started speech therapy and he was assesssed as having the expressive language skills of a 14 months old (personally I think he's slightly better than that).

We started early as he also had delayed gross motor skills (walked at 19 months) so we want to keep an eye on him.

I do need to look at cheaper options though. We are paying $145 a session and I got $40 back from private health but that will run out in another 2 sessions. She wants to see him weekly but we really can't afford it much longer.

Does anyone know of a cheaper therapist in Melbourne (preferably eastern suburbs)?

Elizabethandfriend,

This won't be a massive help over the long haul, but in the short term, you should also be eligible for an enhanced care plan via your GP:

http://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au...nts-and-parents

Attached is a terrific directory put out by Monash Univ. of professionals (paeds, OTs, speech therapists, psychologists, etc. etc.) who work with kids with ASD. Now I appreciate that your son hasn't been diagnosed with ASD, but often professionals who work in this space are particularly sensitive to kids with more than one issue in play & often they have seen quite a range of challenging profiles. If you don't have a good personal recommendation to leverage, then my advice is typically "look at those who work with kids with ASD."

http://www.med.monash.edu.au/spppm/researc...n-directory.pdf

You might want to call around to a few of these providers and see if (a) they are taking new clients and (b) what their costs are. Good luck!

[Chelbean]

Definitely NOT to early and ignore anyone who tells you to ignore your Mummy instinct.

We started speech therapy with our daughter at 2 years old and if my younger daughter shows she has issues I will start earlier than that.

Therapy at that age is most likely play sessions - our therapist watched us play with our daughter and taught us how to change our way of speaking to her etc...it was invaluable.

Depending on the state I'd go private....we went private because we wanted to get started then. Our old therapist was about $80 for an hour session our new therapist comes to the house and is $65 for half an hour. You can get a bit back if you have private health.

Good luck

[mayahlb]

If you are noticing that something isn't right at 18 months then push to get the referral. It can't hurt to get an assessment done. Also as PP have said ask for a hearing test. I knew at 18 months that DS's speech wasn't right (well he didn't have any besides bye), got pushed off by the child health nurse who was covering so waited until my normal nurse was back and got the ref-feral to see the speechie. We went public (there are no private speechies where I live and we are not close to any other towns)and the wait was around 6-7 months. He is still in speech therapy at 3.5 and assessed as being 12-18 months behind (he is only just ahead of my youngest at 2). Our therapist thinks he will still be attending well into the first years of school.

At this age most of the therapy consists of play session and the therapist training you how to interact with play and everyday life to encourage the ability to communicate and talk. (Lots of repetition and pauses to encourage them to talk in play situations). She recommended seeing if my local library had the book "it takes two to talk" by the Hanen organisation (more info here http://www.hanen.org/hanen-programs/progra...nt-program.aspx ) and it gave me heaps of ideas of what else to work on at home.

If you do go private talk to your GP about an enhanced care plan, this will subsidize 5 session a year under medicare and I know at that age out therapist preferred to see out every 2-4 weeks and to see how it came on at home (now we do 1-2 weekly as otherwise he refuses to communicate but that is a different story and relates more to his personality. A good therapist will talior the sessions to suit your child).

[Pup-pup]

Hearing test is your first point of call regardless. Call Australan Hearing and you can get a test without referral at 18mths.

[2plusoops]

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This post has been edited by 2plusoops: 04/08/2012, 07:51 PM