[HeroOfCanton]

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this, but it seems relevant to the age group, so here goes.
I apologise, this is going to be long, as I don't know how else to give all the information that seems relevant to my query!

When DD was about 23 months old, we took her for a check up with the MCHN, as I had a concern with something, although I don't remember what.
The MCHN said she was worried that DD didn't say enough words (about 30 at the time) and referred us on the the speech therapy drop-in clinic here in the ACT for an assessment.
The pathologist who ran the drop-in put through a formal referral for a formal assessment with Therapy ACT, and we got to the top of their list in October this year, DD was 28 months then.

Just to clarify, we had no concerns about her language development when we went to the MCHN, or to the drop-in clinic. Soon after our initial MCHN visit, she started spouting more words, and a few phrases - she did (and does still) express herself very well with a mix of verbal & non-verbal cues.
By the time we got to the pathologist with Therapy ACT, we were a bit concerned that she was 'lazy' in her speech, in that she would babble a few nonsense words before coming out with what she wanted to say, for example:
"dadablahbedah on de couch" when she meant "want to sit on the couch" this babble would be accompanied by gestures to the couch, and patting to indicate sitting.

The Speech Pathologist (SP) noticed this as well, and took note of our concerns, she also noticed that DD licks toys and books (but she ignored the fact that they are all food) and asked if she had any other 'sensory issues'. We said nothing out of the ordinary, she doesn't like having her feet played with or her hair brushed, but felt that sort of thing is fairly normal...?
We left at the end of the appointment and SP said she would refer us on to a playgroup for kids with language delays. She also suggested we begin talking to DD in small sentences "girl in cup" "sit on chair" "Evie eat food" etc to try & develop her sentence structure.
She acknowledged that she is fairly bright, can count to thirty unprompted, knows her whole alphabet and the sounds letters make etc, and that it was unusual for her to know these things "without being able to talk"

When we try talking to Evelyn like SP suggested, she looks at us like we are fools, and really doesn't respond to it at all. So we've minimised it in our daily interactions with her. Opting instead to be mindful of speaking slowly & clearly.
As it happens, the day after our appointment, DD started using a number of 3-word sentences, and some 4 or 5 word ones ("c'mon stupid TV, turn on!" ) She can also recite simple books and will sing songs, saying 10+ words at once if she thinks no one is looking!

In the copy of the report we received from SP a few days after our appointment, we noticed that she had make a very big deal of these 'sensory issues' that DD supposedly has and implied that there is a level of intellectual impairment.
Yesterday, we received the enrolment forms for the playgroup she told us about, and the playgroup is described as "providing educational assistance for children up to 3 years who have additional physical, intellectual or sensory needs"
This is totally different to what she suggested might be useful, and also sounds totally off-base for what assistance, if any, DD might need.
I admit, I was a bit taken aback reading the SP's report about our assessment, as there is a lot in there that she's taken out of context (the hair-brushing for example) and put a spin on it to make it seem like there are issues when there isn't.

Basically, my question is this:
Are we failing DD as parents if we decline the place in this playgroup?
From what I have described above, does DD seem like she needs any physical, intellectual or sensory assistance? I feel like if we take the place, a child who genuinely needs the assistance is missing out, but if we decline it, I'm sounding like one of those mothers who insists their child is perfect and gifted etc etc. and couldn't possibly have any special needs.
I fully accept that she's a 'late' talker, and is a bit lazy with it, but all other signs point to her being a very switched on little girl, her comprehension is great (obedience not so much sometimes!) and she can communicate quite well using a mix of words, gestures & general body language.

Is this a case of us knowing our child better than someone who has met her once (regardless of their qualifications)?

edit: sorry for the novel!!!

This post has been edited by *Browncoat*: 21/12/2012, 05:14 PM

[Carmen02]

wow they came to a conclusion about her fast, to be honest i would be getting her seen by another speech therapist to see what they say. Im just talking as a mum of 3 who has had speech delays, my two sons have severe speech delays (DS is 25mths and has 5 words max) my sons also have sensory processing disorder, which really can't be diganoised properly without an Occupational therapist seeing her. my 2yr old loves to chew everything drives me nuts. good luck with it and ill defiently be going for a 2nd opinon

[Jenflea]

I recently went through the rigmarole of Therapy ACT etc, but haven't been given any speech therapy sessions through them, I've gone private. the GP gave me 5 rebated visits per year(more if needed).
When I say me, I mean my daughter naturally! She's 3 next April.
With her, she has words and 4 or 5 word sentences, but doesn't pronounce the first part of most words properly. I understand her fine, my parents,not so much. I'm seeing someone at Brindebella Speech pathology in Deakin.
She's given us exercises to do at home which are designed to help Sammie make the sounds she needs.
She DID say that kids in child care TEND to speak better, but she also told me it doesn't always make a difference.

Honestly, with Evie, i can't see how that specific preschool would help that much. But it wouldn't hurt to go once or twice to see how they run things there.
I've never taken S to playgroup('m not good with meeting people and strange places freak me out a bit) but if Evie gets socialization elsewhere, she may well pick it up eventually.
My GP said some kids are just late talkers.
Sammie also uses gestures to communicate. Always has. I blame all the songs at Giggle and Wiggle with the hand gestures, she got lazy and just used her hands as it was easier than trying to talk or learn the words of the songs.
When do you need to decide?

[Jenflea]

As carmen suggested, maybe get a second opinion. I got an appointment really quickly with Brindabella. They email you a survey to fill in and send back or take to the appointment with all sorts of questions, PLUS they do an assessment in person as well, which might give you a different diagnosis,

[HeroOfCanton]

wow they came to a conclusion about her fast, to be honest i would be getting her seen by another speech therapist to see what they say. Im just talking as a mum of 3 who has had speech delays, my two sons have severe speech delays (DS is 25mths and has 5 words max) my sons also have sensory processing disorder, which really can't be diganoised properly without an Occupational therapist seeing her. my 2yr old loves to chew everything drives me nuts. good luck with it and ill defiently be going for a 2nd opinon

To be honest, a second pinion never occurred to me! I feel like a fool! It's very rare that I deal wiht the 'private sector' for health matters, so I guess I just figured all the speechies would be employed by ACT Health I've just started googling and it looks like there are plenty of options around here - thanks

Jenflea, it appears that we have until late January to decide, we can;t contact the playgroup 'teacher' until January 29 to arrange an enrolment interview, so it should be enough time to see someone privately for a second opinion. I've found a place called 'Buzz Speech Pathology', who do in-home visits - this might be really good, because Evie is quite shy out & about, especially so with strangers, but very secure at home, so it might be a better 'baseline' for someone to assess her.

The SP did say that her pronunciation and sounds are spot on for her age, as I did mention that 'l' is a 'y' sound "y-yon" for lion and "deep" for sheep etc.
Thanks for sharing your experience!

[mum2jp]

It does seem like a very quick conclusion to come to but it wouldn't hurt to try the playgroup. They may have some idea's for activities you can try at home and it may give you an ideas of what level of sensory issue she has if any when you try the activites with her. I agree with the PP about the OT assesment. I teach preschool aged children and with any sensory/ motor concerns we always recommend an OT, a speech therapist can usually identify sensory issues to do with speech (like dyspraxia- as this has a direct affect on how the muscles work to create speech) but an OT asessment will be more indepth and may be able to refer you to some sort of sensory gym if need be.

Does your DD go to childcare? If so have a chat to her teachers as well to see if they have any concerns.

[Paddlepop]

Definitely get a second opinion if the diagnosis doesn't feel "right" to you.

My DD had seen a speech pathologist 3 times, and she concluded that DD had problems with speech sound development and expressive language delay. Her suggestion was that we should basically put DD into daycare 5 days a week and that would pretty much fix her problems.

Last week DD saw a different, more experienced speech pathologist who diagnosed DD with dyspraxia, particularly verbal and motor dyspraxia. No other health professional had picked up on this, not even my normally very good GP. Dyspraxia makes a lot of sense and feels "right" with DD's other development milestones (v.late crawler and v.late walker) and any difficulties she has with general day to day life. What DD needs is a lot of one on one intervention where she can watch the adult's mouth form words so that she can learn how to move her own mouth. Some social interaction with other children is encouraged, but the speech pathologist certainly doesn't regard full time daycare as the solution, unlike the other sp.path.

[HeroOfCanton]

It does seem like a very quick conclusion to come to but it wouldn't hurt to try the playgroup. They may have some idea's for activities you can try at home and it may give you an ideas of what level of sensory issue she has if any when you try the activites with her. I agree with the PP about the OT assesment. I teach preschool aged children and with any sensory/ motor concerns we always recommend an OT, a speech therapist can usually identify sensory issues to do with speech (like dyspraxia- as this has a direct affect on how the muscles work to create speech) but an OT asessment will be more indepth and may be able to refer you to some sort of sensory gym if need be.

Does your DD go to childcare? If so have a chat to her teachers as well to see if they have any concerns.

No, she doesn't go to childcare.

I just spoke to a Speech Pathologist for a while on the phone, and she has given me a list of private Speechies who are focused on kids in my area. She did ask about the sensory issues and feels from what we discussed that they might be a contextual thing, and not of concern, but obviously, she's just on the phone, so didn't make an actual call on that.

What other sensory issues should I be looking for? She's quite happy to eat anything texture-wise, she'll play with sand, water, jelly, good, rocks, so she's not put off by texture.
I'm probably missing something amongst all the talk of sensory issues - I admit I'm not too aware of what I should be looking out for!

Edited as I saw Paddlepop's reply!

DD was also a late crawler & walker, 9 & 14 months respectively. It's interesting that they can be related, and I'll look into Dyspraxia as well. Her gross & fine motor are both really good now, she's met all her milestones in this regard - does that make a difference with dyspraxia?

Both DH & I have an instinct that everything is okay. We feel that there has to be early & late talkers for them to get their 'averages', and it's likely that she's just a later talker - but like I said, I want to rule it out and don't want to be the parent that insists everything is okay when it's not!
We're definitely going to get a second opinion, and see what they suggest.

This post has been edited by *Browncoat*: 14/12/2012, 02:19 PM

[Carmen02]

sensory issues are alot of things my older DS cant stand loud noises, touching certain things, food is a major issue, can't stand some clothes, has to have shoes on. my other DS who is 25mths puts absoutely everything in his mouth, he headbutts everything (which the OT says is sensory seeking) as well as stands on his head for no apparent reason (sensory seeking) he has to be in small tight spaces as well. Varies so much

[HeroOfCanton]

sensory issues are alot of things my older DS cant stand loud noises, touching certain things, food is a major issue, can't stand some clothes, has to have shoes on. my other DS who is 25mths puts absoutely everything in his mouth, he headbutts everything (which the OT says is sensory seeking) as well as stands on his head for no apparent reason (sensory seeking) he has to be in small tight spaces as well. Varies so much

I see. DD doesn't experience any of this consistently - sometimes she'll love shoes, other time she'll hate them, she loves noises, but has just learned to cover her ears.
I feel this is all just toddler stuff though. I do get that it's varied, but I feel like the SP made a big deal out of nothing and has taken some focus away from the issue of her speech.
She just licked a book because it had ice cream in it, then licked the toy apples...?