We are getting DS1's speech assessed next week. I had his hearing checked, he had glue ear, the ENT gave us a few things to do and at his followup he said he wouldn't need grommits (thankfully). I asked if he thought I should get his speech looked at and he said he didn't think it was necessary, but I took the initiative and have booked in with a speechie.

He stutters, quite badly sometimes. I only understand half the things he says, I am his mum and I need to be able to understand him. It breaks my heart when I tell him I don't know what he is trying to say . He also struggles with his receptive language and I really hope that a speech therapist can help fix it.

I am worried that he is going to do great at his assessment, and I'll be back to square one. I just want to understand my son.

What is your experience with Speech therapy? Has it helped, did you notice an improvement, in what way?

==

Hi Donna:

Both of my kids have had speech therapy -- my daughter for ASD-related delays in her expressive speech, and my son for...just conventional "late talking." We took him to a therapist to be on the safe side, due to our experiences with our daughter.

In both instances, we had very favorable outcomes with speech therapy. Our daughter's issues normalized after several months of therapy -- she no longer has any traces of issues with speech. Our therapist helped give us some great tips for sparking speech in our son, and he is now totally on par with his peers as well.

In short, I am a huge fan of early intervention when carried out by talented professionals, and we lucked out with the A-Team!

Hope you have a favorable experience as well.

The guideline that I was given by our speech therapist is that by age 3, parents should be able to understand most of what their child is saying. So on that basis, it sounds like you are doing the right thing.

My DD had glue ear and had grommets put in at 16 months. Her expressive language was late to develop and not clear, although her receptive language was excellent. We got a speech assessment when she was 2.5 which gave me some guidelines on what to look for and the red flags that she might need further intervention.

At 3.5 she still hadn't developed the G & K sounds which was a flag the speechie had mentioned. So she has been having weekly therapy for a year now. G & K still haven't come but I think we're close and the overall clarity of her speech, and her awareness of it, has improved enormously.

I asked our speechie about stuttering because my niece does it and my SIL isn't the type to seek help. She said to seek out a speechie with a specific interest in stuttering because the recommended treatments are changing all the time.

I hope everything goes well for you.

will be interested in hearing how you get on.
my ds who is 3 and 3months was a late talker due to glue ear, he also didn't need grommets and this year no infections yet.
I mainly understand him, but stuttering is a big problem for him at the moment. Worse when he is tired or trying to talk too quickly. It has been going on for two months, at this stage we are ignoring the stutter and trying to slow down our speech. If it continues more than 6months we will get a speech assessment.
our dd who is now 7 and an early talker as a toddler also had a stutter lasting a few months, now no problems with speech or stuttering at all
CB

Thanks for your experiences. I just hope this works out to be the right thing that is needed to help him.

BMJ- I am a huge believer in early intervention. I was actually worried that I didn't get his speech assessed as soon as I started having doubts, but I have to remind myself that he is only 3 and this is the perfect age for EI to work.

I will post an update next week

My DS1 is almost 4 and he has recently been attending speech therapy. It is an early sounds program. It focuses on just the sounds. I also got him in to see an ENT as he has numerous ear infections since his birth. He is however getting grommets put in at the beginning of May. Just when he is due to start kindy. I have had his hearing tested aswell and they said he has good hearing but the constant ear infections has affected the way he hears words. Hence the speech therapy. I hope all goes well for you and your DS. I almost cried when the ENT said my son had to have grommets.

My son was assessed at 3.5 years old as having a receptive and expressive language delay although his vocabulary was well above his peers - he just wasnt constructing sentences. We started speech therapy straight away - going every fortnight. Fast forward 6 months (he is about to turn 4 in April) and i can now have a conversation with him, he can now actually ask for what he wants (although a bit bossy now!), he says things in context now rather than just random things, his favourite book is The HUngry Caterpillar and he has memorised the story and can tell it to you. He loves going to speech therapy - he asks to go see his speech therapist every saturday. He has improved gradually - i think thats due partly to time and the exercises we do at speech therapy which we have to do at home and preschool also. Overall we've had a good experience with speech therapy and i would recommend going - Better to help them now rather than just sit and wait. Good luck!

IME they are very good at picking up the issues.

The important thing is to find a therapist that works for you. Our first one was ok, but I didn't feel like we were making much progress with her. We have been seeing a new one for a few months and she is fantastic, very supportive and explains what she is doing and why. We see her once a week.

My son has made great gains but will need ST for some time to come.

My little one has made excellent progress with the speech pathologist.

I would second what the last person said though, find one that works well with you. :-)

We are at the very beginning of Speech Therapy- DS has only had an assessment and 1 session. His speech therapist taught us how to sign "more", "finished" and "help". You honestly wouldn't believe the difference that 3 signs have made to his behaviour and our family in the last 5 weeks! Obviously we are working on his expressive language too, but she said that there is no research to suggest that signs will further delay his speech, but rather help minimise everyone's frustration while we are working on getting the language (though I'm not sure if this would be different with an older child, DS is only just 2). I am also looking forward to being able to understand what my little boy is trying so hard to tell me.

Hi all, its great to read of your experiences as well - as i dont have any friends who are in a similar situation to me.

Our story is the 3.5year old has delayed speech (would not even take any solid until after 10mths then started making sounds). Started with speech 2.5 years old and stopped for a couple of months due to service changing staff - and we have not looked back since. We currently have a great lady assisting us - she has no 'mum' skills at all but great with DS. He is getting there but am now also trying to get extra help - as im really worried if he cant express by primary school (1.5 yrs away) he will get left behind. She also thinks that he has a slight muscle issue (cant remember the name of it) so OT may need to become involved. He has home work to do at night and we have reverted back to the board books with pictures and words just to practice words and his sounds. But he is improving (yeah)

My older daughter 4.5 yrs will be re-assessed on Thursday (she has been missed due to the change as well and was last seen 5 mths ago - but we are talking public system) and will see what can be done for her. Her issue is expressive communication with her peers. She talks too much and confuses everyone else by running words together and has a bit of a stutter as well.

Good luck and enjoy the 'homework' as it can be a very special time between the two of you.

Just an update-

Toby has his assessment yesterday. It went really well, although he started to loose the plot towards the end as he was getting tired.

He has a mild to moderate stutter and average articulation that is inconsistent in sentences. eg- he can pronounce Fingers when he pointed to a picture of a hand, but when he says fish fingers it comes out as fish Mingers.

The ST said that the first priority would be to work on the stutter and that I came in at the perfect time to do that as the method they use is ideal for preschoolers. That was a huge relief as I thought I left it too long to get him assessed.

FTR she said that a stutter is a problem when it has been present for more than 6 months.

Happy to hear the update, Donna, and good for you for being proactive! Hope your son makes some great progress with his new speech therapist.