Is This Normal?

[mommyneedsadayoff]

Yes I totally agree! I also agree that docs can be quacks (my own DR for example!) BUT I consider an SLP an expert in language...I wouldn't consider a DR an expert in nutrition and growth. I completely get where you are coming from and from your first couple of posts I thought you were trying to convince mom that therapy wasn't needed. I'm sorry for jumping to that conclusion. I guess I see SOOOOO many parents in denial that won't get help it is really nice to see a parent actually getting the help they need. Even if it is a "waste" of time I think he should be much further ahead than where he is so what you are doing and what mom is doing will only be boosted by this extra one on one attention. At 18 months he should have more than 100 words and stringing two words together. If he only has 2 words and uses mostly gestures or nonsense words than he will benefit greatly from the extra help.

No worries and I totally understand! I am curious how it will all go and I hope they give some "homework" so we can work on stuff here too! I was just surprised because of is age and not really seeing any issues, so I thought it might be unusual to do so much intervention at this point, but if it helps him, then that is great! He is sort of my right hand man and holds a very special place in my heart, so I only want what is best for him!

[daycarediva]

I've been a DCP for 30 years now....... for those of us who have done this job for a long time, is it just me, or does it seem that kids for the most part, are starting to talk later than they used to?

Depends on many things, but for the vast majority, yes.

I have seen this and think it is related to too much screen time and not enough face time with their parents, friends, siblings, ect. A lot of kids get propped in front of the ipad or tv and they don't HAVE to speak, so they don't. And I have also found that reading books for bedtime or anytime is becoming kind of rare. Now, they get one show before bed or they get tablet time, so they don't get to hear others speaking to them consistently. Not sure if that is the reason, but just seems to be pretty common anymore.

DING DING DING! The parents who speak, read, interact with, sing to, and spend more time with are the children who are 'ahead' with speech and language development.

[Renae82]

I watch a little boy who is 18 months and he went to his well check and they referred him for speech therapy. Mom took him yesterday and he now has to go two days a week for the next six months. Is this normal to have an 18 month old in speech therapy or is it overkill? He "talks" a lot and is very smart and knows how to tell us what he wants, but he really only clearly says maybe one or two words (momma and yes). I never thought his development was unusual ad having worked with a lot of boys, I have found they seem to start speaking later than the girls I have cared for. It just seems weird to me, since he is so young, to do speech therapy at this point. I thought they didn't usually do that until the kid was older and a lot more verbal, just to work on pronunciation and such? Is this a newer thing or am I just out of the loop?

Just reinforcing what others have said. Absolutely normal! It's much more beneficial to do speech therapy at an early age. The earlier any delay is caught, the better. I have referred two children to speech therapy, one was 18m and the other was 16m. Within one year they were caught up to where they should be and later on surpassed their peers in language development. If you are willing to let them do it in your home you could gain some valuable knowledge from it as well

[mommyneedsadayoff]

Just reinforcing what others have said. Absolutely normal! It's much more beneficial to do speech therapy at an early age. The earlier any delay is caught, the better. I have referred two children to speech therapy, one was 18m and the other was 16m. Within one year they were caught up to where they should be and later on surpassed their peers in language development. If you are willing to let them do it in your home you could gain some valuable knowledge from it as well

I guess that was my issue. Never saw a delay or anything to be concerned about. (He just said two new words on friday! And no, therapy has not started yet. They start on wed) I am not open to therapy in my house, as I am winding out of daycare, so they will have to deal with getting him to and from and since I do the same things they are, it would be pointless to have them come here, versus going as an extra bonus to our activities.

[sahm1225]

I watch a little boy who is 18 months and he went to his well check and they referred him for speech therapy. Mom took him yesterday and he now has to go two days a week for the next six months. Is this normal to have an 18 month old in speech therapy or is it overkill? He "talks" a lot and is very smart and knows how to tell us what he wants, but he really only clearly says maybe one or two words (momma and yes). I never thought his development was unusual ad having worked with a lot of boys, I have found they seem to start speaking later than the girls I have cared for. It just seems weird to me, since he is so young, to do speech therapy at this point. I thought they didn't usually do that until the kid was older and a lot more verbal, just to work on pronunciation and such? Is this a newer thing or am I just out of the loop?

My dd started speech when she was a little over 1 (maybe 16 months?). But she had an obvious delay (no babbling, no mimicking, no words, etc).

Was the child evaluated or just recommended for services? We had to jump through hoops to get my dd evaluated, then more hoops to get it through EI. With my DD, being with a different person than just me was what worked for her. Maybe since you said he's like a son to you, he would benefit from more a teacher/stranger teaching him

[mommyneedsadayoff]

My dd started speech when she was a little over 1 (maybe 16 months?). But she had an obvious delay (no babbling, no mimicking, no words, etc).

Was the child evaluated or just recommended for services? We had to jump through hoops to get my dd evaluated, then more hoops to get it through EI. With my DD, being with a different person than just me was what worked for her. Maybe since you said he's like a son to you, he would benefit from more a teacher/stranger teaching him

He went to his 18 month well check and the doc said he was going to refer him to speech therapy. They went to the evaluation appointment last week and set up to come twice a week for the next 6 months. She said she filled out a long questionaire on what drugs she had during birth and if she felt the pitocin from her induction had any bad effects on him and questions like that. It made me start to wonder if they are assessing something more than speech issues. I am not sure, but the questions they asked were more about what she did during pregnancy and birth, than about him and his development, but maybe that is the usual?? They go to their first session tomorrow, so I should get more info when they get back.

Thanks to everyone for all the feedback!

[Unregistered]

Yes very normal

As a former in home daycare worker turned special needs foster parent, and soon to own my own daycare again. I will have to say several have mentioned that unless you are trained in it you won't know what to look for, so true! Lets be honest, daycare licensing doesn't require much training to open a daycare. Our experiences are all over the place so many of you can go for years without having any kids who have any real delays, or parents that recognize it and get the kids help without going into denial. And quality of healthcare varies immensely even depending on the side of town you live on.

But after all my training as a special needs foster parent, countless therapists in my home I have learned so much. Play therapy is central to teaching kids. But these therapists are looking for all kinds of little things, looking to see if they are learning things in the appropriate sequence, and they also report back to the docs or school system to potentially catch things.

We now know that the first 3 yrs of life are critical for brain development and overcoming any "diagnosis" and getting ahead of it. As one poster mentioned, possibly transitioning out of services. But many times we are too close to these kids and blow things off, like "they are just quirky" or wait it out, and can't see things objectively anymore.

So any parent or daycare worker don't ever discard any advice to get services. You will be doing your kid a huge disservice. Just look at it as an hr a week that you can have one less kid to monitor or can go do something in the other part of the house with out an ankle biter following you. That should give you motivation to deal with the scheduling and another person in your life.