Any Mom's of Speech Delayed Kids? or Autism?

My son is currently under evaluation for Autism. I am expecting a diagnosis early next month.
He has speech delays and social delays although his fine motor skills are very good.
If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me.

Hello!
My son, who will be 3 this Christmas, and is also a late talker. It wasn't until this past October when he had a major burst of improvement. We already had him signed up for the local Help Me Grow program when he suddenly began to use three word sentences.

However, when I took him to the doctor and complained about his drooling and speech delay for a third time did my Doctor discover he had a severe sinus infection. He prescribed omoxycillin and bingo bango the boy wasn't slobbering and his speech was more articulate. Turns out my poor boy had built up fluid around in his head. So it could be something else.

I wanted to respond because my education background is with autism and early childhood special education. Since your little one is almost 2, I would not be too concerned about her not pretend playing. I do not see this until around 2 1/2-3 with most children. As for what you can do to help her speech...read...read...read! It is amazing how little ones learn about sentence structure through reading. (At least 15 mins a day). One more thing, sorry this is soo long, there is a wonderful book called "The late talker." This book helps you understand that there doesn't have to be a problem if your child is a late talker (it is also filled with ways to help). Their minds just work differently. I hope this helps.
take care,
~K.

I have an Autistic 7 year old son. I would have the appropriate evalutaions done with an Audiologist and Speech Pathologist. If at a later time, your pediatrician still suggests Autism I would have your daughter evaluated because Autistic children respond better with early intervention.

Good luck!

I understand. My 19 month old son Benjamin is not yet speaking. He used to say dada, mama, "uh uh" <for uh oh>, now he says only "ni ni" <nite nite>. He was 8 weeks premature, so delays were expected and are completely normal. But because of these very delayed area, we got involved with the Help Me Grow program and they are hooking us up with free speech therapy for Ben. They would also like to get him evaluated for autism, as well, because a lot of times he won't respond to his name, doesn't pretend play, and the speech delay. I would recommend contacting Help Me Grow. They help low income families, and families of at-risk children who may not have the financial means to contact someone about delays and development issues. They work with kids up until the age of 3.

Hi A.,
My son also had a slight speech problem. It took a while to figure it out because his behavior was a direct result of him not speaking and having frustration. We took him to a speech therapist, and basically she was a God send who caught him up to the level of other kids. You have to play your part too. We all know our kids very well and we can tell what they want before they open their mouths. Make your child talk and ask for what they want. When they do talk, praise them and respond to them immediately. Take the first step to your child's developement because speech therapy is so hard to get into--it took my son six months.

My son turned 2 in July and at his 2 year check up he didn't say more that 5 words. My then doctor told me that my child was autistic 5 minutes in thh room with him and that was her diagnosis. I changed doctors. So 5 months later, my son now doesn't stop talking he speaks both serbian and english and can understand both. Sometimes you just need to give the kids their own space. They will learn and eventually talk your ears off. I hope that this helps,Good Luck to you and your family. I know the mental trauma this can cause the parents thats why a 2nd opinion is also a good idea.

My daughter was also recommended to First Steps when she was 2 years old. She verbalized a lot, but we couldn't understand much of it. She qualified for speech therapy through First Steps and also had her hearing tested, which turned out fine. She had 6 months of speech therapy through First Steps, and has progressed enough that she is now developmentally caught up and no longer qualifies for First Steps. I highly recommend the program. I am very glad that we did that for her, so that she didn't fall farther behind and have trouble later in school. It only cost us $20 per month, and the speech therapist came once a week to our house. Autism was never mentioned as a possibility for her. Good luck!

My 4 year old son has a severe speech delay that was diagnosed when he was around 2 years old- verbal apraxia. All that means is that his mouth muscles are not strong enough to properly pronounce words which hs put him way far behind the "normal" children in talking. His hearing turned out perfectly normal and he's behind in some motor skills. See if your daughter is eligible for the First Steps program. It is a free/very low cost program that works with delayed children in your home setting until they turn 3 and they then assist with the transition to preschool and help set up the inital IEP (individual education plan) for your child. While Raithan is still very far behind in his speech, through First Steps, the wonderful preschool teachers, and the speech pathologist at his school he has made giant strides and is TALKING constantly, even if we can not always understand him. Feel free to message me if you would like to know more abour First Steps or how they and the teachers have worked for my child, or what we do at home to help him as well.

My son is 2 yrs old and does not talk in sentences. He only says a few words consistently. Our doctor too suggested we take him for a hearing test but she said it's really just a fomaility and isn't very worried. I just had a bunch of my girlfriends over who have older children and they said their kids, girls and boys didn't really talk until after age two. Hope this makes you feel better.

C.

My son is 9 years old. He has had a very hard life. He was born with larengotrecheomalcia and wore an apnea monitor the first year of his life. He has cerebral palsy, severe to profound autism, is deaf and learning sign language, has developmental delay, and has grown out of (mostly) an immune problem. First of all, just because he's behind on speech doesn't mean he is autistic. He needs to be in all the speech theripies he can get. It's never to much. I would also go ahead and have him evaluted for autism, because that is a sign of it. The earlier he is diagnosed-the better. They can go ahead and start his treatment plan. At his age, he can get in early intervention. Another resource is seven counties. They will start a treatment plan, and give you all the resources you need. Remeber, to take one day at a time. I know this can all be very over whelming but it is not the end. Take 15 to 20 minutes a day and do something for yourself that helps you relax. Work hard with your child to help her progress. I have seen many progresses in my son, and I still see them everyday. He's amazing. Not only do I teach him, but he teaches me also. When I found out that he has cerebral palsy, the doctors told me that it was so severe that he would not be able to walk or even set up. I had him in aggressive theripy. Early Intervention would come to the house once a week to do physical theripy with him, I took him to the hospital twice a week, and I done theripy with him at home 3 times a day. Yes, it was hard. He'ld cry and I'ld cry but we both pushed through. The reward, not only is he setting up and walking, he is running. Yes, his walk is a little akward and his balance is off but, he is doing it. Something that the doctors said he'ld never do. His behavior is getting better. He is getting more social. He is also showing affection some now. It's something we both work at. We have good days and bad days. We don't give up though. Through hard work and many prayers, he has come a long way. So can you and your daughter. One important thing to remeber, you are her most important advocate. Never forget that. I'll be praying for you and her. I know you both can do it and get through this. Best wishes and Happy Thanksgiving. Don't forget to count your blessings. You can email me any time.

Hi A., My son is two, has a speech delay and the doctor also think he's autistic. Our son says 4 words, mommy, daddy, doggie and no. Before he was two he said a lot more words and now he doesn't say any of them. Or he'll have a word that he'll say for about a week or two and then we can't get him to say it again at all. We live in Lucas county and there's a free program called early intervention. They will help you get more information on your son's condition, recommend doctors, they also have a parents support group, playgroups with other children who have delays. They have helped me feel like I'm not the only parent whos child has delays in this world. If you have anymore questions about the program or just want to talk you can e-mail me at ____@____.com

I have a duaghter who is 4 yrs old. She is being tested for autism right now, she was very delayed with her speech also but she also displayed alot of sociol problems as well. Such as not playing with her peers, not wanting anything to do with family memebers such as Grandmas and Aunts ect. We are working with the Behavoral Sevices thru Childrens Hospital they are great! I wish you the best I know its difficult to go thru this,I hope your daughter is okay, please contact me if you would like to talk.

I have a son with a speech delay and I work with a boy with down syndrome. My son has grown out of it. Now he won't quit talking. Some suggestions are to start working on the inside of her mouth to get it stimulated. For example take a toothbrush and dip it in something sour and rub it on the sides of her cheeks and the roof of her mouth. That will get her tongue going. Any type of little kids toy that vibrates rub it on her cheeks. I got this from a speech therapist. Use any type of identification cards like baby einstein and just try to get her to identify it on her own. Just be patient. It will come to her when the time is right!!!

hi, my son is deaf with coachlar implants. i know he does not have autism but he has a couple of aspects of it. he has some develpemental delays. he is four and just now sarting to pretend play. he points alot so we have to make him sign what ever he wants and not just juice or milk but i want juice or i want milk so it would be the same in speaking. be prepaid for a fight.i have sat on the floor for 20 minuetes as my son points to oj and i say i see the oj but what do you want with it. many time well all time i know what he wants but you have to make them say it and be patient. we go to childrens a lot. i love my speech therapist and we see a behavior physc. my son goes to a school for speech delays and mild behavior issues. he is a typical child but very strong minded. you might also want to see an ent. we see dr choo at childrens i have heart of kids who just have build up of ear wax or something can effect hearing. in my sons case i had cmv when i was pregnant and you can loose your hearing gradually so they can hear for a couple of years before they loose it. good luck with everything and hang in there.

My son was diagnosed with apraxia of speech when he was 2. He was diagnosed by a speech therapist (paid for through private insurance) and has been seeing her for a year. He is now almost 3. He has made great strides, so much so that the school district is denying him services when he is 3, even though he also has CP (an entirely different issue). While apraxia is related to the muscles in the mouth, it is also a neurological disorder that prevents the muscles from actually forming the words. Look at www.apraxia-kids.org for more info. I would contact Help Me Grow (if you are in Ohio) or a state sponsored early intervention program. They are wonderful! My son has proven very successful with the toddler pre-school program, free up to age 3. Good luck!

My name is B. and I adopted a child, she had multiple delays and today you would never know she had been delayed in speech. She didn't talk until she was 3-years-old. You know the old saying: We spend the first two years of birth trying to teach the kids to talk and the next 16 years trying to make them be quiet. She had speech therapy at Columbus Speech and Hearing. Our insurance paid a portion of the therapy. She currently attends The Childhood League in Columbus, (downtown) which continues to receive small motor, large motor and speech therapy. She has been diagnosed with Aspergers, which is on the Autism Spectrum. But she cannot get the "official diagnosis" until she is five-years-old. I would recommend you contact MRDD and see if you can get a service worker. They are wonderful and helped me through every step both emotionally and physically in my process!