The evaluation was pleasant, actually. Jack had a great time, and the women agreed that his motor skills are excellent and that he is very funny.
He does, in fact, have a language delay, which seems to be the result of some oral motor difficulties he has. The SLP didn't know if he is delayed enough to actually qualify for services. She has to score his evaluation and get back to us because he is right on the border.
(he has some food issues-- he doesn't like the way slimy textures feel in his mouth; he stuffs his cheeks until he gags, and he doesn't use his tongue to move food or drink around his mouth. all of these things may be related to his inability to form sounds, which is what our pediatrician said at his 18-month appointment. we asked our doctor if we should contact the Birth to 3 program for a speech evaluation and he said we could if we wanted. he said he thought Jack was developing okay-- definitely slower than his big brother, but still not alarmingly slow-- but if we had concerns we should call the place and get Jack seen. he also said Jack's speech issues seemed to be with pronunciation, not acquisition/understanding/sensory development-- all huge reliefs.)
On one hand, we are glad that he is sort of okay. We are also glad that he DOES have a problem and we aren't just being stage parents or something. But having him on the cusp of getting help through this program is really frustrating. If he is delayed (and he is), we want him to have some help.
Obviously, this program is not the only place to turn for therapies-- there are books and curricula and exercises and private therapists, etc. The SLP made it sound like they would probably NOT recommend services now, but they would do another evaluation when he is 2 and if he hasn't had a language explosion they'll help him then. I am not going to be able to just sit tight for 5 months listening to Jack's entire vocabulary being expressed in 3 consonant sounds because I am anxious like that. so I'll keep you posted.
Glad to hear you are feeling better about it. Sounds like you did the right thing and one way or another he'll get the help he needs and be on his way!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're on the right path. I'm the exact same way though and probably couldn't stand the waiting and wondering.
ReplyDeleteI was on the verge of commenting when you up and deleted your rant... I totally get what you were saying, and I'd be ranting too.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, Jack sounds a lot like Fynn. The pickiness w/ food was what pushed him over the edge for therapy. By the time they actually had a spot for us though he had started talking more, and we opted out of services after a few weeks because it really wasn't benefiting him. In some cases they work wonders though. Good luck!
I was talking about this with my boss because one of her grandhildren is also receiving speech therapy. She said that his delay was also pretty slight. They thought about whether or not to get services for him, and the thing that pushed them toward accessing the therapy was that there is no harm! That is, if it doesn't help, like Corinne said with her child, it doesn't help. But if it doesn't help, it still doesn't hurt! Since there's no harm, and it might be beneficial, why not try it?I think she's right.
ReplyDeleteAnna is just a couple months older than Jack and has been in speech therapy for six months now. She doesn't seem to have any of the oral issues, but overall her entire vocab consists of various ways of screeching the same three sounds over and over. When I first had her evaluated at nine months she was borderline and they didn't recommend services, but I still had that gut feeling and was kind of bummed that she was just borderline. At thirteen months, still not even babbling, she was evaluated again and qualified.
ReplyDeleteShe's making progress and it's hard to tell whether that's because of the speech therapy or just because she's getting older. But, the thing is, she freaking loves her speech therapist. She comes to our house with a big bag of toys and for a full hour they play games, read books and sing songs. Even if Anna isn't getting a single thing from the session she still loves it so much that I'll strangely be a little sad when she no longer needs speech and I know that Anna will miss it too. It's really been a good thing for us just because she loves it so much and looks forward to each session.