Speech therapy assessment - what to expect?

CaraMay

As per the title we have the assessment tomorrow for our son (age 25 months).

Has anyone been through this? What can I expect? What did you have to do after the assessment?

January

They'll bring him in and he'll play with some toys, she'll talk to him and ask him simple commands, like 'put Teddy on the bed' 'put Teddy under the bed' etc and see if he understands them.

She'll also use picture flip books to get an idea of his vocab and also ask him questions to see what kind of answers she gets out of him.

My daughter didn't cooperate at the assessment at all so they said they'd do a review in a few months.

CaraMay

What she was she January and did she gave many words at that stage? He has about 30 that we can think of but wouldn't understand commands like that. If I say 'we are going in the car' he will walk to the front door but has no interest in teddies so doubt he knows what one is. I'm just dreading it. He has has enough of hospitals and clinics so really wish we didn't have to go down this road.

January

She was 3 and a half when she got her assessment done, she'd have had about 50 words. I have to say she's coming on in leaps and bounds since she started her free pre-school year...

Try not to worry, I know the feeling with hospitals and clinics... It seems like there's an appointment every week here (I have three girls, one has a heart condition and wears glasses, one has Sensory Processing Disorder and speech delay we're also waiting on ENT assessment for her and the other wears glasses and is being monitored because she's a bit underweight). It's endless!

He'll get the help he needs, he's being seen to early

Borboletinha

We took our daughter in august and it was exactly as january described it. The therapist was friendly and did not seem too concerned as we are a trilingual family, each of us talks to her in a different language and to each other in english. She said delays are to be expected in such cases. I was very worried so going there was a relieve. We got a report of the assesment in the mail and she mentioned some course for parents but theres a waiting list for that.

CaraMay

Ok thanks all. I've started him in crèche as it turned out the minder was doing nothing of any consequence with the kids she minds and the tv was on all day!!!

I have to say I feel like a failure. He has reflux and lactose intolerance and is still on bottles as he drinks nutramigen, won't drink water out anything other than a bottle. He is also not a great eater.

Just really feel like I've let him down wîth this on top of all the other things.

January

CaraMay wrote: »

Ok thanks all. I've started him in crèche as it turned out the minder was doing nothing of any consequence with the kids she minds and the tv was on all day!!!

I have to say I feel like a failure. He has reflux and lactose intolerance and is still on bottles as he drinks nutramigen, won't drink water out anything other than a bottle. He is also not a great eater.

Just really feel like I've let him down wîth this on top of all the other things.

You have not let him down at all. None of this is your fault. Has he had his hearing tested?

CaraMay

January wrote: »

You have not let him down at all. None of this is your fault. Has he had his hearing tested?

No this is the start of it all. He has had a lot of ear infections so that may have impacted but I just assumed he would be ok.

January

Ok, well before my PHN would even register us for speech therapy she made us go get our little one's ears tested. If you are in the Dublin area the audiologist is now in Mount Carmel and if PHN refers you you can get seen to privately for around 60 euro. We were seen within the week, the public list was 18 months long. The audiologist was lovely and noticed a bit of fluid on our little ones ear and that's why we were referred to ENT (2 years waiting on public list for this and we've gotten a letter recently saying they are sending us privately for no charge because we've been waiting for so long).

KKkitty

This is what bothers me about being a parent. Every child is different and develops at different stages. My oldest had speech therapy assessment too at about 3 years old and he would have been in a predominately adult environment prior to that. When he began to interact with kids his own age in playschool his speech really improved a lot.

CaraMay

Look I agree. I don't want him reading me Tolstoy by the time he is 2.5 years old, I just want him to have a quality of life which no longer involves attending clinics and doctors etc. He has seen enough of it.

I'll definitely ask for a hearing check. Thanks all.

wmpdd3

I am following your story with interest OP,my little guy is 23 months old and as far as I know he has 4 words, none of which are really that clear. He understood his first command yesterday (get your shoes).

We are on the list for the turn in his eye and am waiting for a hearing test too.

AllI can say is I have relations with serious illness and the kids just live with it, they feel at home in the various hospitals they attend like they feel at home in the local library etc, it seems to be the parents that feel the stress and anxiousness. In saying that I have had very little experience of having to bring my kids to hospitals etc.... so far.

CaraMay

Well id love if we could organise a thread for people who are going through this and also where people who have come out the far end can give us hints and tips on what they did to help their child at home.

Suucee

My 20 month old has less than 10 words. Not very clear.
When i spoke to phn she instantly thought it was her ears. So gp reffered us to ent. We went private for ent consultation to speed it up and she is now waiting grommets.
My parents have offered to pay for the opp privately as my daughter is suffering with ear infections every few weeks.
She understands when i ask her to do things like through this in the bin or clean up but she cant communicate with us.
She babbles alot but even the few words she does have only i can really understand.
Op id say getting her ears checked might be an idea to be sure that that isnt an issue.

CaraMay

Our doctor had mentioned before that he might need grommets but said it's best to wait til around two. He is two now so at least we can get moving if he needs them.

Was at assessment and she does think his comprehension is behind what it should be for his age. She recommended an ent assessment and we got a cancellation for tomorrow in tullamore (private) which I'm delighted with. The ent will know if he needs grommets / a hearing test. Will know more tomorrow.

Thanks all for your support.

Suucee

CaraMay wrote: »

Our doctor had mentioned before that he might need grommets but said it's best to wait til around two. He is two now so at least we can get moving if he needs them.

Was at assessment and she does think his comprehension is behind what it should be for his age. She recommended an ent assessment and we got a cancellation for tomorrow in tullamore (private) which I'm delighted with. The ent will know if he needs grommets / a hearing test. Will know more tomorrow.

Thanks all for your support.

Oh thats great. who are you going to see. We went to kieran o driscoll and i found him great. First time my daughter had her ears checked without a huge roaring match.

wmpdd3

The waiting list for grommets in Waterford is 3 years, 2 mothers working with us fund raised to get their kids done privately as their older kids ended up with permanent hearing loose as they were too old when their time came up.

I do think my little guy's hearing isnot the best. I've tried calling him when he isn't looking at me and he will answer to anything I call him, not just his name.

CaraMay

It's dr o'keeffe we are going to see.

I presume they will do it pretty quickly if private?

Suucee

Thats a radiculous waiting time in waterford. Them poor kids.
We had our ent consultation on tge 20th dec (i think) . It was private consultation and he booked the procedure for 29th jan.
I explained we didnt have private health insurance so he told us it would cost around 1500 otherwise we would have to go back on public list which he said is a min of 6 months.
He told us to ring at the begining if jan if we wanted to cancel.
My parents offered to pay but we said no. But since that my daughters ears have been playing
up again so we decided to accept their offer as my daughter ends up on an antibiotic every few weeks. She also gets frustrated that we cant understand her .

January

We've been on the ENT waiting list in Dublin for over 2 years now, we received a letter from Temple St on Christmas Eve telling us that they're sending us to the Mater Private with no charge to us because we've been waiting so long. It's absolutely mental.

Glad to hear you have an appointment with ENT tomorrow CaraMay.

Suucee

January wrote: »

We've been on the ENT waiting list in Dublin for over 2 years now, we received a letter from Temple St on Christmas Eve telling us that they're sending us to the Mater Private with no charge to us because we've been waiting so long. It's absolutely mental.

Glad to hear you have an appointment with ENT tomorrow CaraMay.

Thats madness. Money really does talk. When i was with phn she advised me to go to gp. Gp decided to refer to ent. Said its a min 6 months for consultation then another 6 months for procedure. We decided to pay 150 (i think) for private consultation to speed it up. And had the appointment in less than 2 weeks.
But even if we stayed public the waiting time is so much less. It really is madness and so unfair to the kids just because they live in a different area.
Another thing that drives my lo mad is high pitched noises. Like other kids screeching. OHs niece loves screeching and it actually reduces my lo to tears when she starts so with baba no 2 due in march were glad this will be over with before then.

January

Suucee wrote: »

Thats madness. Money really does talk. When i was with phn she advised me to go to gp. Gp decided to refer to ent. Said its a min 6 months for consultation then another 6 months for procedure. We decided to pay 150 (i think) for private consultation to speed it up. And had the appointment in less than 2 weeks.
But even if we stayed public the waiting time is so much less. It really is madness and so unfair to the kids just because they live in a different area.
Another thing that drives my lo mad is high pitched noises. Like other kids screeching. OHs niece loves screeching and it actually reduces my lo to tears when she starts so with baba no 2 due in march were glad this will be over with before then.

My three year old is the same with noises but she has Sensory Processing Disorder and this is a symptom of that. Things like hoovers, lawnmowers, hair dryers etc drive her crazy. Poor child.

CaraMay

Anyone any ideas on how to get them to follow instructions eg give me your shoes?

Lucyfur

CaraMay wrote: »

Anyone any ideas on how to get them to follow instructions eg give me your shoes?

The teddy on/under/beside the table is a good one and one he will be doing over and over if he goes on to therapy. Just sitting with teddy and placing teddy on the table and repeating the command over and over again. It's repetitive and can be frustrating, but it works!

Please don't feel like you're failing him - you're so not

If he has glue ear or a similar hearing problem, that could be the root of all his wee problems. My son's doctor described my son's hearing at that age to be like listening to everything under water, so it was no wonder he didn't understand commands and didn't speak. He also had other problems but the hearing was a big one.

He didn't utter a coherent til he was 5 and now, at 11, he speaks perfectly and is way ahead of his peers when it comes to vocabulary.

Roesy

Something else that might help with the comprehension is explaining what you are doing while you are doing it e.g 'I'm picking up the toys...let's pick up the toys...can you pick up the toys?'

Suucee

Oh January the poor pet. Its only the high pitch that bothers my LO so screeching, whistle type noises on tv or radio , me blowing my nose (that's horrible as she runs away from me crying).

Nice to hear that Lucyfur it gives us all hope.

Caramay I find showing her what to do repeatedly works for us. So after I change her nappy I put it in the nappy bag and ask her to throw it in the bin. I started this ages ago but brought her out to show her what to do. I do this at every nappy change so she got the idea of what I wanted her to do . (she loves it)

Lucyfur

Roesy wrote: »

Something else that might help with the comprehension is explaining what you are doing while you are doing it e.g 'I'm picking up the toys...let's pick up the toys...can you pick up the toys?'

Yup, agree with that. I spoke everything I was doing, all day long. To the point where I was out for a very very rare coffee with friends and I picked up my spoon, showed it to everyone and shouted ''SPOON''

:pac:

What about flash cards, Cara? Very simple pictures, farm animals or something, that he could match to his own toy animals? It's a good way of talking ''lets find the cow'', ''cow says moo'', ''lets put cow on the table'' etc etc

Roesy

Did the person doing the assessment give any ideas of what to work with in the meantime? Lucyfurs idea of the flash cards is good too. I worked with kids with speech and language delay in my old school and the way we worked with the flash cards was to start by introducing one picture at a time and naming it. Even if the child didn't repeat the name we'd say it a few times then we'd put it down and add another until we had three in a row. We'd then get the child to point to different ones eg 'show me the cat, show me the cow, show me the horse'. After that we'd show a card at a time and see can they name them. Sounds basic but with repetition we used see good improvement in vocabulary.

Roesy

Lucyfur wrote: »

Yup, agree with that. I spoke everything I was doing, all day long. To the point where I was out for a very very rare coffee with friends and I picked up my spoon, showed it to everyone and shouted ''SPOON''

:pac:

Reminds me of being at a wedding straight after school on a Friday after a very long and stressful week and not realising until my now husband pointed out that I was using lámh signs during the bride and grooms 5 year old daughter saying Grace before meals.

Lucyfur

Roesy wrote: »

Reminds me of being at a wedding straight after school on a Friday after a very long and stressful week and not realising until my now husband pointed out that I was using lámh signs during the bride and grooms 5 year old daughter saying Grace before meals.

Deadly! I did some lamh. And PECS and TEACH and a bit of hannen (sp). My whole house was wallpapered in pictures :pac:

Cara, how's his tongue? Can he lift it up and stick it out?

Roesy

PECS is great, used use elements of TEACCH too, found the structure very useful too. Used have a little pecs book attached to my belt with a springy keychain thingy. I was all style! Spent some time working as an ABA tutor too. If I'm honest, I used find mainstream a teensy bit boring at the start when I went back to it :pac: