POSTED: June 3, 2006 by jenjen
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My neice is 20 years old and has terrible speech ( she never moves her mouth) her Mother and my Mother always could understand her and said there was nothing wrong with her. She was in French Immersion in school and spoke French clearly but her English is terrilbe and now as an adult it is very difficult to understand her and I always have to have her repeat herself. Take them and have it corrected early on and everyone will be happier.
you're absolutely right Blueberry...it's sooooooooooooooooooooo worth it...the improvement in his pronouncation is unbelievable...it blows me away the difference that the speech therapy has made.....worth every penny...he used to get really frustrated when people couldn't understand him and his brother had to ''translate'' for him
I seemed to have missed this post and am jumping in here late. I'm a Speech Pathologist so I can say without a doubt speech therapy works. Most kids love coming for therapy as we play games or do activities while we practice the sounds.
I noticed a few people hesitating to get their children assessed because they thought they were too young, well I disagree as a Speech Pathologist can tell what is just a developmental misarticulation (an error that is normal for their age) versus an actual speech delay or disorder. The youngest child I assessed was 12 months old and I have seen manym many that are 2 years old. There are many things the parent can do to stimulate language and articulation development even in very young children. If you take them and they are age-appropriate they will be discharged. Also with the long waiting lists you can always put their name on now and cancel later if they are age approrpiate by the time their name comes up.
As far as rates go for private speech therapy they do vary, along with whether you go to a clinic or the clinician's house or whether the clinician comes to your house. You can also request that you go every other week or once a month to make the insurance money go further. The only drawback to going less often is that the onus is more on you to really be diligent and practice at home. Often the reminder of going once a week helps everyone stay on track.
If you have any other questions feel free to fire away.
ok thanks. I'll have to make a couple of calls. I don't have $65 a week. Stay at home mom and all.
speech therapy is going good...he's been going since july and yes it's $65/week but i tell you it's worth is...he self corrects himself which is what they want...he even occasionally corrects his brother...which is not a good idea...lol..for how much longer he has to go...i don't know....the waiting list thru school here is 18 months...he's still on the list...but i had to do the private...they made me feel like he was worse at his speech then he really was...the school therapists that is...not the private therapist
Yep DS is on the waiting list and who knows maybe he will improve alot before his time comes up ( he has improved alot this summer) but at least he will be in before he starts to school. And well... if he does not need it so be it.
It is about a 6 to 10 mth wait here as well ( Ottawa) :)
Jenjen how is the speech therapy going?
Are you saying you have to pay $65 every week? How many months?
My youngest son (4) just started JK. And his teacher told me today, she can't understand what he is saying (the accent doesn't help either, lol). But he does need speech therapy now. The gov. therapy is 8-10 month waiting list. Which means the whole of JK he is going to have problems learning. The school doesn't have therapy classes.
So maybe I should find a private therapist. But the prices you mentioned are quite high. Did you find your therapist through the Speech and Therapy Association? How do I choose who to call out of a list of many practitioners?
Bigmama-I realise now I should have done this before he started school.
So if you have concerns now with your child, make that call and get on the waiting list. It is only for children up to SK. After that I'm not sure where you can go to for free.
In my area it is Erinoak (gov. funded).
bigmama...yep that's like me coverage for $500 per year...well the assessment was $325...and $65 per 45 min sessions...my son too is above average for the language skills but it's the sounds...the other thing she said was that this can affect his reading as he gets older...cuz my guy says house as hout...well when he starts to learn how to read...when he sees it spelled as h-o-u-s-e...he's not gonna be able to read it cuz to him it's spelled wrong...she said that it's not only teaching them a new thing...it's also a matter of breaking them out of a habit...which is the tough part
Well you beat me to this question :laugh:
Here in Ottawa the hospital does speech and language screenings all over the city. Well I took DS who is 3 and5 mths. I have been concerned about some of his sounds and when I lived in NB they do a public health screening of every 3 and half yr old the test their hearing , speech and motor skills and they also ask about the childs car seat to home life ( I guess they catch some neglection and abused home life as well)
I think that is great that they do that and was surprised they did not do that here.
Anywooo... so I took DS to be screened and the lady was "on the fence" about him great with language but may have either the motor or frontal problem with K ,L sounds and double ones like sh. I was concerned as he does not seem to make some of these sounds . She did give me the thumbs up for him to be on the list to be fully acessed which is at least a 6 or month waiting list and then it would be another 6mth before actually therapy started.
My concern is that she also mentioned that some kids are harder to work with as they get older as they are embarassed and just will not try these sounds as they know they cannot do it. I am already and she noticed it as well that DH is showing signs of this.
I just do not know what to do :hairpull: I am trying to find a good name of someone to go private I only have coverage of 500 per calendar year though.
I guess I wish I knew if there is a good success rate with DS still being young or if I should just wait.
I guess I am paranoid about it as I will never forget my older boy when he was in preschool I noticed he would not talk to a little boy in his class. I questioned him about this and he just told me he liked him but he could not understand him so in his little mind at the time he would just ignore him ..( now he is a kind soul and would never do this today).I do not want this to happen to DS who is 3.
I am so confused whether to just wait or go for it. DH and I are trying to work with him even harder since I went .She did give me some info on a few things to do. :)
Has anyone else had a young child do speech therapy ( like 3 or 4?) ??
PS Hey Dawn it sounds like your DH has more of a slang thing just like me!! :laugh: I really have to pay attention to my ing as well and I am always cutting people off as well ..maybe we just ADHD :biglol: I drive DH crazy he corrects me all the time. :biglol:
well that's just it...i've had everything checked and this is pretty much the last thing left to check...and it seems to be what all the signs are pointing to..i hope it works
Oh that good jenjen, you gotta cover all base's when it comes to your children. :)
hey chea...yep i've had him checked for that too....thanks for the suggestion tho
I remember my nephew years ago, we could not understand what he was saying. We had to listen very very carefully. Well one day my nephew needed to see the orthodontist about his crooked teeth and perhaps need braces...........Well lo and behold the dentist discovered that he was tongue tied! Apprently he needed to have part of his tounge snipped underneath. And well ever since then, his speach is just fine!! Can you imagine that! Not sure but something to think about? you never can tell, they didn't.
this is wonderful to know...i new i could count on all of you to help me out and make me feel more at ease...thank you so much everyone!!!
was assessed in Kindergarten and started speech therapy in Grade 1. He had "th" - things became sings, "sp" became "f" - sparkles became farkles -- you get the idea. After working with the therapist for about six months, once every two weeks, you would never know he had speech problems.
well he was assessed at school by a speech therapist...and they where the ones that recommended that we do private due to the loooooooooong waiting list....i don't mind going the private route...it's just that the one that assessed at school made it sound like he was wayyyyyyyyy behind and to be honest she freaked me out...but the therapist we took him to said that his language skills were above average but the speech part is behind...so i was wondering if anyone else has gone thru this...it's great to know of other parents that have been thru this....it's reassuring to have information from others...thank you to everyone
panic, ecspecially when they are still only 3, unless they werent speaking at all... that is the reason they dont like to do the assessment too early as many times it can be normal at this age....when they get close to 4 or even 5 and no improvement, then i would be more concerned :)
smiles
janetc
One of my co-workers has a 3 yr son that has started the b-b-b-bbut thing and this has happened in the last 6 months just after anew baby arrived. it took about 2 months to show up and the baby is very colic and crys for hours at a time. They have had him looked at and were also told not to correct him and that it is stress related. Who would think a 3yr old has stress.
My husband went to a speech therapist when he was little. I can't remember the details, but I think the reason was to do with his high palette? He did excercises as part of his therapy. His speech is fine now, although he does have a problem with words ending in 'ing'. Playing is play-EEN, skiing is ski-EEN, and so on. I doubt it's really noticeable to others, it's just something I picked up on. I think it's far more noticeable when grown adults say 'samwich' instead of sandwich. (by choice too, I think?)
My daughter mispronounced words while in preschool, but I never thought much of it as she was just entering that time where not having front teeth was part of the problem. She outgrew that just fine.
We did consult with a speech therapist program for my son however, as he showed signs of what I thought was stuttering or stammering. He had displayed an abnormal pronounced facial expression when speaking at the age of two. It was only a few times, but it was memorable. By preschool age he would often have 6 hits on a consonant before getting the word out, at times-usually with the word 'but'. ("b-b-b-b-b-b-but....") My husband felt strongly there was no problem, but when I saw a notice for a nurse hotline to answer questions about your preschooler up on the wall I made a call, and got connected with a speech therapist program. I was told there was quite a wait for appointments but we may be seen sooner if we opted to have a visit to our home by a therapist. That worked out very well. Through this we learned he has a speech dysfluency, not a stutter. Basically it's something that may show up in his speech at times of change/stress, but it has kind of self-corrected for now. We know it could return again at puberty, or even when he changes schools when it's time for high school. I don't worry about it, but I'm glad I looked into it so we could educate ourselves on how we can help him when it happens. DH has a terrible habit of cutting people off mid-sentence, and this is a no-no for sure.
My DS also had a slight speech problem. I can't even remember now exactly what it was but I think it was with S and SH sounds. They said he had a lazy tongue or something and so they gave him special exercises to strengthen his tongue muscle. That was in kindergarrten and a bit of grade 1. He is now in grade 2 and speaks normally. This was done in his school where he was pulled from class once or twice a week. He is lucky enough to go to a wonderful small school (K-grade 4) of only 38 students so there is no waiting list for anything.
Everyone is different and your kids are so different in other ways speech is just one of them. It can be corrected with some work and the earlier the better.
exactly Cat...ds #1 speaks fine and always has...never had one problem...no clue why that is
This is all very interesting as I am in the same boat. My youngest (3) also doesn't say c, or s,or d. I am getting him assessed at the deipp clinic on Wednesday to see what can be done. If I correct him he tries really hard to get it right, so that is a step in the right direction. I can't figure out why my oldest son speaks so clearly and eloquently, and my youngest doesn't.
I actually wondered about this too..my youngest, the 3 year old..has a definite speech inpetement..and it makes sense to me that they would want to catch it right now..while young children are building their vocabulary..instead of waiting till the poor kids get in school..but apparently I am wrong. Noone even looks at it till they get in school..unless of course I were to go to someone privately...hmmmmm..I have to go right now and see if that's covered under DH's health insurance at work. Thanks for lighting a fire under my behind. :laugh:
:) Mel
Jen, have you tried calling the hospital because they do have a speech therapy program there as well....there might be a waiting list but it would be worthwhile checking into it....HSC has a speech program as well, but that might be too far for you to take your DS to......speech therapy helps, don't delay doing it for your DS :)
My niece didnot get therapy and I believe it was because she was in French Immersion and she was made ot speak correctly there but her English is terrible. My Dad says that he can never understand her and she is now 20. It is worht the money and he will thank you in the end.
My grandson was put on s wait list for a couple of years too. We'd only see him for a short period of time in the summer and couldn't understand what he was saying. His parents bit the bullet and paid out of their own pockets last year when he started school. What a difference; we can actually have a conversation without half guessing what he was saying. I think it was once a week too. He'd still be waiting another year if they hadn't gone private. He's so much more confident now. They would have even given him a few more lessons but the private therapist was offered a job elsewhere in the province for more $$. Obviously a shortage of good therapists in this field.
yep had his hearing checked...other than the fact that he has selective hearing...it's just fine...everything is fine...funny thing is that when she assessed him in the language part of the assessment he's above average for the language...but below average for the speech part of it...oh i really hope it works... :)
jenjen 18 months.... :eek: normally our school wouldnt access them until grade 1 but i hounded them when she was in kindergarten because i knew she had a problem...........oh i so hear you, i remember DD thinking she was saying the word correctly,,,,,,,,,,she would say buurd and i would say bird lol im sure it will be well worth it for him......all the best jenjen and let me know how he does, you will be amazed with the progress....im assuming he did have his hearing checked as well just to be sure there is no loss there
smiles
janetc
thanks J...he's on the waiting list thru school...and 18 month waiting list :rolleyes: ...so in the meantime we decided to try private speech therapy...man oh man it's expensive...but what can you do...he needs it...but his problem words are for example instead of saying fish he says bish or vacuum is bacuum...spoon comes out poon and when you say to him ''ohhhh it's a poon he corrects you and says NO it's a POON...lol...in his ears i said it wrong but he said it right yet i repeated the same thing...also his other problems are continuing sounds like s or c or blending sounds like sh and stuff like that....well i'm glad to hear that it worked...cuz i know how frustrating it can be for him if he has to repeat himself over and over....he gives up and i don't wanna see him get like that...but thanks J i really really really appreciate your feedback on it...helps me out sooooooooo much