Homeschool World Forum

Linda Hartz · User Joined: 15 Jan 2006 Posts: 1

Hello. Our 3 year old is very vocal, but his speech is not clear. He does not form his words clearly. We have started some tongue exercises, but what else can we do? Are there homeschool organizations that deal with this? Thanks.

Juloyes · User Joined: 12 Nov 2005 Posts: 15

Your local social services department may offer free speech therapy. My son was evaluated by First Steps, the program in Kentucky, by a wonderful speech therapist who came to our house. Fortunately, my son was just fine, but if he would have needed it, it would have been home based where you are working closely with the therapist. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it much. My boys both didn't talk very clearly until they were much older and they're doing great now. Be sure to ask your doctor what he/she thinks.
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Julie

momo3boys · User Joined: 14 Feb 2006 Posts: 574 Location: Western Mass

I have three boys and my two oldest 6 and 8, are still recieving speech help. Depending on what state you live in you can get a lot of help, the best thing you can do is get your child evaluated and go from there. There is a lot of support out there and they are just waiting for people to take advantage of it.
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Phi 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Shirelle · User Joined: 19 Feb 2006 Posts: 2 Location: Fort Worth, TX

My almost three year old is also delayed in speech, by between 9-11 months in different aspects of speech. We had him evaluated by ECI (early childhood intervention) here in Texas. We have a speech therapist working with him, and here in Texas the program is on a sliding scale of what you can pay. They also come to your home, so you are still very much in control of the situation.

Some things that we do with him to improve his speech and the coordination of his mouth and tongue are: blowing bubbles, we were also asked to take him off of the sippy cup, we have him suck thick things (yogurt, milkshakes, smoothies) through a straw. We read and talk, talk, talk about everything. We sit down and do 'floor time' and I encourage him to point to things and say "right there" to show me where it goes. If he wants something (even if I know what it is) I make him tell me what he wants. Sometimes we get into the habit of talking for them, or just getting them what they want when they gesture or grunt. We sing a lot of songs and read books a lot. If he says something improperly, we ignore it and we continue to say it correctly.

I hope that helps!

June R Oberlander · Moderator Joined: 20 Oct 2005 Posts: 5

From what you have written it sounds like you are on spending quality time with your three year old. This close interaction is very important during a child's formative years, especially from birth to age 5. Many parents have found this book useful.

Some speech therapists have reported that this book has helped them interact with young children. The activities in the book "Slow and Steady Get Me Ready" may be of interest to you. This book contains developmental age appropriate activities for parents to use with young children from birth to age 5. The back of the book also contains a checklist guide to help monitor the progress of each of the five years.

Good Luck.

AprilP · User Joined: 17 May 2006 Posts: 23

My son is 3.5 years old and was diagnosed with a speech disorder called verbal apraxia at age 2. I had never heard of this before the diagnosis. The book "The Late Talker" by Marilyn C. Agin, M.D. was extremely helpful. Trust your instincts and not the advice to "wait and see". Early intervention can make all the difference in the world.

momo3boys · User Joined: 14 Feb 2006 Posts: 574 Location: Western Mass

April, I absolutely agree. My oldest was diagnosed as apriaxia when he was two, also. He's now eight. Keep an eye out for language issues as he gets older. Learning to read turns into quite a challenge for children with apraxia sometimes.
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Phi 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

June R Oberlander · Moderator Joined: 20 Oct 2005 Posts: 5

April, is your son's condition Apraxia or Aprasia?
Terms may have changed since I was in college

Aphasia is "impairment of the ability to use or understand oral language...there are several classifications that include expressive, receptive, congenital and/or acquired aphasia".
Apraxia involves "difficulty in motor output or in performing purposeful motor movements".
It may comfort you to know that young children begin talking at various stages of development and it is how a child listens to and interprets the sounds (words) he hears that influences how he encodes or expresses his ideas through language. This concept is important to understand before a child can be taught to read. Reading is the act of decoding and comprehending the language of others on the written page.
Intonation refers to the pitch, accent and rhythm of the spoken word. A child who experiences a deficit in this area may have difficulty encoding the idea of the spoken word(oral language).

MeganWiles · User Joined: 30 May 2006 Posts: 22 Location: California

I have niece, now about 26 months, who is only speaking maybe 10 words, and not very clearly. She doesn't appear to have issues understanding language or following directions, and she is very social with other adults and children. The family doctor advised to wait and see, which my brother has listened to. I wonder if aprasi could be her problem.

I don't really know what to do since I have oftered up information on where they can go for free assessment and they have refused.
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Megan A. Wiles
http://www.homeschool-guidance.com

AprilP · User Joined: 17 May 2006 Posts: 23

Yes, he has Apraxia. His receptive skills have always been normal, it was just the motor planning in his mouth. And now I'm actually starting to see it in his hands. He was recently evaluated by an occupational therapist, and I was told his grasping is very delayed due to the apraxia. I'm trying some activities at home too, with play-doh and stuff like that to strengthen those fingers. I was really worried though, for a while about his reading in the future. Children with apraxia are at higher risk for dyslexia and other learning disabilities. But he can recognize letters and numbers very well and that's pretty reassuring.....I hope I'm not scaring anyone who is just now learning about apraxia. I've read and heard of so many success stories, and my son has come very far. At age two, he had no speech, not even "mama", and now, a year and a half later, he is very talkative and about 50% intelligable. His speech therapist tells me that as an adult, only a proffesional ear may be able to tell he ever had a problem.

AprilP · User Joined: 17 May 2006 Posts: 23

Megan, no one (especially dads, it seems) is ever anxious to label their child delayed. It's very possible your neice is a late bloomer and will catch up on her own . On the other hand she may not have a speech delay but a speech disorder, and by getting early therapy she will have gained a vital time advantage. Try to explain to your sister in law that there is growing proof that early treatment at the time when a young child's brain connections are most malleable may even help "rewire" any problems. There's really nothing to lose.
There is a website called apraxiakids.com that has a list of warning signs.
By the way, thanks for the encouraging advice about the part-time job!

momo3boys · User Joined: 14 Feb 2006 Posts: 574 Location: Western Mass

April, your son sounds so much like mine. He could say joo "juice" and Ja, "Jack" but that was it at 2. Now you can't stop him, and he is completly understandable. His problem now is organizing his thoughts, and writing things down. He has OT once a week, and I'm excited if he can write his numbers the right direction. He is getting better but you have to stay on top of it. Don't let the system tell you to wait. We wasted a whole year waiting for the school system to get it together. The earilier the better!
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Phi 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Seeker · User Joined: 31 Jul 2006 Posts: 16

My son has Apraxia also. I just wanted to post this link, for anyone who wants to get their child speech therapy outside of public school. My son attends the Scottish Rite Childhood Language center. They have locations all over the country and it is free to families where we attend, and I think at most other locations as well.

http://www.srmason-sj.org/web/cld-files/cldp.htm
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Your Word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against You...