Speech therapy needed?

[hillview]

My DS is 2 years 3 months and while he talks a lot he has some speech issues. My mom thinks he needs to see a speech therapist. Examples:
Water = waterer
Th is often a D sound ie "in there" = "in der"
Hands = haner
Off = oerer

I sort of feel like it is normal toddler speech but don't want to miss an issue.

He was a later talker -- started really talking at 15-18 months.

Should I get in touch with my doc and get a referral? Next appt is in 9 months for his 3 year appt so don't want to wait 9 months if I should move on this now.
TIA!
/hillary

[JBaxter]

I would look up the number for Early Intervention is should be listed with the schools special education dept. Evaluations NEVER hurt and most EI is either on a sliding scale or in our case FREE! EI comes to your house till age 3. I didnt need a dr referal I just called and stated I suspected my son had a speech delay and wanted an evaluation in Maryland they had 45 days from my call to get the eval done I thik they came out about 3 weeks after the call.

Earlier is always better IMO. And even if he doesnt score low enought to get services most speech therapist will give you some exercises to do.

Good luck

[maestramommy]

Agree. It sounds like normal toddler talk, but doing an EI doesn't cost anything, and the speech pathologist can reassure you and/or let you know what can be done.

[nfowife]

I have had my DD evaluated, and she didn't qualify. She does a LOT of what you are talking about, and she'll be 2.5 next week. I have noticed that things have gotten much clearer as time has gone on...for example when she used to sing "wheels on the bus" she didn't say the majority of the words and the ones she did sing you could barely understand. Now it's most all the words and you can tell what she is saying, although she still leaves off sounds here and there.

[randomkid]

Sounds normal to me. Like you, I was worried about DD at that same exact age. I just felt that her speech should be more clear. I did speak to the ped about it and he wasn't concerned. I was, so I contacted EI and had an appt set up for an assessment. About 3 or 4 days before the appt., DD started talking better. I swear it was like it was overnight - friends had told me this, but I didn't believe it. DD was 2 years, 4 months when this happened. I originally said I would wait until 2.5 years and I should have. What a difference a few weeks/months can make! I was seriously considering cancelling the appt, actually on the morning of the appt. The EI coordinator called me that am to confirm the appt and I ended up talking to her for about 30 min. about DD. She isn't a Speech Pathologist, but does the screenings. She told me that DD sounded normal for her age and sent me some stuff in the mail re: normal development. She left it open for me to reschedule if necessary. Since then, DD shows improvement all the time. I'm really amazed at the difference between then and now at 2 years, 9 months.

FWIW, if you still decide to do an eval, you can sometimes get in quicker if they have a local office and you go to them. Our office was very close by and they gave me that option. We had an appt. in about a week, but if we waited for them to come to the house, it would have been at least a month. I would ask if going to them is an option.

[tiapam]

It sounds pretty normal to me. DD just turned three and she still says some things her own way. I don't think 15-18 months is really that late for talking either.

If he was someone else's child, would you think he had a speech problem?

-Pam

DD - 3 YO

[MissyAg94]

My DD is 2 years 2 months and she does exactly what you're describing...ALOT! I think it is totally normal. They are still so young and are still developing their speech. I am not worried about it at all and I don't think you should be either.

[hillview]

I called EI to set up an appt. It will help with my mom's concerns (she watches DS during the day) and there is no down side. I suspect they will tell us he is fine.

THANKS!
/hillary

[hardysmom]

My DD did have speech issues for which we did both EI and private therapy. I would be shocked if you qualified for EI. At 2-3 they are MUCH more concerned with the number of words (which doesn't sound like an issue) and/or oral-motor issues (trouble swallowing, etc) than with articulation. BTW- they count things like "moo" for cow and words only YOU understand.

We went into (private) speech therapy when Blythe was about 2.25 because she only had 3-5 words TOTAL. If I remember correctly, they wanted to get her up to 10-15 words (which they did quickly) and no one really cared HOW she said those words as long as a consistent sound was applied.

Point is, you may even find out that DS is ahead, not behind. Generally, SPs don't work on articulation until a child is at closer to 3.

I am sorry your mom has stressed you both out about this. I think the evaluation will be good for HER and give you more confidence. I think our parent's memories sometimes fudge the ages at which we did things as kids. My mom swears I was having full, complicated 2-way conversations with strangers at 18 mo. Sure mom.

Stephanie

[hillview]

Thanks great info -- I TOTALLY agree about the parents thing ... sigh. Ah well. And yes he has 100s (maybe 1000s) of words.
/hillary

[marit]

My son is about the same age. I had similar concerns, so I raised them with my ped. He gave me the number to the local early start program. Basically they told me that before 3 years they are not concerned at all with pronunciation, just with vocabulary and speech. They had him evaluated and we did not qualify for their treatments :)
If you're worried I suggest you do what I did, and it will reassure you.

[brittone2]

ITA w/ this. I'm not a speech therapist but have worked professionally with many wonderful SLPs. Generally speech therapists aren't concerned with what they call articulation (or what most people would call pronunciation) until kids are over 3. Kids do all sorts of interesting things like changing endings, substituting some sounds for other sounds, etc. and as far as I know, that's pretty well in the realm of normal.

DS said "f" sounds for certain "sw" sounds from age 2-3 or so. So instead of "swing" he said "fing". Instead of "sweep" he would say "feep". He outgrew it right around 3.

The funny thing is that his little neighbor friend next door is a few months younger. They hang out a lot and she asks me all of the time to "Fing" her on the swing ;) Not uncommon at all.

The EI eval can't hurt, but I would be shocked if your DC qualified unless there is some surprise issue. The other big thing is that you seem to understand his words, and it doesn't sound like he's getting particularly frustrated, which is a good thing.