[SKL]

This is a topic that concerns many of us over time. I thought it would be helpful to compile info on the following. Please post your experience if you have any.

If you had your child tested for a speech delay,

1) At what age was the test performed?

2) How many words did your child speak at that time?

3) Did he/she qualify for services?

Thanks!

[DPline]

1. 28 months (home at 20 months)

2. 25 words that sounded like words and probably 10 more that I knew what he was trying to say. He did understand everything we said though.

3. He tested at low end of the 'normal' range and did not qualify for services.

He is now 5 and in a Young Five's program (basically pre-K) 5 days a week. He has a lot of annunciation issues though most everyone can understand everything he says. I suspect he will end up in speech in school this year or in kindergarden, but his vocabulary is fine.

[DeeVee]

The first time Carolina was tested, at 18 mos, she did not qualify for speech therapy, though she did qualify for PT.

When she was tested again at 2 yrs old, she did qualify for speech therapy, as well as 2x per mo with a special educator. At that time she had about 37 words, and could not put two words together. She has come a long way and is turning into quite the chatterbox, though there are still some things we are working on.

Jesse's eval is scheduled for next week. He is 2 yrs, 9 mos old, and has virtually no words (says one or two things at random, but not with any intention or meaning behind them -- I think he is just mimicking). I am sure he will qualify for services.

[sfalone]

Dulce is 15 months (home almost 2 months), The IA drs. put her speech at 8-9 months. She says nothing. Hardly any sounds. No baby jargin or babbling. Doesn't try to say mama or dada, nothing except cry and grunt.

The EI people are coming out the 13th to do an eval.

[LJR1974]

Zack was evaluated @ 25 months (home @ 20 months).

His speech was evaluated @ a 21 month level (50-60 words at time of eval).

He does not qualify for services at this time. They gave us some things to shoot for by 30 months (130 words, more verbs and word combining). If we're still concerned we can have another eval @ 30 months.

[joyloo]

Thank you for posting this thread. I am very curious to read the responses.

Joy

[giovanni7460]

Antonio is 26 months now. Started speech and PT at 21 months. Still cant speak clear at all. Maybe mama, pa and agua (water).
Patty

[Niclayson]

Trey is 3yrs old. He talks up a storm but his articulation is poor. He is being tested in 2 weeks...I'll let you know the results!

[cmfayz]

David is 22 months and is being tested in the next few weeks. He says maybe 15-20 words. He understands everything. He came home at 5.5 months. I'll keep you posted.

[jroandco]

1. George was 2.5 when we had testing done. He came home at 6 mos old.

2. He spoke about 2 dozen words at most. Did a lot of pointing and grunting for things. Followed multi-step commands without a problem, had excellent receptive language.

3. Yes, he qualified for services through TEIS. Mostly speech, some language.

We have since turned 3 and he moved over to the school system for mostly language therapy with a little speech therapy thrown in. They do both since it is a group setting (3 boys), but according to his IEP, mostly language.

Anyone still in the early throws of speech therapy, hang in there. In time you will start to notice an improvement. Listen to what your therapist wants you to do at home. It is very important to do your homework. Speech and language takes time, but it does come. We had a hard time with "friendly sabotage" at first but it was worth it. We are coming up on almost a year of therapy and George's ST and teachers at school are very pleased with his progress. We have a long way to go (final consonant deletion, initial Fs, consistent initial and final B/P) but we do see improvement all the time. George is finally starting to play with the other kids in his preschool class!!

jessica

[Dawnb93]

1) tested at 19 months (home at 11 1/2 months)

2) speaks about 7 "words", excellent receptive language, though

3) yes she qualified and is receiving speech therapy and occupational therapy (sensory defensiveness) now

After the evaluation, they said Madelyn (now 20 months old) was at a 10 month level

Dawn

[Mindybeth6]

I think it totally depends on WHO is testing and what COUNTY you live in. I know where you live I know people in Summit who have had no luck and people who live here in Stark who have had great luck. It seems like every EI team sees it differently and some qualify and some do not. I had Mikayla evaluated when she was about 15 months old and had three words. Mama, Dada, and Ball. She was considered delayed and we went on the waiting list around the first of the year once I got all my paperwork completed. Mikayla is now 27 months, I think, ROFL, and is still delayed and has maybe 20 to 30 words. Her issue now is MAKING sounds. SHe tries to talk and mimics what we say but she doesn't say the words at all with the right sounds. Does that make sense? I love in Ohio how we have MRDD's. They are wonderful schools for our children and I know several kids in the group whose children attend one, including mine. Sometimes you may have to wait a little but but it's WELL worth it once you get in.

ADDING: Mikayla is still considered to be about 9 months delayed in expressive speech, congnitive skills, and fine motor skills.

[ej-momtobe]

We had DS tested at 27 months. He came home at 9 months. he had about 100 words but was not making 2 word sentences. He did qualify for services, but just barely.

As I understand it our DS was probably delayed because we are bringing him up bilingual. Bilingual children are initially delayed, but by age 4 or 5 they are totally caught up and surpass the monolingual kids. We have been told that the important thing for us to make sure DS is continuing to make progress.

[Saya]

Anabel was home at 8 months.

She was evaluated at 14 or 15 months. She had no words at the time. She qualified for speech therapy (and OT for other reasons). She has been receiving services since she was 16 or 17 months. She is now 29 months and her speech is going really well now - 4-5 word sentences, etc. - and the therapist says her main concern now is just articulation (low tone in the mouth area).

Great survey!

[y_tacker]

We had Zach tested just a few weeks ago (25 months) and he only has about 10 words but did not qualify because they combine the score of what he can say with what he can understand and that combined was too high for him to qualify. They said to have him reevaluated at 2 1/2.