[mallory4]

Our new arrival, 15 month old R, babbles and coos and exclaims, but does not use any words. The notes from previous foster mom say that he could say "uh-oh" and "Bye-Bye" or something like that, but we have seen no use of words in his 13 days here.
He does vocalize a lot, and if you ask him a question like "Do you want to eat?" he will make an enthusiastic sound and smile--he seems to understand a lot, but should we worry about that fact that he isn't using any words, including those he supposedly was using before he was moved (two moves between original foster home and us in one month)?

Thanks for any ideas or answers

[Jensboys]

Both of my sons regressed significantly in the initial months following a move. It was described to me that when all their energy is going towards "coping" that they dont have the energy to learn, or even remember skills previously learned.

I would wait at least another 6 weeks before becoming concerned.

Jen

[perrylg]

Yes, you are right to worry. It would be best to schedule a speech-language evaluation as soon as possible. Check through universities near you--they always have great speech-language programs. Also you can check with First Steps to see if your foster child can get services through them. It is very important NOT to wait 6 months. I am a student in speech-language pathology and often people wait too long. Early intervention really is the key. Also, if he is a foster child, it would be best to get him an evaluation as soon as possible just in case he gets moved. If you have any questions let me know, I'd be happy to help.

[lashicks]

Honestly, don't sweat it. My bio son says very few words and he's a few days shy of turning two. Boys are notorious for slower language acquirement. If he understands and can use a few hand signs, he should be fine.

[mallory4]

R has been with us for 6 months now. He did have a multi-disciplinary evaluation and was found to have a deficit in speech as well as some other areas.

He learned a few signs rapidly, but without us forcing him to use them, would really only use one or two on a daily basis. He began to try a few words about a month ago. He says mommy, daddy, bye-bye and doggie all clearly. He tries to say lots of other things, and we are working with him to get him to put ending sounds on his words--he says "cuh" for cup, etc.

I go back and forth between feeling thrilled that he is at least using words and feeling sad that he is so far behind, since his language skills are about where my other kids' were at 10 or 11 months...but mostly we are thrilled

[ajjhmf]

I'm so gald to hear things are going better and he's starting to use words.

You'd be surprised at how kids can catch up. J was 2 years delayed in speech (and other areas) when he came home. But here we are 2 years later and he isn't in speech therapy anymore. He still has a slight lisp, but that's pretty common at his age. early intervention is the key. You're little guy will get there.

Blessings,
Jenny

[mallory4]

R is now 27 months old and never stops talking. If he is awake, he is talking--to himself, to us, to the dog, and to every airplane, firetruck, or bird that goes by.

His pronunciation is still not great, but he uses 3 and 4 word sentences all the time, and is starting to use "I" and "me" instead of just referring to himself as R all the time.

I guess we will never know whether he really was talking before he arrived in our home, but we are very pleased with his progress and relieved that he can communicate with us so clearly now. His frustration level is way dow, too.

[roselee]

Thanks for the continued follow-ups. I truly believe the your follow-ups and others comments helps people who have similiar speech/language concerns with their child(ren). It really does sound like your lil' one is catching up quickly, wow! What a great inspiration for others!!

It's interesting what Jensboys said about how kids regress a bit following a move because they are just putting all of their energy into coping!! Extremely well said and true. That completely makes sense because when a child is focusing on one skill "motor" for example, a person or parent may see a slight decline in another skill such as "speech/language."

That is the reason why parents sometimes get freaked out when their child who was saying many words seems to have suddenly stopped or their talking declines. Most of these kids, however, still have the words but are now focusing on another skill. Kids don't have the ability to multitask...kind of like most males don't ....hey, I didn't say all, so no throwing tomato's at me to any men reading this!!!!

If Jensboys didn't bring that point up, I would have never thought about the coping aspect as being a part of that skill building process until now (mainly with adopted/foster children).

It definitely makes sense to wait at least six weeks and assess afterwards. In these cases, I would still set up a speech/language evaluation because it usually takes about 8 weeks to get in - so the timing would work out great, anyways!! Just my opinion. In any case, if there is a bit of worry about a child's language development - perrylg was correct (hi perrylg - fellow speech/language person. That was my undergrad degree and I am a school psych now). Sorry, I digress!

So many parents wait too long and often times these children end up having learning disabilities that correspond to their language disabilities. They are so interconnected. Early intervention is the key.

If there is a child that qualifies for the free early intervention services and gets less than one speech session per week, I would combine that or look into speech pathologists who do not provide services through the state (so, you would have to pay out of pocket if you have no insurance). I would definitely want at least one session per week to do some good!! Try for more if you can but I know getting even more is difficult.

Great point Jensboys!!! I will be taking that information with me!!

Oh, by the way, "signing times" is a great video to encourage speech and signing. My lil' one who used to have an expressive speech delay and just took off loved it; still does (almost three). He was an interesting case, too, because he was initially labeled as autistic (read my posting under autism if interested or bored....it's EXTREMELY long - I am a typing rambler.).