[kdk545]

I remember reading about the delays of children living in orphanages, but I forget the numbers that are used in determining those delays. It was something like for every 3 months a child is in an orphanage, they tend to be 1 month behind in certain developmental milestones.

Am I remembering this right?

Im just trying to get a ball park figure of the developmental age of my son's speech and language skills. He is almost 30 months old and was in an orphanage up until he was 26 months old. Wouldnt that make him about 8 months behind? So his developmental skills would be about that of a 22 month old?

Im just a little nervous for him because really his expressive speech is more like an 18 month old. (He was evaluated by a speech/language therapist who diagnosed him to have 18 month age level skills, and I also compare his speech with other children in our playgroup and on the playground to come up with this number.)

His receptive skills were evaluated to be at a 2 year old level, and he has a pretty sizeable vocabulary in both speech and sign, especially for only being with us 3 1/2 months. He has at least a 35 word vocabulary already.

Im not concerned about the amount of vocabulary, because I think he is doing great, but the intelligibilty of those words has me wondering.

He definitely sounds more like an 18 month old, and if it wasnt for the signs, I would have a hard time understanding him. Words like "milk" are pronounced, "meh", "cat" is "ga", "please" is "puzz", "school" is "soo"....you get the idea.

Have any of your kids experienced similar delays, and how long did it take for them to catch up? Is he more "typcial" than Im figuring?

Like I said, I did count on about an 8 month delay, but he is pretty much a whole year delayed.

Im interested in what you all have to say about this, or if you have experienced anything similar.

(Yes, we have had his hearing evaluated, and we are getting Early Intervention services, but we dont have our first appt until December.)

Thanks!

[Kasey]

You are right in regards to the 1 month for every 3 in the orphanage rule.
I can't really help in regards to your questions just wanted to say it sounds like you are on top of things with the evaluations--best wishes and hope everything is ok!!

[stephw3boys]

kek45
I could have written your post - almost!! kalina is home 5 mos, is now 30 mos, and is probably 8-10 mos behind still. At 26 mos she had ONE RUSSIAN WORD - which would have put her 14 months behind. SO, she is catching up.
I think the delay is just an average! Some kids will have zero speech delay, others could be more like ours, further behind. Some might have different delays..ie - slower in large motoer, etc. Average would be key.
My best friend is a speech therapist, so I just ask her questions. SHe says Kalina is doing great. They have so much to learn, that they will not catch up in all areas right away.
Kalina kept falling when we brought her home, now she runs and jumps.
Just like any kid, they work on certain things and not others.

But of course, stay on top of the situation.

[angelkisses0102]

You are right on track with both the amount of delay and with getting him involved in EI.

Alex was much younger when he came home but severly delayed in speech...at 8 months he basically made NO sounds other than to cry...he didn't even laugh out loud. He was evaluated at just under one year and never got his 1st speech therapy session until he was 17 months old.

The good news is...he is now advanced and was released from EI after only 8 months of speech therapy.

If your son had other delays...those may be the areas he is catching up on first...usually these kids only 'work on' one developmental area at a time. So, his speech may not have gotten his 'full effort' yet.

Also, boys tend to be more delayed than girls in speech...and some kids just aren't big talkers. Our Alex only talks when he must...if he can get away with not talking he doesn't. Yet he has a huge vocabulary and can talk in 3 & 4 word sentences. At his school, they had the kids all evaluated and Alex simply refused to talk to them... They suggested therapy...we just laughed.

Good luck...just keep him talking and it will improve...

[waiting4babies]

I have been worried about this also. Our daughter who is 2 years old is 12 months behind and she can barely speak about four or five words clearly. She can say mama, papa, dada, radar (our dog), and the word eat. She tries to say "I love you", but says "I waw".

I talked to the pediatrician but he did not recommend a speech therapist. I have great medical insurance; however, the one thing they do not cover is developmental delays.

Should I give her more time, since we have only been home four weeks on Sunday, or should I begin intervention now. Maybe I am just being to cautious and maybe I should give her more time to see how she does after a few months. Any advice would be helpful.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get early intervention without having to spend too much on speech therapy?

[GCS]

EI is always a good idea. It never hurts a child to get a little extra help. But remember he's only been home 3 months. He's not only orphanage delayed, he's learning a whole new language. It took Sam about 3 months for english to kick in and he was 3 years old with a good Russian vocabulary.

I would still see your EI specialist in December, but I wouldn't worry yet. Sophia was only 5 months old when we brought her home and I can tell you she already had some receptive language in Russian. We had a Russian nanny for the first 8 months we were home and she responded quite differently to Russian than to English. Now her English is great and she is top in her little daycare class for language, but she's been home almost a year.

I also think it's great you're doing the Baby Signs with him. I think that helps with communication frustration and I wish I has thought about doing it with Sam when he came home. He loves doing signs with the baby and I think it would have been nice for him in the beginning too. I just never thought about doing Baby Signs with a 3 year old at that time!

Christina

[angelkisses0102]

Originally Posted by waiting4babies

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get early intervention without having to spend too much on speech therapy?

I *think* you should be able to get your daughter evaluated by EI thru either a state or county program...in most states it is free or reduced charge based on income if you insurance doesn't pay.

In Florida, we paid nothing for Alex's evaluation and therapy. However, because it is funded by the state he was home 3.5 months before we could get his evaluatin done and we almost immediately started on getting it done. Once he was evaluated in July 2004, his first speech therapy session wasn't until the beginning of December 2004.

So, personally I would start the process sooner rather than later...it nothing else...it will give you peace of mind.

[kdk545]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate your responses and feedback. And for the above poster, all children under 3 years old qualify for Early Intervetion (EI) services, which are free. I would check with your pediatrician. Ours in California is done through the Regional Center, some are done through local school districts, but most states have it in some form or another.

Our pediatrician made a referral to a speech therapist for us, so the evaluation itself was paid for by our insurance company, but Im going through Regional Center and using EI because in California they come to your home to do the sessions (versus going to a therapists office.)

When I realize how many vocabulary words my son knows already, I am astounded! And the sign language has been amazing! He signs/says every word.

By the way, I am fluent in American Sign Language, so it was natural for me to use it all time, but I know its harder for others to do this consistently. I dont sign in sentences, just words. If I do sentences, its only 2 word sentences like "Mommy drink" or "Want milk?" I really just started off by naming food, animals, then verbs. Even my daughter who is only 15 months old is already using about 6-7 signs!