Jorge Said:

Have any of u taken ur child to speech therapy?

We Answered:

Great job getting your son into speech therapy! The earlier, the better. My son started speech therapy at 2 1/2 yrs old. Your son can stay in the state-run program until his 3rd birthday. When my son turned 3 this past July he then began working with the school district's speech teacher (rather than the state's Early Intervention/Birth-to-3 program). He is still receiving speech services, although he is almost on the appropriate level now. It has helped him SO much.

Hopefully you will get a good therapist who makes it all fun and engaging for him. They usually just play with him and while doing it, they are teaching him words and sentence structure. Some of it is just giving him the confidence to do it. If he has issues with pronunciation, they will work on it.

If your son still uses a sippy cup, they will most likely tell you to stop it immediately. Move him to an open cup or at least one with a straw. It helps them develop the muscles in their mouth better.

Here are some things to keep in mind for the therapy:
- when the therapist comes to your house, turn off the TV, radio, stay off of the phone, etc. Your son shouldn't have any distractions, especially sound.
- You should stay in the room with the therapist and watch what she does with him. Then do the same things as best as you can in between sessions with the therapist. He will make much quicker progress if you help him in the same manner, too.
- If they haven't yet suggested it, please ask to have your son's hearing tested. Ask that the state's Early Intervention/Birth-to-3 program pay for it. They should if he's almost 3 and not talking.
- If you are not already reading to him, start right away. Make it part of his bedtime routine. Read him 3-5 short stories every night. Re-read the same ones often, too. They love that and it helps them develop good pre-reading skills.

Good luck! Keep us posted on his progress!

Stacy Said:

How does speech therapy help a child with language delay? How can a difference in language not be overcome?

We Answered:

It basically works to help them...I don't know. something. I am gifted with language and stuff usually..long story: thing about language: even if they have poor grammar, outside of school, it won't hurt a child too badly provided they can actually convey ideas. I've been thrust into situations where I cannot speak due to severe Tourette's, and that was perhaps the worst feeling I could have, wanting badly to proclaim _ but unable to do more than scream in meaningless gibberish. I'm guessing you are asking this due to a tie to a child who has Autism. Autism, FYI: it can be overcome. And autism itself isn't always so much a curse as it may sound. People with it (including myself, I have a very mild form despite my skills at language) can be incredibly gifted or at least have a very specific root to happiness in their obsession, whatever it may be. My brother does some speech therapy to help him convey ideas better. (He's mild-moderately autistic) They basically break down the different parts of speech, like, teach kids to listen through social games, help them learn how to interact with each other, and work on the ways in which they move their mouths, I think, so they can pronounce things better. Flashcards are often used in therapy for kids with autism and cannot speak or make eye contact. That is a large part of autism, the eye contact and making contact with people...sorry if I got too carried away.

Bob Said:

Did your child ever receive speech therapy?

We Answered:

My son was in Speech for 3 years. It was very beneficial to him. Don't be nervous he will be fine.

Jeff Said:

At what age would you recomment a child getting speech therapy for a lisp?

We Answered:

As soon as possible. Speech therapists work with infants who are hearing impaired. If they can work with them, they can work with anyone, and the sooner the better.

Roger Said:

speech therapy?

We Answered:

my daughter started speech therapy when she was 2. A therapist came to our house twice a week for an hour, played with my daighter, tried to get her to say things, did some oral motor exercises, and it was basically useless. We did this for an entire year and saw very little progress.
When my daughter turned 3 she aged out of early intervention, and the school system took over. She was enrolled into their pre-school program, went 5 days a week, 2 hrs a day. Received two 20 min sessions of individual therapy and two 20 min sessions of group therapy... When she started she had a vocab. of about 50 words. Now almost 1 yr later her vocab has increased to around 500 words and she speaks in sentences. She has come soooo far since she has been in school, its amazing.
I hear so many stories of children who started speech therapy at 2 and made very little progress, but once they got in to a school environment with other children, there vocabulary took off.