Speech and language screening

Caiden's preschool had a free screening the other day from a speech and language therapist. He wouldn't cooperate with some of the tests, but the tests he did do his scores were borderline and just under 1 point for one test. We have noticed that he doesn't talk nearly as clear as other kids, but I just thought it was his age. (He'll be 4 in January) He doesn't finish his words. He seems to run some of them together. He also talks fast. We were thinking he was just being lazy. He'll also use the wrong letters to start certain words. He used to say Daiden, and Donnor instead of Caiden and Connor. Now he says it correctly since we were working with him. He still does it with other words. When he does say things we correct him and then he's able to say it the right way. He talks sooooo much and he knows what to say and when. He has no problem expressing himself. It's just hard to understand him sometimes. Does anyone have any suggestions? Does this mean he's going to need speech therapy? They want to reevaluate him in February. My DH says it's our fault because we don't work with him. I feel horrible!

Message edited 10/25/2007 10:43:04 PM.

Re: Speech and language screening

Bump

No one?

Re: Speech and language screening

My best advice is to not stress yourself out over it...some kids just need speech. Just try and feel good that this is something that is being addressed now and not when he is older.

Perhaps some of the mommies on here, whose children receive speech therapy, can tell you what the therapist does with their children. Then you can do a little "therapy" yourself until February....

Re: Speech and language screening

I had Jack evalutated for stuttering at age 2. They recommended speech therapy. We went to some sessions and then Jack outgrew his stuttering, which they told me was probably just normal deveilopmental stuttering. But I had him evaluated and started speech just to be sure. If he did have a stutter I wanted to be on top of therapy. Anyway, since Caiden is communicating and has a big vocabulary it sounds like he just needs some fine tuning. Here are some of the things that we did with Jack to get him to slow down and think about his words. Some of this may not apply since we were dealing with a stutter, but the overall concepts might help you:

He practiced his breathing to make sure he was taking a deep enough breathe to speak his words. Caiden may want to do this and it will help him slow down. We used whistles and harmonicas to teach him to inahale a nice breath and then speak his words.

Teach him to pause and take a breathe before he speaks. It may seem awkward at first, but soon he will get the gist and it will help him slow down his words and think about what he wants to say.

We also would clap out words rhythmically to get him on pace with his sentences. "Jack would like a cook-ie."...with each syllable as a clap.

Try those things and try teaching him to take a breath and slow down. Good luck!

Re: Speech and language screening

Why do they want to wait until February to re-evaluate him? If there is a problem, it's best to fix it earlier than later. I would see if you can get a re-eval earlier or maybe opt for a private one that your insurance may cover.