Early Intervention for Language Development

I actually had early intervention for my son... I thought that
instead for helping him they were parenting me....I thought they were digging into my personal life...My son is now i kindergarten and doing fine

Hi S.,
YES - I can't recommend EI enough. My son was 22 months and not saying much at all. Maybe 5-10 words. If that. I had him evaluated, and he was 8 months delayed. We had a Speech Therapist start coming to the house once a week, and now at 28 months, he's caught up and no longer delayed. Please don't hesitate to call, it's the best help you can get, if you're eligible. We even participate in a playgroup once a week with other speech delayed kids, it's been a great experience for my son.

Please feel free to contact me if you have other questions!
-K. in Natick

I have been through Early Intervention for Speech with my son. My Pedi suggested it because my 2 year old wasn't speaking as he should. I agreed that he needed to be evaluated because the words he did pick up along the way weren't coming out anymore. It was kinda regression. Well, needless to say, I'm glad we had this done. At first I was overwhelmed and upset. I went in thinking "ok, speech issues. We can do this, get a speech therapist..." Then they told he wasn't behind on only speech, it was also his cognitive skills and a few others. So, this evaluation opened a HUGE can of worms that I was expecting nor prepared for. I was upset, hurt, and angry through this whole process. To make a very long story short. I requested to see someone - anyone, who could tell me what was going on with my son. In March of '07 our Neurologist told me that my son has "Autistic Tendencies" that place him on the Austisc Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Although he didn't have "Classical Autsim." Anyhow, I just wanted to let you know that Early Intervention did wonders (although at the time I was unsure, and extremely scared). My son is in programing through CDS and is doing great. I've already seen some progress. He'll be 3 Tuesday and then he'll have his Speech Eval. to determine the kind of services there that he needs. Well, good luck and I hope my story has helped some.

ABSOLUTLEY!!!!!!!!!!!!Have her assessed!!!! My son was 2 and had 0 words and I had him assessed only to find out he is PDD which is a mild form of Autism. Not to say she is autistic but best to have her evaluated so that she gets the help she needs to communicate. It was very hard to communicate with my son and he did not talk until he was 3 1/2. Please go ahead and do it!!In the long run you don't want to find out when she gets to school that there is a problem. Best to find out now. Early detection!!!!!! Hope this helped!!!

Hi

Two of my friends have had assessments done through early intervention and thought it was very worthwhile. If your pediatrician has recommended it, I would think that it could not hurt to at least have the consultation. If the person who does the evaluation does not think that her services are needed, then you have reassurrance that your daughter is where she should be, if not, then you at least are getting help early. Good luck.

My son wasn't using sentences at 2.5 years old. He had Early Intervention from the May Institute, and Speech Therapy from The Teresa Dooley Smith Center. They come right into your home for services. It's a great idea to have her checked out now. The more services she gets early on, the better off she will be in the long run. Early Intervention is only available up to the age of 3.

My daughter didn't say a word until she was 2 1/2, although she used sign language, and understood everything we said. She had fluid buildup in her ears, which didn't exactly cause her to lose her hearing, just perhaps not understand the little nuances of speech. She had ear tubes put in, and was seen by a language specialist, who then gave her "speech therapy". In retrospect, (she is now 5 years old, talks all the time, although has certain articulation problems) I would have waited on the tubes, and tried other interventions for that issue, but I was very happy with the early intervention system. It has no negative effect on her later school records or anything, and I think it really helped her language development. Also, I did a lot of reading about alternative medicine at this time, and began giving her omega-3 supplements, which seemed to have an immediate effect on her starting to talk. Good luck.

Yes, I have had a child in EI for language development. I had my son tested when he was 2 I believe it was. The program is great. He is 9 now and still recieves speech therapy in school. Mostly for annunciation and some blend trouble. Yes, definitely haver her assessed by Early Intervention. It is done at no cost to you. It would be better to find out if she is language delayed for a reason.

My two year old was the same. He had a lot of ear infections, and we think that affected his speech. I'm not saying this is what is going on with your little girl, but we contacted Kennedy Donovan Center in Plymouth. They were great. We had someone come out once a week. Just the initial assessment was helpful- they have 3 people come out to play with the child and test where they are as far as speech, development. I highly recommend them even to eval and make sure nothing is going on. Good luck! By the way, my son Braden is still delayed with his speech, but improving, but he does understand everything. I think it just takes some kids longer. Hope this helps!

Hi S.. Yes, I've had experience with Early Intervention for my two younger children. My son, who's now 18, wouldn't talk after his father & I split up. We went through Early Intervention, using play to get him to talk, in less than a year. For my youngest, she was a little bit tougher. She was in Early Intervention from just before she was two, until her 3rd birthday. She had had difficulty in hearing & saying words properly (poor ear drainage). After having PE tubes surgically placed in her eardrums, she was able to hear & function normally. Now that she's 10, I can't get her to stop talking (LOL).

I used to work in the preschool setting before I had my children and we worked with EI all the time. It helps a lot. I know that it is also covered by insurance. And they will do an assessment and give you all of the results first. Then everyone will decide whether your child would benefit from help and how often it would be needed. I hope this helped!!! Good Luck!

Hello,

I don't have an experience with EI speech but I do have experience with EI. My daughter was born breech with torticollis and low muscle tone. She has been receiving OT since she was 3 weeks old. We have had a wonderful experience with EI. They come to the house, her therapist is great! She has come leaps and bounds. It was hard at first to think that out little one was not perfect but when I see how well she has done I have no doubts that we did the right thing. Hope this helps.

my son didn't start talking until he was 20 mos. he's doing beautifully now at 26 mos. The spectrum of normal lang. development is very broad, if your daughter still has only a few at 24 mos. then you begin to seek out answers... i did have my son's hearing checked at about 18 mos. because that type of loss does run in my family, but that checked out so then i just had to wait. its hard, but give her time to develop at her own pace, and don't let the doc scare you...

S.,
I went through that with my oldest son who is now 16.The best thing about the assessment is they will find out if the chances of speech theropy is worth it.My son went through speech theropy and does very good at communicating more now a days.He didn't start talking until he was two but it was well worth the wait of him doing so.Now him and I can talk and understand each other more.I think you should take the assessment as a path to words and knowlede.

my advice!Do it! I called when my son was 2 because he said about 3 words and not very clearly.. they gave him speech therapy, put him in several play groups for free.. they gave him a basis for his language and when he turned 3 (that's when they age out of the program) he qualified for FREE preschool(and free summer school) because he has an IEP (Individual Education Plan).. he's doing fabulous now! If she's understanding, then her receptive language skills are fine, but she is not speaking, then get her help.. it may be something simple.. or something not so simple, but it's a free service and you can stop at any time if you aren't happy.. well worth the phone call and evaluations. good luck..

Absolutely I would recommend that. My daughter was born with cleft lip and palate and has had other issues develop since then. She started with Early Intervention at 3 months. She will turn 3 in December. They have done wonders with her and without them coming to our home every week, I don't know if my daughter would have overcome some of her issues. Not only have they helped our daughter, but they have been a great sense of strength and support to my family. They in a sense become "family". I go through Critereon for the Enrichment of Children out of Woburn.. They not only offer therapy, but they have playgroups and so much more to offer. Please, I highly recommend that if if was suggested by your pediatrician, definately look into it. They help with getting your child into a special education class if need be. We are currently getting ready to transition my daughter to pre-school when she turns 3. My daughter does not have any serious health or developmental issues but she does receive speech therapy, physical therapy and overall developmental therapy. Good luck and this is definately something that would be beneficial to your child. A.

Hi S.,
My son has been in EI since he was 3 months old, now he is 2. They are phenominal, especially in this area. Without them, I probably wouldn't know that he has scoliosis. He's had physical therapy with them since he was 6 months old and I can see drastic improvements with tortecolis & other gross motor developments from pt and developments elsewhere from their other services (socially, fine motor, etc...)

We are starting to have speech with EI every week now because my son is also behind there too. They have great ideas and are always thinking outside the box. And everything they do encorporates playing so it is fun. My son looks forward to seeing anyone from there all the time.

You might find out that your daughter is actually right on track with an assessment which would be great! But it doesn't hurt to get it checked out, and then if she does qualify for their services you can decide what you want to do.

Best of luck,
R.

Hello, I have a 2 years old little girl that had the same problem. And it was because she was learning more then one language at once. She is now 2 and talking alot.

I'm a speech-language pathologist and I did an internship in Early intervention in grad school. Early Intervention is also part of my job now. There's no harm in getting some help now versus waiting it out. They'll likely do an evaluation and then depending on what they find either offer some suggestions or set her up with a developmental specialist or speech-language pathologist who will work with you most likely for one hour per week. Don't stress about it. EI is a service that you are entitled to. It doesn't hurt to use it.

Hi S.,

I am a mom of a 19 1/2 month old son who also isn't saying much either. He's a bit older than your daughter, but I thought you'd like to know our story. He was also a few months late at crawling and walking, but he's doing both wonderfully now. Just for comparison sake, he started walking at about 15-16 months old. Now, he can understand just about everything we say and he will repeat words that are spoken to him. He's not using too many words on his own yet though. I brought this up to our pedi. when he turned 17 1/2 months old and he suggested EI for us. We had our EI evaluation just yesterday and it went really well. A team came to the house including a physical therapist, a developmental specialist, and a speech pathologist. He scored at his age level or higher for everything (including fine and gross motor skills, cognitive and receptive language). He scored lower at expressive language so he qualified for EI and he's going to start meeting with a speech professional soon. It was completely optional whether we wanted to participate or not.

If you have any concern at all, EI can only be a benefit to you. They can help by confirming she's just fine or they can give you the tools you need to work with her. I was really worried before our appointment that I waited too long. The appointment turned out just fine though. My son had double ear infections for awhile that could have delayed things a little, and he's been working so hard at his gross motor skills that now he's just getting to expressive language.

I was also advised to have a hearing test done for him to rule out any hearing problems, which we are doing soon too.

Good luck with everything...she sounds like a smart little girl!

It never hurts to check in with early intervention. That way if there is a problem later you will have your foot in the door already. One of my sons went through early intervention but we didn't start until he was 2 1/2 they told me ideally they would have liked us to contact them around 18 mos. Don't let it stress you out that your 15 mo old isn't saying much yet. They all progress at different rates. Talk to her as much as possible and eventually she will start to talk back. I have four kids and they all started talk ing at different times.