Expressive Speech Delay

Updated on May 12, 2008
M.D. asks from Carrollton, TX
31 answers

My son will be 3 at the end of June, he just started saying some words in the beginning of March. I have been using ECI, and now have done the assessment at the public school, LISD, and He didn't perform. They took me and my husband out of the room, and my little boy cried. When we went back in the room, they therapists mentioned some "red flags", like crying, not wanting them to touch him, staying aggitated when we were still in the room, and not doing the "where's your nose" stuff for them, but only for his parents. When we came in, he was pointing to all of his body parts. I should also mention my boy had major trauma at 2 weeks old, he had a bowel obstruction, and almost died. He was in an induced coma for 6 weeks or so, and had reconnection surgery at 3 months old. He did everything else on time, except for talk. In my heart, I don't think he has too many issues, and I'm feeling weird, for lack of a better word, about what they said at the assessment. Should I look elsewhere, or just follow their lead at the school. There is more to the story, but has anyone been in a similar situation with delayed speech, and suspicion of sensory issues, albeit small ones? I can't get rid of this creepy feeling. Thanks for any help. I want to add, that at the end of the assessment, he gave them all hugs and high 5's. LOL

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A.S.

answers from Dallas on

i am on occupational therapist and i recommend you read "the out of sync child" by carol kranowitz. this may help you sort through what you feel a little off about, because chances are he does have some sensory processing issues and would benefit from a sensory integration clinic. hope this steers you in the right direction.
good luck!
A.

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A.K.

answers from Dallas on

We have had almost the exact same issues with our son. Here is exactly what you need to do--get 2 books:Late Talking Children and Einstein Syndrome both by Thomas Sowell--these books described the situation to a T--then you need to set up an appointment with Dr. Camarata who is the doctor talked about in the book--he runs the Late talking children clinic in Nashville and is associated with Vanderbuilt University--he told us exactly what the issues were with our son and how to teach him--we even pay him to be present by conference at our ARD's and he goes to bat for us with the school--the schools want to put certain labels on the kids that do not always fit--this man has been so valuable to us--please do not delay in doing all this--the younger the better to get Dr. Camarata involved. He specializes in exactly what you seem to need and what we needed. Please feel free to contact me if you need further info--you will be so relieved once you get him to properly diagnose your child's needs and get him on your side!

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S.C.

answers from Dallas on

We were referred to ECI when my son turned 2 for speech delay. After a few months, I pressed the ECI therapist for more information about my son's progress and was shocked to learn that she thought my son had a form of autism which was the first anyone had mentioned the possibility to me. I eventually was referred to a developmental pediatrician (Dr Lisa Genecov) by my son's pediatrician. My suggestion to you would be to call and make an appt immediately with her as it will take approximately 4-6mos to get in to see her. After a very thorough exam/consultation with her & a speech therapist (took 1/2 day at Children's Med City Hospital, she recommended we see an ENT to check the adenoids (they are in the sinus cavity) and continue with speech therapy. We had the adenoids taken out by Dr Henry Carder (Dallas) and switched to speech therapy at Medical City Rehab. We saw immediate improvement and only had to have speech therapy for 6mos. My son is now 4 and is doing great in preK! And, no, he is not autistic and doesnt have sensory issues as was suggested previously by ECI. Good Luck and ask a lot of questions!

1 mom found this helpful
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K.T.

answers from Dallas on

M.,
Wow! That is a lot. I don't think I have any advice, but I will tell you that you are his mommy and know him better than anyone else. Go with your gut - what does your instinct tell you? I'm proud of you for being such a great mom and also working it out so that you can be at home with him. It sounds like he needs your reassurance and love - just like you are already doing.
You are doing a great job!

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L.W.

answers from Dallas on

get a second opinion...

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B.W.

answers from Dallas on

My son was born extremely premature and we also went through similar developmental dealys. We worked through ECI until he was three when we were referred to our local public school district for assessment. My husband and I had been given the impression by our case worker at ECI that our son would only need ongoing speech therapy. After the assessment, we were told that our son would need to attend intensive 5 day a week preschool for special needs and at-risk children. I was devastated and very scared; my husband, of course, shrugged it off with a "he's fine". We grappled with having him privately tested also. In the end, we took him out of his "normal" preschool after the holidays and sent him the the preschool program at one of the local elementary schools. It was very tough at the beginning for me to drop him off every day and see the other children with more severe differences, but we stuck with it until he was released from the program right before pre-K. Our son is now 8 years old and a straight A 2nd grader. We have no regrets and feel that the expreience was extremely positive in the long run.

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B.R.

answers from Dallas on

Hello, I was had a problem with my speach when I was young, but my parents couldn't understand why I wasn't pronouncing the words right. By the time I was 5 going to Kindergarden. The nurse found out that I had a hearing problem, and that is why I was not talking right. I was born in Mexico and my first language is Spanish. I moved to Texas when I was 3 years old. They took a hearing test on me and that's how they found out that I was hard of hearing. So they taught me Sign Language and English at the same time, while also teaching me how to pronounce the words right by feeling the vibration or air blowing on the feather. That is how I learned. I know 3 languages now. I am very proud and I wear hearing aids that help me hear things too. Please take your child to have his hearing tested. I am not sure how they do it at a young age, but I am sure they can tell you more about it. Please let me know how he is doing. I will keep my prayers for you all and your son. Best wishes. If he has a hearing loss. I would be happy to teach all of you sign language. Take care and I hope he is doing fine. B.

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L.C.

answers from Dallas on

M.,
ALWAYS go with your gut. My son has autism and he is 8 years old. When your child is not speaking or has some delays you should ALWAYS follow through with evals, etc. But the school district is not always the one to go to. If you already know there is some delays in language and some sensory issues, then he needs some therapy no matter how they label it. Our first eval did not go well either years ago. Try a developmental pediatrician. there are not too many in the area . I know of a DR. Lisa Genecov in Dallas. If you start now he has a great chance of catching up and getting those sensory issues regulated. You will pribably need to go private. Callier center in Dallas has a GREAT program called the preverbal class. Google them and read about it or call and ask to talk to Jan Lougay. They are wonderful. CHildrens House Baylor in Irving, Dallas, Frisco, or Allen can do a thorough eval and they are with many insurances.
DO NOT JUST LET IT GO even tho you think its small delay.
Hope this helps,
L.

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K.A.

answers from Dallas on

Have you had his hearing checked? My daughter was slow to talk. It turns out she is almost deaf in one ear. We didn't know until first grade when they did the hearing test. In Kindergarden. she was out the day of retesting so we were never told she had a hearing loss. She's fine, just adjusts by turning her head so it's not noticable. When she watched TV she get real close to the TV and not hear us. She'd get mad if we talked to her and when she said "what?" a ciyoke if tunes we would get real loud. The she said wee were yelling at her. After we found out explained a lot of the behavior. She still kind of quiet around people because she doesn't always understand what they say so she just doesn't answer.
Just another possibility.
K.

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D.M.

answers from Dallas on

I have a wonderful Speech Pathologist that we are working with for my 14yr old son. She is very thourough in her evals. I saw that someone said to check his hearing. My son ended up having Hyper-sensitive hearing as well as Central Auditory Processing Disorder. We found it through his hearing tests. He spent a good hour testing him. Here is her Audiolgist that tests for her.

Audiologist
Achiueve Hearing and Rehabilitation, Inc
5928 West Parker Road Suite 1000
Plano, Texas 75093
###-###-####
Michael Gehan - Audiologist

My Speech Pathologist is
Sally Bober - ###-###-####

She is doing some of the most awesome therapies with him. She is very cutting edge. She works with PTs, OTs, nutritionists, allergists, and speech therapists. She speaks and teaches across the country for the special therapies she uses. She works with all sorts of speech issues and does well with developmental issues and autism.

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J.M.

answers from Dallas on

My son also had a speech delay and clings to me constantly. He did do much better with me than with strangers, especially with therapists staring at him & trying to get him to do things that made him uneasy. I think it is perfectly normal for some kids to be shy & freeze when tested by strangers. Ask the therapists what your son should be doing and evaluate him on how he normally acts. It sounds like he is speech delayed at the least, so I would look for another therapist. I also used ECI, but our therapist understood that my son took a while to warm up to her. We even let him sit in my lap while she did play therapy. He finally warmed to her and I was able to leave the room while he was distracted. If he fussed, I returned and the session continued. I think it's rediculous to expect a child to perform when the parents disappear. Good luck!!!!

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R.W.

answers from Dallas on

Always trust your 'gut feelings'. Get a second opinion and then get a third opinion if the first two opinions are different.

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K.W.

answers from Dallas on

My 3 year old son was diagnosed with speech delay thru McKinney, Tx. ISD. They have a fabulous program and his has done wonders for him. We NEVER were asked to leave the room- a 3 year old is going to act strange if the parents leave him him with strangers! They also went and visited him at Mother's Day Out to make sure that they were seeing everything in his own comfortable environment. This was last Spring. He started private speech classes during the summer 2 x a week just to get us going until the Fall semester started. It was amazing what 3 weeks even did! In the Fall, he started going to PPCD classes at one of the elementary schools 5 days a week from 8:00am to 10:30 am and then parents pick them up or they go on a little bus, which they love, to their pre-school. Their were 5 kiddos in his class, 2 teachers, and a speech pathologist. The results have been amazing. At first I thought we might be jumping the gun a little, but as a neighbor/friend told me, what can it hurt? if you have any questions, you are more than welcome to e-mail me.
____@____.com

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N.W.

answers from Dallas on

My son is autistic. I suggest you find a developmental pediatrician - sorry I don't know of a good one - who will do testing to determine your child's issues. I told my ped at 18 months my son is autistic. Then I was on a waiting list for 9 months to see a dev ped who said yes your son is autistic. The testing rated him as severe. The schools are a good resource but their only goal is to give your son an appropriate education, you may need to look elsewhere for the best education. Ask around, gather information and use your mommy gut.

K.M.

answers from Dallas on

I understand the concern and wanting to make sure that your son is properly diagnosed; however, as stated previously I would take advantage of all services that LISD will provide. I have 2 friends whose children had similar issues and qualified for PPCD when their children were 3 years old. Within 6 months they were speaking circles around other children. Not only has their speech exceled, but they are outstanding bright children and will be ahead of all of their fellow kindergarteners. I wish I would of been able to get my son into the PPCD probram. I had to fight for 2 years for my son to get just speech therapy (thourgh LISD) and then they only approved him for 2 days a week. The year before he was approved, we paid for him to receive occupational therapy at Baylor Childrens Our House. It is a wonderful place. My son loved it and made great strides in occupational areas. He has also improved in his speech since beginning speech therapy with LISD. I just believe he would of made greater strides if he was receiving therapy everyday. I would suggest that you take advantage of any and all serviced that LISD will provide and meanwhile have him evaluated by someone else if that would put your mind at ease. Just remember that the sooner he receives assistance, the greater strides he will make. I wish you the best with your son and hope that he will be able to make great strides and place out of the program quickly.

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A.J.

answers from Dallas on

Not sure what the RED FLAGS were they were talking about. I mean, what where they concerned about?

what did they say was a concern were they worried about Autism? or PDD?

My 5 year old has PDD/NOS, Possible Aspergers and ADHD and Sensory Integration Disorder. He had a birth trauma also he needed Oxygen for several hours because he did not get enough during birth...

Just curious as to what you think might be going on that would help me to better understand what you should do.

- A. J :0)

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J.F.

answers from Dallas on

M.,

You should never feel bad about seeking a second oppinion. He is your child. Trust your instincts.

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S.R.

answers from Dallas on

M.,
My daughter has a speech delay due to a hearing loss caused by Cornelia de Lange Syndrome. She started with ECI when she was 6 months and began the PPCD program at 3. I agree with everyone above that says to take advantage of the ISD's free programs. Even if your child merely has a speech delay, he will benefit from this program. Also, this is my own opinion, my daughter is not autistic and would have cried if we left her with complete strangers who asked her to do stuff. To me, it is too above and beyond to suspect that he is autistic due to only this situation. Anyway, that is my two cents. I would definitely get another opinion as well.

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C.S.

answers from Dallas on

When my son was having speech problems everyone told me "to wait until he went to school they will correct the problem," I choose not to do that and today my son is 9 and you can't tell that he ever had any speech problems. There is a wonderful clinic in Denton. I think it is called Speech Therapy Association of Denton and it is not too far from UNT campus. If that is not the place call UNT and ask them to direct you, sorry I can't remember for sure but it has been over 5 years since we were there. They are students but they are constantly supervised by licensed therapists. The fees are reasonable and are done on a sliding scale based on income and such. I highly recommend them. When we were there they were all so kind and caring. Good luck I know that this can be very trying for you and your husband as well as your son. I will keep you all in my prayers.

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R.T.

answers from Dallas on

Good morning M.,
Wow - I must say that I thought I was the only one out there that has been through this. I have had times where I felt I was just so alone , confused , didn't know what to do next , doctors do not seem to " know what is wrong " , " she is just different from other kids ". I sympathize with you :) I too approached my ped around 9 mo because she started talking around 6 mo - mama , dada, bubba and then just stopped. Just silence. Her ped said she just may be a littler slower than some she will catch up. My husband too said the same thing. I on the otherhand felt deep inside something was wrong and I wanted to know what so I could help her in everyway possible. But... I thought her ped had the degree I didnt so I will wait it out a little longer. Then her 12 mo check up came and I brought it up again to her ped - she is not walking nor does she care to even try , she never scooted on her tummy , barely crawled , hated swings , would quit breathing at night and did that up until about a yr old , would wake about the same night every night screaming for about an hour . Her ped recommended ECI - who they ended up saying she had sensory intigration disorder and later on felt she had autism or possibly epilepsy / night tremors. ECI has been great to me and my daughter . They have very good patience and So then all the doctor visits started pouring in. She got a cat scan of her throat and lungs , they determined she just had reflux. My daughter hated daycare and I felt bad because I needed to go to work but then I didnt want to leave her in a place that made her upset. She would always look out the window and have no desire to play with other children and always seemed frustrated but we had no other way of communicating with one another other than sign language. Her neurologist had MRI done , genetic testing , 1 hr EEG , 24 hr EEG , 24 hr sleep study - - all normal. He decided that she was autistic and all that I could do at this point was to continue to do what I was doing - which was speech , occupational therapy which is only about 30-45 min and they come 2x,s a wk. I was not happy with that answer. I felt as if he was just labeling her with something because he didnt know what do do for her. She is going to be seeing a developmental ped on May 23rd in which has been scheduled for about 6 mo now. She has recently started a gluten free diet and had blood test taken for food allergy and urine for metal. We have not received the results of that yet. I have an assesment scheduled with LISD on Monday morning for my daughter will be 3 in July and ECI discontinues. She is making some improvement , saying some words and a little more happier and much better eye contact. I still do not know a for sure answer but I am taking one day at a time and will do everything possible to ensure she gets to where she needs to be. I used to cry myself to sleep worrying if there was something I could have done to prevent this , frustrated because she was always frustrated and none of the doctors seemed to know what to do. I wish you all the luck and please feel free to contact me anytime. It seems like you and I are both going through the same situations. But keep your head up and stay positive. I am sorry I wrote a novel :) Have a great day.

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N.C.

answers from Dallas on

I am a therapist with ECI, and have had many families experience what you are going through. Many kids with language delays and sensory differences do have autism, but not all of them. Other big issues to look at when thinking about possible autism are: non-verbal communication - does he have other ways to indicate what he wants/needs even though he doesn't say many words; social skills - and how he interacts with adults and kids; and play skills - how he uses toys.

I suggest you talk to your ECI service providers about what concerns/red flags they do or do not see. Also talk to your pediatrician and ask if a referral to a Developmental Pediatrician is needed.

Since you have already had the school evaluation, I would wait to see what their evaluation report says and even go to the initial ARD meeting to see what their recommendations are and what services they will offer. You can accept/decline any or all of the services at any time, based on what you feel is best for your son.

My personal opinion is that all 3-4 yr olds be in some kind of structured Mother's Day Out or Preschool program, so they can learn basic school skills: to follow a structured routine, sit at the table for art, sit quietly for circle time. Even "normal" kids often struggle in kindergarten if they have not had practice as a preschooler.

I also suggest you consider having him evaluated by a private/clinic-based speech therapist and maybe an occupational therapist if his sensory issues affect his safety, self-feeding, play skills, or social skills. You can then decide if you want to do this in addition to or instead of what the school offers.

I hope this helps!

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D.D.

answers from Dallas on

Dear M. D,

My heart goes out to you! I've already said a prayer for you and your family. Your son sounds delightful, and you do too! I think you will feel better if you get a second opinion, so that's what I suggest you do. As the saying goes "Better safe than sorry." While taking care of your son and husband, don't forget about yourself!

Deb D

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S.V.

answers from Dallas on

You're Mama and you know your son best. Most public school speech pathologists are overworked as it is. I would definately seek another opinion.

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A.L.

answers from Dallas on

It's definitely your right to have your son evaluated by an outside speech pathologist. Althought the school won't pay for a 2nd opinion it would help either way to put your mind at ease. You can see if their results are consistent and possibly something to be addressed or if it was just an "off" day for him. Don't discount the value of the PPCD program, though. As a previous LISD PPCD therapist I can tell you that it makes such a huge difference in getting kids prepared for kindergarten - so much easier to deal with delays in PPCD than later. Many kids are ready for kinder then with little or no services needed. Good luck!

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A.M.

answers from Dallas on

You're the parent so if you want another opinion... get one. Ask your doctor for a referral or how to get autism spectrum or sensory testing done. He may just need some occupational therapy for certain sensory integration issues. Our Children's House at Baylor does great outpatient speech and occupational therapy. they have locations all over the metroplex.
http://www.baylorhealth.com/locations/och/

But the thing about ISD and their services. It's free! And the more he qualifies for -- the better service he's getting. I know this may sound weird... but my son was being "observed" by his soon-to-be kindergarten team -- they observed him in his PreK setting. He was already getting speech therapy services from the ISD in his Prek class. So i wanted him to have his worst speech day ever when the team arrived - so that he could qualify to get the most services in kindergarten - the most time with these amazing, talented, highly educated therapists ... for FREE! So from that point of view... you really want to have these therapists helping your son - the most they can. And they don't gain anything from mis-diagnosing your son or for raising unnecessary red flags. In fact, their time is taken away from others when they do that.
These therapists are trained, educated, and experienced in the field. They see many children a day and observe their behaviors and speech. They attend continuing education courses to keep up their skills and education. So I would definitely listen to what they had to say, but I would also get my own testing done in the private field to see what they said, too. And take the FREE services the school is offering! that's priceless and many parents would LOVE to have that offered to them!! It's a blessing we live in ISDs that offer these services!

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K.D.

answers from Dallas on

Hi M.. It sounds like you're a great mom. I just graduated with my MS in Speech Language Pathology, so hopefully I can help a little. Just a disclaimer - I can't diagnose w/out seeing your son, just give info. so here goes. First, if you haven't had your son's hearing evaluauated you might want to check that first. If you felt uncomfortable with the eval, definitely have another one done. The universities around here(TWU-Denton, NT, UTD-Callier center) can all help evaluate him (for very reasonable fees). They're very knowledgeable and up-to-date and most offer hearing evals, and therapy options. By 36 months, on average, children comprehend up to 3600 words and have an expressive vocabulary from 200-600 words, and are using prepositions, plurals and such. Your son is a great age for early intervention to help him before school. When you're with him you can help expand on his speech (ex. he says "big" and you say, "yes, that is a big, red ball") Also, you might want to keep track of how many words he says and understands with you - evaluations are artificial and you know him best. Finally, trust your instincts. As a fellow mom (with one who went through therapy) you know him best. If you feel something isn't right trust yourself. All kids get to the finish line but all get there at different rates. Good luck!

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E.R.

answers from Dallas on

I feel your pain!! My son wasn't speaking at 2 so I went with ECI and a regular preschool (that was soooo hard on me without him being to communicate). Creme de la Creme is so educationally driven that I knew even if he wasn't expressing himself atleast he was learning. I didn't feel like my son was getting what he needed from ECI so I took him to the Callier Center. They have a campus in Dallas and Richardson. It was the best thing I ever did!! They have sooo many programs for speech, language, articulation, sensory, even a preschool program of their own. There are more programs than listed on their website. They can test there (hearing and speech) and their programs are normally much more affordable than straight up therapy. I too went to my local ISD when my son turned 3. And let me tell you it was the worse experience of my life. The 2 ladies were completely rude. The testing was done in a room no bigger than a closet with toys from floor to ceiling. My son was playing with everything! Testing with them was not a priority for him. Then they asked me "Is his attention span always this short"?? They way they said really made me mad. I was like what do you expect when you put a child in a room full of toys from bottom to top..stacked with shelves and boxes?? It was like Christmas Day!! I thought they would have enough experience to know this and work through it but no. Their attitude and the experience was very disappointing to me. They came back wanting to put my son in their preschool program - something I did not want. I just wanted therapy for him. I later found out by another mom that if your child is in the preschool program that a shared therapist comes into the room 2 or 3 times a week to work with all the kids that need help. They told me that my child would receive no less than 30 minutes of this shared therapy. I decided this was not for us. I continued with Callier and regular preschool and am proud to announce that my son is speaking great!! Complete sentences! He is caught up with speech and language. And I feel that since I kept him a regular preschool program he didnt fall behind academically either. So don't feel bad. Get another opinion. I've meet other mom's at Callier - when their children got the sensory therapy or correct therapy they needed for that matter - the speech came!! I cried a lot and was sooo confused too...Just know there is a lot of options out there for you! You just have to find the right one(s) for you. Let me know if I can be of any further help. Good Luck!

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B.S.

answers from Dallas on

I'm not sure what they told you, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear something along the lines of an autism spectrum disorder. (maybe pdd or Asbergers) I know a lot of people panic when they hear autism or autism spectrum, but you don't have to. If it is something like that, it sounds like he is very high functioning and could benefit (in a very short time) from ABA therapy. I worked for about a year at a preschool for typical kids and kids with varying degrees of autism. ABA is a great therapy you can do in home or away. His being young is also a great asset to whatever therapy you try or they recommend. I would definately get some more input from pediatricians or behavioral therapists, or anyone you can. ECI is a great service. The biggest mistake most parents make when faced with a possible diagnosis regarding delays of any kind is to deny it. It's hard to face possible imperfections in our kiddos, but so much can be overcome with early diagnosis and therapies. No matter what you find out about your son, there are support groups out there who can help you get started and feel supported during your journey. Good luck and if you have any questions for me feel free to email me offline, (____@____.com)
B.

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S.D.

answers from Dallas on

I have several thoughts regarding your situation with ECI. First of all, so many 3 year olds, and under 3's especially, would be a little apprehensive, cry, and possibly not want to engage with people they don't know. That, to me, is developmentally appropriate, and if you were feeling any anxiety at that meeting, your son may have picked up on that also. If he did, that's okay. Just be aware of your own feelings when you go to meetings like that because many kids are sensitive to their parents' feelings.

I think that sometimes professionals are very quick to slap a diagnosis on a child to explain certain behaviors and reactions. Even as a former counseling professional, I think that. Some diagnoses take multiple assessments to determine.

My son, who is 2 and a half, is currently receiving ECI services for speech delays as well. Sometimes he performs well with his therapist, and sometimes he takes lots of breaks (by running away, not cooperating, seeming agitated) because that's how he's trying to manage his stress in the session. Our speech therapist has never indicated that he might have Asperger's or any other developmental issue b/c of it. She normalizes those actions and just rolls with it in the session.

For your own piece of mind, please get a second opinion regarding the red flags. Your post doesn't indicate what sort of direction the therapists were going in terms of the "red flags", so I'm not exactly sure what issue or diagnosis they may have been leaning towards. But, if their impressions end up being on target for your child, a second assessment would at least help confirm or dispute it. It would also help you shake the "creepy" feeling you mentioned. Always trust those kinds of feelings because a mother's instincts are usually on-target.

Best wishes with this situation! Please let us know how things work out! My son will be going for his school evaluation in August.

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P.T.

answers from Dallas on

i think your son is absolutely perfect - i will tell you from past experience with my children - first and foremost - ALWAYS GO WITH YOUR HEART - you are his mother and you know him better than anyone else and better than any test can show - not all children/people test good - i am sure he was nervouse and especially when they asked his mommy and daddy to leave the room - that is his security so of course he is going to react negatively to that - from what you have said that you saw, him touching all his body parts and giving high fives and hugs to everyone, it sounds like he did fine - he is OBVIOUSLY COMPREHENDING EVEN THOUGH HE MAY NOT BE TALKING - my daughter did talk until after atleast 3 1/2 years old but the doctor kept telling me that she is comprehending everything so not to be worried - she will talk eventually - he said she actually doesn't have to talk because i so readily respond to her needs and know what she wants without her saying it - me being a first time mom was not aware that it would have been helpful to have her try to talk like when she wanted a bottle me say to her "ask mommy can i have a bottle please" - i did do that with my son and we could not shut him up by two years old :-) he is 3 now and told me today that something smelled "disgusting" - that is a big word for a 3 year old - anyway - my daughter did take a speech class in kindergarten and first grade mainly for pronunciation of a few sounds - again probably because i did not work with her to try to correct it at a younger age - probably because it was so cute the way she said some things (like lellow, yook and my yeg - she would change her l and y around - so things that started with a y she would put an l sound and things that started with a l she would put a y sound) anyway she is now 11 years old with great speech abilites - she is constantly getting asked to speak at school functions because of her great speaking skills so my point being, i think he will be fine - i think you should go with what you know in your heart and if you think he is comprehending and understanding what you say then that is great and maybe just start trying to work with him to repeat after you and make it a game and not pressure - as they say about so many things (like delayed speech or delayed giving up the blankie, binky, bottle, etc.) - do you ever see a 16 year old that won't talk (or still taking a blankie, binky, bottle, etc.) - don't put too much into what they are saying - they only had a breif uncomfortable time with him - i bet if they were around him for a longer period of time in a different, more comfortable atmosphere then they may have a different opinion - ask you doctor if you are still worried and/or ask your true friends - the ones who have been around him in his home or comfortable surroundings to see how he acts on a daily basis - ask them and they should be honest with you and they would notice if they saw something that you may be missing as a biast parent - i know when the first person said that my daughter had a speech impediment, i was shocked!!!! i understood her perfectly but i realized later that it was because i was with her 24/7 - it was just a slight speech impediment that correctedly itself almost immediately after she was with a speech therapist - and most importantly - don't forget to PRAY about it - god can change/correct anything!!!! i will pray for him too!!

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T.O.

answers from Dallas on

LISD and ECI are very good at what they do, but that doesn't mean you should not get a 2nd oppinion. Which like the other poster said you will have to pay for yourself.

But you can get on a waiting list at Easter Seals and I strongly suggest you do that.... if they say 8 months for an appt just say okay and get on the calendar. It is free or very low cost. Just make sure you explain that he has a delay that is keeping him from being in a normal class room setting.

http://ntx.easterseals.com/site/PageServer?pagename=TXNW_...

It does sound like your son might be on the autism spectrum but it could be very, very mild. My son (now 17) has Asperger's autism. He was originally diagnosed with expressive language delay.

Being in a classroom and crying might mean your son's sensory intake was over-loaded, so he cried. And of course, when he wasn't in there he was happy and gave the diagnosticians hugs.

Feel free to pm me with any questions.

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