Speech Delays and Therapy - Does It Ever End?

.

My son went to speech from the time he was about 13 months old until he was 5. The same as you, I just accepted it was part of our lives and didn't plan on it ending, but here we are... he is 6 and doing great!!! He didn't speak until he was 3 and now he never stops talking! There is a light at the end of the tunnel!! Good luck!

ok I am dealing with the same issues with my 3 yr old but from previous experience with my son he took about a year. but he was an easier fix than his brother. One thing the speech therapist does is make them slow down when talking and break the words down into sections. ex umbrella is um brel la. Also make him watch your mouth when he has problems. He will watch how you hold your tounge and you will have to slow down your words also. Speech therapy is learining how to hold your toungue while speaking. Sit in with a therapy session and watch the therapist. I did this with my oldest and did what she did and it is second nature to me now.

He is doing a good job with his brother getting him to say more words. He breaks the sentence down word by word and the words down like I did umbrella above. He says he doesn't remember speech therapy ( he is 22) but I think he remembers what he was taught subcontiously. I promise he won't be in there forever. It will take him a little longer than my oldest cause my oldest had his ears fixed at 21/2 yours was a little older so it will take a little longer.

i can remember when my son was two years old, and spoke about a handful of words. Most often it was jargon. At three, he was diagnosed with a speech and language delay, and was started on an IEP plan, and attended a inclusion preschool. Each year he makes progress. Small steps. For me, focusing on the positive is always easier, and it keeps you from thinking about the barriers and weak areas. My son is now 7, and speaks very well, is understood by his peers, teachers, and everyone else. He is a lot more confident,expressive, and plays well with other kids.

It is good to focus on their strengths, and use them to help with the weaker areas. Reading every day is so helpful, as well as using flashcards. IEP are so helpful in this area, as it can show you what interventions the school is using to help, as well as what you can do at home to help with progress.

I also have to point out that you , since you are around your son all the time may not see progress so clearly as others might. My parents live far away (TN), so they only can visit a few times a year. They notice a lot more then I do, and each year, they are amazed at the progress. That has helped me, especially in the younger years when he was having a harder time expressing himself, talking, and socializing.

Wow, this hits home for me. We have four wonderful children, 2 boys and 2 girls. Our youngest son has received speech services since he was 2. He is now in 5th grade and will be 11 in February. He has an actual diagnosis of apraxia. The speech delay did cause some problems socially at first, but now, he has been with most of the same kids for so long, that they have learned to understand him. He has many friends and fits in well at school. However, we still have a hard time understanding him at times (Frankly, I have to be looking at him with all my attention to really get what he is saying), we are sure that his friends and teachers do as well. We are his advocate and push for everything he needs and is entitled to through the public school system. It will work out, can be frustrating, but just hang in there and support your child. .I totally understand your feelings but he will come through fine with a great parent supporting him like you are.

I have to say that with my older son we did finally reach that "we are making real progress moment".

Cam just really didn't "get it" a lot of the time especially using pro-nouns etc. but one day when he was about 4 1/2 he grabbed my hubby's security badge for work and said "that's Daddy" then he looked at my hubby and said "that's You". OK, I know that sounds so simple, but for us it was HUGE. I actually started to cry!!

Keep on keeping on. It will pay off.

Each child is different, but I've had fourth graders in my classroom exited from services. My nephew sounds like your son and he was discontinued in third grade.

My daughter is about to turn 4 and has had speech therapy for the past year. I completely understand your frustration. I feel like I haven't seend any improvement, though I'm sure if I listened to her a year ago and now, there probably is. I think hearing her on a daily basis makes it difficult to notice major changes. Your son's issues are almost identical to my daughter's. When she gets excited, it gets harder to understand her. We had her hearing tested and at first they said there was some fluid but she was just getting over a cold. The next time there wasn't any so while I was relieved, I was also a little disappointed (if that makes sense) that there wasn't a "reason" why she has this problem. They just doubled her therapy this year from 2 to 4 times a week. I'm so protective of her and get nervous that she will be alienated at school or teased. At a birthday party recently a little girl, a year younger than my daughter, was saying to her- why do you talk so funny? It broke my heart!!! I didn't want to jump in and make a big deal of it but it was probably the first time, as a parent, I just froze. Fortunately she moved on and my daughter seemed to forget about it quickly.
Anyway, I know this doesn't really answer your question, but it feels very lonely on this end and it's nice to hear from other parents going through the same problems. Best of luck to your son!!

It will end, but know that it may take a long time. Think of it this way... it took him 5 years to learn to speak incorrectly- it won't get fixed overnight.

Articulation is tricky and takes time and practice. Do all of the exercises your therapist sends home and correct him in whatever way the therapist has suggested EVERY time. It can be exhausting, but speech therapy does work.

How does it end? When your child tests within normal limits for his age. That's pretty much it. When that will happen is impossible to say- many of us who work with children who receive IEP services wish we had a crystal ball, but we simply don't.

Stick with it and know that eventually he will get it.

We are just about to start speech therapy with our 3.5 year old. Looking forward to hearing these responses and I think your efforts will pay off sooner rather than later :)