 | My twin sons both have moderate to severe hearing loss and both are speech delayed (even though one has hearing loss only in one ear). We doubted that they had a hearing loss because at times they seemed to hear us perfectly well. We were wrong... hearing loss and profound deafness aren't the same thing.
They did not start talking until they were three and a half, but communicated with "meaningful grunts". They did not want to participate in "repeat after me" games advocated by child development books... the speech therapist told me I might as well have been asking them to fly. Off course they opted out! What choice did they have?
First off, speech delay does not necessarily have a single thing to do with intelligence or learning disability. It can be entirely a matter of oral motor control. Do not think that because your boy is obviously bright that he does not have a speech delay that could respond to therapy.
Secondly, your school district may be only too happy to provide free testing and services related to speech delay or any other developmental delay. In the state of Oregon, your son could be tested for free at 22 months, without a doctor's referral.
Pediatricians are notorious for waiting longer than necessary for this kind of testing. Call your local school district and ask for their advice. In our state, by the way, early intervention services are provided free of charge and without reference to ability to pay. The schools do not want you to wait until kindergarten or first grade to deal with this type of problem.
The good news is that your son can catch up, and that he may spontaneously take off with his talking any time. The bad news is that the longer you wait, the more catching up he will have to do if he is struggling with a delay. At least give yourself the peace of mind that you have had him checked out. If your son has some hearing loss, he may also need amplification in order to correctly assimilate language sounds into his brain. Now is the time his brain is ready to acquire the subtleties of language sounds. Make sure he has every opportunity to do that. |
PREVIOUS MESSAGE
PREVIOUS DISCUSSION