Recently Leo and I had a chat abot Lucas. We know he still has a long way to go with his speech but we are very proud parents lately! Lucas tries so hard to talk. He is patient and will repeat himself so that we can figure out what he is saying. He will try to repeat anything we ask from him. He also loves to mimick everything his big brother says. When we look at his progress we use the past year as a yardstick. Last year at this time (26months old) he began calling me "Mommy" it is a memory I will always cherish. We are still about a year behind in his speech development but we can't look at what he isn't able to do, we have to focus on his abilities. While talking to a friend this past week it dawned on me that many people do not understand what it means when we say Lucas to has a speech disorder. Could it be that one day it will just click for him and he will talk?
Many people think that it is normal for a child to not talk till 3 years old. This could be true in some cases. There are many factors that are involved in regards to when a child learns to speak. If a child lacks motivation to speak because a parent or sibling does all the talking for them. If a child is being raised bilingual then it could take their brain a little longer to aclimate to both languages. If a child has fluid in their ears they could need tubes put in and then suddenly they become fluent talkers. A baby who was born prematurely can hit their milestones late. Children develop at their own rate and boys tend to develop later than girls.
How do we know Lucas has a speech disorder and is not simply a late talker? Great question. It helps to know where he should be on the speech milestones compared to what he is currently able to do. Also, I think the best way to answer this is to explain the extent we have gone through to give him help to learn to speak. As most parents await their babies first babbled words of "Mama, Dada, and Baba" the babble usually happens around 7-9 months and by 12 months old you will have those sweet real first words. Of course they will not be able to be completely understood and they will mostly be single word syllables. Just like when your little one took their first wobbly steps it wasn't long after that they became a runner. The same goes with speech, between 12 months and the first spoken words and when they turn 2 years old their vocabulary and speech just take off running! By 2 years old your baby is able to speak in two to three word sentences.
So where does Lucas compare? When Lucas was 18 months old Leo and I had heard a few babbled Mama, Dada and Baba's - let me clarify this, I would hear him say Mama twice a month while he was watching tv or staring out the window. By the time he was 20 months old we still hadn't made much progress in his speech. By 22 months old I was officially worried so we called for Early Intervention to come in and evaluate him. We began services the month before he turned 2 years old. Lucas qualified for 2 one hour sessions of developmental therapy and 1 one hour session of speech therapy. It was at 26 months old (3 months of therapy) when Lucas first came running in to see me and he said Mommy! I held him tight and when he went running out of the room I turned into my pillow and cried happy tears. Progress has been slow and steady. We are finally at two and three word sentences. We continue to struggle with clarity but as long as you can use context or a visual cue you can figure out what he is saying. During a short visit at his school I was watching from the hallway and I heard Lucas tell his teacher "Daddy Tractor" however after he repeated himself 3 times the teacher still didn't get what he was saying so I did what any obsessive mother would do, I did a loud whisper translating what he said! Lucas has also picked up a stutter during the last few months. This also hurts the clarity of what he is trying to say. I know we have a long road ahead of us but I trust that we are moving in the right direction so I just need to have patience.
I have learned a lot about how difficult it is to produce speech. You have to know how to move your jaw, tongue, lips all the muscles in your mouth at the same time as using your voice. I was always impressed when watching our EI SLP (early intervention speech language pathologist) work with Lucas. She would take a seemingly simple word "UP" and patiently work with Lucas, sometimes touching his mouth and reminding him to "bump the lips".
Up. Seems like an easy word doesn't it? For Lucas this word has proven a challenge. It took a few months before he was able to say it and then one day last fall he lost it. What do I mean when I say he lost it? Lucas had went from saying "UP" to saying "Fufp". I would work with him to correct it and by the third try he was able to say it clearly again but if he tried it on his own he simply could not say this word. There are days he says it perfectly and others that he needs some extra help.
Sign language, facial cue's, PROMPT, Kauffman Cards, and using either context or visual cues have become our way of life. Lucas loved his therapy sessions. It became a family event to help Lucas learn to speak. Remember our earlier question? "How do we know Lucas has a speech disorder and is not simply a late talker?" It is a great question because I think you can see the amount of effort we have put forward into his learning to speak. That it is also more than just about speech production. Lucas tries so hard to speak that it is often frusterating for him when we do not understand what he is saying. He is a typical toddler "terrible two's" and "troublesome three's" but when you combine that with his innability to effectively communicate his needs then you can get a glorious toddler meltdown.
How much should a three year old be able to say? Between the ages of 3 and 4 years old your child should be able to speak 250-500 words, be able to produce sentences with 5-6 words, and speak clearly. I find it so amazing to see how quickly a small baby can grow and learn.
So what should a parent do if their 18month old is not babbling yet? Maybe he says Dada and Mama a few times a month but when he uses those words they are about the abstract objects and not about Daddy and Mommy. What if your 3 year old is talking but you worry about the extent of his vocabulary and clarity? Talk to your pediatrician, talk to your childs school and call your local Early Intervention center. They will probably ask you to have a hearing screening completed. Trust your gut, you know your child the best and the professionals will evaluate. If your child's speech is delayed then congratulate yourself on getting them the help they need instead of waiting.
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