Developmental Delays (Speech)

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I've been reading with interest the conversation on speech evaluations and

Early Intervention programs. My son Seth is 9 months old and we have an

appointment on Thursday for a speech evaluation because he isn't babbling

(doesn't make too much noise at all, in fact). We've already had a hearing

test and his hearing is fine. I'm worried sick that there is something

wrong with him mentally. I know that it seems to be common for babies with

plagiocephaly to have developmental delays -- are there many of you out

there whose babies have had speech delays? Did they finally resolve

themselves? What does a speech evaluation entail? Can they actually tell

you anything? What is an Early Intervention Program?

For background, he's already had some chromosome testing done because he has

some " slightly dysmorphic " features and a hole in his heart -- the testing

came back normal, much to my relief, but it seems there is always something

to worry about!

Seth seems to be ok on the motor skills side, although he's behind where his

brother was on all the milestones. Oh, another thing is that Seth gags and

throws up if you give him food that has any slight lumps in it, like cottage

cheese, or mushed bananas. I'm wondering if that could be related to his

speech delays.

kristina

[Guest guest]

a,

I have a 10 month old w/ plagio and speech/feeding

problems. We are getting a speec eval next week at my

insistence through the Early Intervention Plan. They

tried to tell me he was too young for speech therapy,

but through my own research talking to people and my

pediatrician I found out that children with feeding

problems receive services through a speech therapist

or an Occupational Therapist. The early intervention

in Massachusetts provides free services to children

under 3 yrs old in PT, OT, and Speech Therapy if they

have delays. Each state has different criteria on

eligibility. My son - Conor doesn't babble and just

makes grunting sounds. We also have a hard time

feeding him. We finally just recently got him to eat

solids. But it is still hard for him to eat because

he has a hard time organizing his tongue. He has only

gained 1 lb between 6 and 10 months of age. Where is

Seth on his milestones. Is he crawling or pulling up

yet? Conor just finally was able to sit w/out falling

at the end of 9 months. He is way behind on his gross

motor due to low muscle tone. That is all tied into

the speech and feeding. He isn't crawling or pullin

up yet. I'm worried about him cognitively also but

the Dr. said it was hard to tell at this age. He is

much behind my first child in gross motor and speech.

Heidi

--- " Kominek, a Benn " <kbkomin@...>

wrote:

>

> Hi,

>

> I've been reading with interest the conversation on

> speech evaluations and

> Early Intervention programs. My son Seth is 9

> months old and we have an

> appointment on Thursday for a speech evaluation

> because he isn't babbling

> (doesn't make too much noise at all, in fact).

> We've already had a hearing

> test and his hearing is fine. I'm worried sick that

> there is something

> wrong with him mentally. I know that it seems to be

> common for babies with

> plagiocephaly to have developmental delays -- are

> there many of you out

> there whose babies have had speech delays? Did they

> finally resolve

> themselves? What does a speech evaluation entail?

> Can they actually tell

> you anything? What is an Early Intervention

> Program?

>

> For background, he's already had some chromosome

> testing done because he has

> some " slightly dysmorphic " features and a hole in

> his heart -- the testing

> came back normal, much to my relief, but it seems

> there is always something

> to worry about!

> Seth seems to be ok on the motor skills side,

> although he's behind where his

> brother was on all the milestones. Oh, another

> thing is that Seth gags and

> throws up if you give him food that has any slight

> lumps in it, like cottage

> cheese, or mushed bananas. I'm wondering if that

> could be related to his

> speech delays.

>

> kristina

>

>

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 5/30/00 6:36:03 AM Pacific Daylight Time,

kbkomin@... writes:

<< Oh, another thing is that Seth gags and

throws up if you give him food that has any slight lumps in it, like cottage

cheese, or mushed bananas. I'm wondering if that could be related to his

speech delays.

>>

a-

We have gone thru lots of speech evals & they always ask about feeding - any

gagging, things like that. I'll look thru my notes to see what I can find.

There has got to be a connection, I'll keep ya posted. Kimry

[Guest guest]

kristina,

i read with interest tonight your post on your son's possible speech delay.i

am the aunt to a baby with plagio so i don't know too much about speech

delays and plagio but i am also the biological mom to a child with a speech

delay and developmental delays as well.he is 7 years old and was initially

eval'd at age 2 1/2 after many,many ear infections.21 ear infections in all

before tube insertion.we started speech therapy at age 2 1/2,went into early

intervention shortly after for all 3 therapies,speech,occupational and

physical therapies.steven had a problem with processing and an awareness

problem.which basically meant he would bump into walls or fall and not

realize it until after the fact.that's where the o.t. /p.t. part of e.i.comes

in.he also had a HUGE aversion to lumpy food,and cold food too like

icecream.to this day he still doesn't eat icecream.they told me at e.i. that

it was an oral motor delay.we used this cool toothbrush type of tool in his

mouth that had soft bristles all over it like a hairbrush to stimulate the

muscles in his cheeks and tongue.we also did a technique called brushing

which we did a couple of times a day to stimulate the nerve endings on his

arms and legs.that was to help the sensory perception.so you see,e.i. is a

wonderful thing.it can help all kinds of kids who have delays.and olivia has

an eval this coming thursday for p.t./o.t.her speechdoes not seem to be

affected by the plagio.she does not have tort.

good luck,sorry so wordy,but any help you get from this site is worth the

wordiness.

lynne and livie.

[Guest guest]

any signs of reflux?

lynne

[Guest guest]

Heidi,

What kind of feeding problems does Conor have? Does he ever fight taking a

bottle for no apparent reason? What do you mean he has a hard time

organizing his tongue? (By the way, Conor is a good name! Connor is Seth's

middle name.)

Seth is sitting up well (that happened at a little over 8 months). He also

gets on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth, but he's been doing

that for quite a while and can't seem to figure out how to crawl. He's

fairly mobile through a combination of rolling and inching, however. He's

not pulling up or standing very well.

He also doesn't seem to understand words, except for his name. That is what

has me worried -- my pediatrician seemed to indicate that if he's not

understanding as well as not speaking, there may be something wrong with him

cognitively.

Where is Conor on the percentile charts for height and weight? We just had

Seth's 9-month appointment and he was only 8% on weight and 60% on height.

My pediatrician didn't seem worried but it makes me a little nervous. (Seth

was only 4 lbs 9 oz at birth, so he was less than 5% then.)

Are early intervention services for everyone? Is this not something usually

covered by insurance, or are these services only for people who don't have

insurance?

kristina

>Date: Tue, 30 May 2000 07:13:25 -0700 (PDT)

>From: heidi bosinger-waldron <bosingerwaldronh@...>

>Subject: Re: Developmental Delays (Speech)

>

>a,

>

>I have a 10 month old w/ plagio and speech/feeding

>problems. We are getting a speec eval next week at my

>insistence through the Early Intervention Plan. They

>tried to tell me he was too young for speech therapy,

>but through my own research talking to people and my

>pediatrician I found out that children with feeding

>problems receive services through a speech therapist

>or an Occupational Therapist. The early intervention

>in Massachusetts provides free services to children

>under 3 yrs old in PT, OT, and Speech Therapy if they

>have delays. Each state has different criteria on

>eligibility. My son - Conor doesn't babble and just

>makes grunting sounds. We also have a hard time

>feeding him. We finally just recently got him to eat

>solids. But it is still hard for him to eat because

>he has a hard time organizing his tongue. He has only

>gained 1 lb between 6 and 10 months of age. Where is

>Seth on his milestones. Is he crawling or pulling up

>yet? Conor just finally was able to sit w/out falling

>at the end of 9 months. He is way behind on his gross

>motor due to low muscle tone. That is all tied into

>the speech and feeding. He isn't crawling or pullin

>up yet. I'm worried about him cognitively also but

>the Dr. said it was hard to tell at this age. He is

>much behind my first child in gross motor and speech.

>

>Heidi

[Guest guest]

Thanks Kimry!

By the way, what can they possibly do at a speech eval for a 9-month old

that would tell them anything?!

>Date: Tue, 30 May 2000 18:33:17 EDT

>From: AAKARA@...

>Subject: Re: Developmental Delays (Speech)

>

>a-

>We have gone thru lots of speech evals & they always ask about feeding -

any

>gagging, things like that. I'll look thru my notes to see what I can find.

>There has got to be a connection, I'll keep ya posted. Kimry

[Guest guest]

Nope, no reflux. Just the huge hurl of vomit that comes up after he gags!

>Message: 6

> Date: Tue, 30 May 2000 21:30:24 EDT

> From: DOLY1023@...

>Subject: Re: Developmental Delays (Speech)

>

>any signs of reflux?

>lynne

[Guest guest]

Hi Everybody,

I just found another email group on onelist.com called DevelopmentalDelay --

no posts as of yet but maybe this would be a good place to discuss

Developmental Delays? (of course, maybe all the people with questions would

go over there and all the people with answers would stay here and that

wouldn't be any good!) I just hate to annoy people who want to talk about

Plagiocephaly with all my questions about Developmental Delays!

The moderator of that group also started another group called SmallForDates,

for people with full-term babies who were less than 5 lbs 8oz. So, if

anybody out there has a baby who fits the bill (mine does), you might want

to check it out. (By the way, the moderator's baby also has plagiocephaly

but she opted to not get a helmet.)

kistina

[Guest guest]

Hi Lynne,

What kind of speech delays did your son have? When did he start babbling?

Did all of these therapies seem to help?

Thanks so much (to you and everybody) for the info -- I really had no idea

what to expect in the way of therapy.

Hmm, my birthday was yesterday and I let Seth taste a little cake and ice

cream. He gave smiles for the cake, but gave really funny looks for the ice

cream and it always came back out.

kristina

>Message: 1

> Date: Tue, 30 May 2000 21:13:17 EDT

> From: DOLY1023@...

>Subject: Re: Developmental Delays (Speech)

>

>kristina,

>i read with interest tonight your post on your son's possible speech

delay.i

>am the aunt to a baby with plagio so i don't know too much about speech

>delays and plagio but i am also the biological mom to a child with a speech

>delay and developmental delays as well.he is 7 years old and was initially

>eval'd at age 2 1/2 after many,many ear infections.21 ear infections in all

>before tube insertion.we started speech therapy at age 2 1/2,went into

early

>intervention shortly after for all 3 therapies,speech,occupational and

>physical therapies.steven had a problem with processing and an awareness

>problem.which basically meant he would bump into walls or fall and not

>realize it until after the fact.that's where the o.t. /p.t. part of

e.i.comes

>in.he also had a HUGE aversion to lumpy food,and cold food too like

>icecream.to this day he still doesn't eat icecream.they told me at e.i.

that

>it was an oral motor delay.we used this cool toothbrush type of tool in his

>mouth that had soft bristles all over it like a hairbrush to stimulate the

>muscles in his cheeks and tongue.we also did a technique called brushing

>which we did a couple of times a day to stimulate the nerve endings on his

>arms and legs.that was to help the sensory perception.so you see,e.i. is a

>wonderful thing.it can help all kinds of kids who have delays.and olivia

has

>an eval this coming thursday for p.t./o.t.her speechdoes not seem to be

>affected by the plagio.she does not have tort.

>good luck,sorry so wordy,but any help you get from this site is worth the

>wordiness.

>lynne and livie.

[Guest guest]

a,

Conor was at the 75th percentile on both height and

weight. He has dropped to 10th on both. He doesn't

refuse the bottle, but doesn't know how to use his

tongue while eating any solids. My ped said that kids

with problems w/ oral muscle tone have problems using

their tongues eating and probably would effect his

speech. I'm not sure how much he understands, but I

know my first son understood and looked at everything

that I said the name of by 10 months. Conor doesn't

always look at the object when I say it's name, so I'm

not sure if he just doesn't know what I'm saying or

can't focus. Early Intervention services are for

everyone. If you have insurance they will reimburse

the Early Intervention Service, if not the Government

pays. I don't have to pay one cent.

Heidi

--- " Kominek, a Benn " <kbkomin@...>

wrote:

> Heidi,

>

> What kind of feeding problems does Conor have? Does

> he ever fight taking a

> bottle for no apparent reason? What do you mean he

> has a hard time

> organizing his tongue? (By the way, Conor is a good

> name! Connor is Seth's

> middle name.)

>

> Seth is sitting up well (that happened at a little

> over 8 months). He also

> gets on his hands and knees and rocks back and

> forth, but he's been doing

> that for quite a while and can't seem to figure out

> how to crawl. He's

> fairly mobile through a combination of rolling and

> inching, however. He's

> not pulling up or standing very well.

> He also doesn't seem to understand words, except for

> his name. That is what

> has me worried -- my pediatrician seemed to indicate

> that if he's not

> understanding as well as not speaking, there may be

> something wrong with him

> cognitively.

>

> Where is Conor on the percentile charts for height

> and weight? We just had

> Seth's 9-month appointment and he was only 8% on

> weight and 60% on height.

> My pediatrician didn't seem worried but it makes me

> a little nervous. (Seth

> was only 4 lbs 9 oz at birth, so he was less than 5%

> then.)

>

> Are early intervention services for everyone? Is

> this not something usually

> covered by insurance, or are these services only for

> people who don't have

> insurance?

>

> kristina

>

> >Date: Tue, 30 May 2000 07:13:25 -0700 (PDT)

> >From: heidi bosinger-waldron

> <bosingerwaldronh@...>

> >Subject: Re: Developmental Delays (Speech)

> >

> >a,

> >

> >I have a 10 month old w/ plagio and speech/feeding

> >problems. We are getting a speec eval next week at

> my

> >insistence through the Early Intervention Plan.

> They

> >tried to tell me he was too young for speech

> therapy,

> >but through my own research talking to people and

> my

> >pediatrician I found out that children with feeding

> >problems receive services through a speech

> therapist

> >or an Occupational Therapist. The early

> intervention

> >in Massachusetts provides free services to children

> >under 3 yrs old in PT, OT, and Speech Therapy if

> they

> >have delays. Each state has different criteria on

> >eligibility. My son - Conor doesn't babble and

> just

> >makes grunting sounds. We also have a hard time

> >feeding him. We finally just recently got him to

> eat

> >solids. But it is still hard for him to eat

> because

> >he has a hard time organizing his tongue. He has

> only

> >gained 1 lb between 6 and 10 months of age. Where

> is

> >Seth on his milestones. Is he crawling or pulling

> up

> >yet? Conor just finally was able to sit w/out

> falling

> >at the end of 9 months. He is way behind on his

> gross

> >motor due to low muscle tone. That is all tied

> into

> >the speech and feeding. He isn't crawling or

> pullin

> >up yet. I'm worried about him cognitively also but

> >the Dr. said it was hard to tell at this age. He

> is

> >much behind my first child in gross motor and

> speech.

> >

> >Heidi

>

>

>

>

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

kristina,

steven had a processing problem which means he could get the information to

his brain but was unable to get the information from his brain to his

mouth.if you can understand what i mean by that.cognitively he was on an okay

level just couldn't get the words out.he didn't start to babble until he was

about 1 years old.he did the mama,dada thing at around 9 months but that was

it other than a constant cry.he had an oral motor disorder which meant he did

not feel too many things that he put in his mouth because the nerve endings

weren't quite aware of things that were there.he also had a problem with

nerve endings in his finger tips and toes.he could have probably walked over

hot coals and not really realized it.that;s where occupational therapy comes

in.get the early intervention evaluation for your son.then you'll know

exactly where you and he stand and can start on the road to toddlerhood.

good luck,

lynne and livie.

[Guest guest]

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. Our computer died, bit the

dust. Our new computer is so much faster. I'm enjoying surfing alot

more.

A little background: Adam, 13 months old, is diagnosed with left

torticollis and plagiocephaly. He has ben in his DOC band for 5

weeks. He has evidenced feeding problems. I am a speech language

pathologist.

I think it is so interesting that many of our kids are having the

same type of feeding/speech difficulties. I know all too well the

gagging that is followed by the exorist type vomit. It is not fun.

One of you said that your child had difficulty with textured foods.

That is just what Adam had/has difficulty with. Liquids were fine.

But from the beginning anything textured would make him gag and vomit

fiercely. Now, at 13 months, he is eating most table foods. He is

still not eating how a typical 13 month old does but he continues to

make progress. Other symtoms I have noticed regarding his

development are:

1. cross bite ( His gums are misaligned.) If you take your pinky

fingers and place them on either sides of the mouth back to where the

upper and lower gums meet and have the child bite down, you should be

abel to feel the gums aligned. When I do this to Adam you can tell

his upper gums are shifted to the right. Try this while they are

asleep. Kids are much more cooperative this way.

2. Late getting his teeth in. Teeth break through the gums with the

help of pressure being applied to them. Although Adam mouthed toys,

etc. which is appropriate, my gues is that he has not been able to

bite down hard enough or get good contact to help those teeth get

through.

3. Teeth grinding. When he did get his teeth in, he started

grinding immediately.

4. Tongue movement weak, disorganized. Whenever he stuck his tongue

of of his mouth it deviated to the right. It was more difficult for

him to get food placed in the left side of his mouth.

5. Jaw Movement diagonally to the right when he chewed.

6. Drooling - Unless teething children should really stop to drool

at around 10 months of age. Adam is still so wet from drool.

7. Lips are assymetrical. When you look at Adam at rest, you can

see the lower lip deviates to the right. He can place them at

midline now but not all the time.

I'm wondering if any of your kids are experiencing the same

symptoms. I found it frustrating when I talked to some of my

colleagues about Adam's feeding. They are subtle differences from

typical development but the differences are still there.

I am happy to say Adam does not throw up everytime we feed him. He

shows continued improvement.

All of these feeding issues are directly related to speech

development. You first learn to use your oral structures for eating

before speaking.

Just a little note for those of you who are taking your child for a

speech/language/feeding eval. Speech Language Pathologists work with

babies in NICU so your child is not too young. Early intervention is

wonderful. The earlier a problem is caught, the earlier means can be

taken to reverse its course. The eval. will consist of: 1.

developmental history (take all those milestones with you,i.e. when

he/she responded to sound, cooed, sat up, etc.); 2. interview with

parents; 3. observation of child at play and eliciation of certain

skills. ( We have many scales and standardized tests that breakdown

speech and language development into very small steps). 4. Feeding (

more than likely); 5. hearing; 6. oral motor exam (looking at the

oral structures and how they work).

I know this was long. I hope this helps. Anything I can do;please

let me know. There are some articles regarding speech/language

developmentlisted in the links section.

Now that our new computer is much faster, I'll be spending more time

on-line.

'Vickie

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 6/1/00 2:44:58 PM Pacific Daylight Time, Honaker870@...

writes:

<< child had difficulty with textured foods >>

At what age did most of you notice these problems? in on stage 3

foods. He will take banana pieces, bread, baked potato. I have yet to see any

problems. Could we be out of the woods yet??!! He only has 2 bottom teeth

which appeared about 2 months ago. I think tops are are right below surface.

Belinda(Indiana)

[Guest guest]

Hi Vicky,

All the feeding problems you listed are exactly what

Conor is experiencing. Is this all related to the

plagiocephaly? If the head isn't round in the back it

makes sense it would affect the face including the

jaw. I have a speech eval next Tuesday through EI even

though they said Conor is too young at 10 months.

Heidi

--- Vickie Honaker <Honaker870@...> wrote:

> Sorry I haven't posted for a while. Our computer

> died, bit the

> dust. Our new computer is so much faster. I'm

> enjoying surfing alot

> more.

>

> A little background: Adam, 13 months old, is

> diagnosed with left

> torticollis and plagiocephaly. He has ben in his

> DOC band for 5

> weeks. He has evidenced feeding problems. I am a

> speech language

> pathologist.

>

> I think it is so interesting that many of our kids

> are having the

> same type of feeding/speech difficulties. I know

> all too well the

> gagging that is followed by the exorist type vomit.

> It is not fun.

> One of you said that your child had difficulty with

> textured foods.

> That is just what Adam had/has difficulty with.

> Liquids were fine.

> But from the beginning anything textured would make

> him gag and vomit

> fiercely. Now, at 13 months, he is eating most

> table foods. He is

> still not eating how a typical 13 month old does but

> he continues to

> make progress. Other symtoms I have noticed

> regarding his

> development are:

> 1. cross bite ( His gums are misaligned.) If you

> take your pinky

> fingers and place them on either sides of the mouth

> back to where the

> upper and lower gums meet and have the child bite

> down, you should be

> abel to feel the gums aligned. When I do this to

> Adam you can tell

> his upper gums are shifted to the right. Try this

> while they are

> asleep. Kids are much more cooperative this way.

> 2. Late getting his teeth in. Teeth break through

> the gums with the

> help of pressure being applied to them. Although

> Adam mouthed toys,

> etc. which is appropriate, my gues is that he has

> not been able to

> bite down hard enough or get good contact to help

> those teeth get

> through.

> 3. Teeth grinding. When he did get his teeth in,

> he started

> grinding immediately.

> 4. Tongue movement weak, disorganized. Whenever he

> stuck his tongue

> of of his mouth it deviated to the right. It was

> more difficult for

> him to get food placed in the left side of his

> mouth.

> 5. Jaw Movement diagonally to the right when he

> chewed.

> 6. Drooling - Unless teething children should

> really stop to drool

> at around 10 months of age. Adam is still so wet

> from drool.

> 7. Lips are assymetrical. When you look at Adam at

> rest, you can

> see the lower lip deviates to the right. He can

> place them at

> midline now but not all the time.

>

> I'm wondering if any of your kids are experiencing

> the same

> symptoms. I found it frustrating when I talked to

> some of my

> colleagues about Adam's feeding. They are subtle

> differences from

> typical development but the differences are still

> there.

>

> I am happy to say Adam does not throw up everytime

> we feed him. He

> shows continued improvement.

>

> All of these feeding issues are directly related to

> speech

> development. You first learn to use your oral

> structures for eating

> before speaking.

>

> Just a little note for those of you who are taking

> your child for a

> speech/language/feeding eval. Speech Language

> Pathologists work with

> babies in NICU so your child is not too young.

> Early intervention is

> wonderful. The earlier a problem is caught, the

> earlier means can be

> taken to reverse its course. The eval. will consist

> of: 1.

> developmental history (take all those milestones

> with you,i.e. when

> he/she responded to sound, cooed, sat up, etc.); 2.

> interview with

> parents; 3. observation of child at play and

> eliciation of certain

> skills. ( We have many scales and standardized tests

> that breakdown

> speech and language development into very small

> steps). 4. Feeding (

> more than likely); 5. hearing; 6. oral motor exam

> (looking at the

> oral structures and how they work).

>

> I know this was long. I hope this helps. Anything

> I can do;please

> let me know. There are some articles regarding

> speech/language

> developmentlisted in the links section.

>

> Now that our new computer is much faster, I'll be

> spending more time

> on-line.

> 'Vickie

>

>

>

>

__________________________________________________