Speech Therapy - Tracey

[Guest guest]

Tracey,

As you know, I am not speaking from experience here, but only on what I have

read, and what has been told to me by various sources.

Awhile back, I spoke to a speech therapist. I explained to her that my

children had NO WORDS... and emphasized - " not a single world, not no, not

yes, not uh-huh, no NOTHING. " I think she accepted that as truth, and

advised that I wait until they are at least imitating (no matter how

inaccurately) what I am saying. She said that her specialty is not getting

children to begin talking, but to continue talking, and advance on what

little, however little, they have. Before all of this happened, I had

thought the speech therapist would actually be the one to jumpstart the

speech, so this was news to me. She was SOOOOOOO expensive anyhow, I let it

go.

And then came the school district. Now, I try to take everything they say

with a grain of salt, and again - at the IEP - - - - Jim (our Special Ed

Director) didn't include ST into the IEP. When asked about it, he said that

there would be no point in starting ST when they had no speech at all. He

said that the ABA class should get them to begin on syllables at least, and

THEN the ST could come in with a first word, etc. But without a syllable on

demand, the ST would be a waste of time - - - according to the SCHOOL.

Then, in several online forums, I've also read about other COMPLETELY

nonverbal children who have had to wait for ST until " some " speech began, so

I'm inclined to think that there is some truth to this.

That is not to say that no speech therapist could get any word out of

. They very well may - and you certainly won't know until you try.

How is doing with her DTT at school - - any progress?

I think... if you are paying out of pocket for the ST - - -then I'd hold off

until you have some words. If it's covered by some other source, I'd most

likely go for it. BUT- I'd keep in mind that speech therapy in itself can

be VERY frustrating to a child who CANNOT speak. It could turn off

to the whole idea, which would SUCK come the time she DOES say something.

I know how you feel, Tracey. I, too, have it in me to begin ST right now, I

feel like that will also help. I am planning out our home program these

days, and while I know that ABA should be applied for 15 more hours during

the week to follow the Lovaas method, I'm thinking of sneaking in about 5

hours of speech instead................. Just thinking, as it's going to be

immensely difficult, if not impossible, to find one person who can do the

DTT PLUS speech, and do them both well.

Grace

Re: thoughts about receptive language

> In a message dated 10/14/2001 11:59:37 AM Central Daylight Time,

> thebyks@... writes:

>

>

> > There can also be motor planning and fine motor skill issues. Think

about

> > all the motions all the pieces of your mouth and throat have to go

through

> > in order to get a single word out. Your lips and teeth and tongue all

have

> > to work together, you have to expell enough air with the right amount of

> > pressure to get sound, you have to use the right amount of pressure with

> > your tongue and your lips - " b " vs " m " vs " p " - for some kids this just

> > doesn't come naturally. They have to learn it and be taught it. Just

as

> > kids with CP have to be taught how to walk, because their muscles work

> > differently

>

> Sara,

> This does make sense. I guess I was just not thinking that way.

starts

> private speech this week. Did anyone on the lists children start speech

> before they could talk? I just don't think the therapist understands that

> when I say she has NO words, I mean no words. Should I be waiting to start

> her in private therapy when she starts verbalizing? Is this going to be

waste

> of time? ('s time that is).

>

> Tracey

>

>

>