RE: How Early to Seek Diagnosis?

[Guest guest]

Most pediatricians know little, if anything, about apraxia. They are

very definitely language delayed, so I would ask the ped for a

referral to a speech therapist who knows something about apraxia, plus

a referral to a neurologist/dev ped/neuropsychologist who is qualified

to diagnose.

Are your girls delayed in other areas? Otherwise I don't see why the

doc would suggest prematurity as an explanation of delayed speech.

good luck!

>

> I have identical twin girls, who will be 22 months in the next couple

> of weeks and were born at 31 1/2 weeks. I plan to address the

> possibility of apraxia with our pediatrician at our next visit. Their

> receptive language is excellent. Expressive is limited to " da " and

> pointing; and they cannot mimic sounds. I have this feeling that

> there might be a " wait and see " approach given that they were

> premature and that they are twins. What is considered " a reasonable

> age " for diagnosis?

> thank you in advance to any and all with feedback.

>

[Guest guest]

Hi There,

I suspected my son had a speech delay before he turned one. (I'm a

former teacher, and sensitized to those kind of things.) Still I let

others sway me, with the " Oh, just wait a little bit longer, " or " It'll

just explode one day, " and many more. I got real serious into looking

into " the hard facts " after he turned 2. The week after he turned 3 he

entered a special needs preschool in my school district.

It's really never too early to seek a intervention. Had I known that my

son's lack of bubbling, cooing, and playing with sounds was a suspect

factor, I would of done it sooner. Go for it! My son's professional

eval. started when he was 2.

[Guest guest]

Most pediatricians know little, if anything, about apraxia. They are

very definitely language delayed, so I would ask the ped for a

referral to a speech therapist who knows something about apraxia, plus

a referral to a neurologist/dev ped/neuropsychologist who is qualified

to diagnose.

Are your girls delayed in other areas? Otherwise I don't see why the

doc would suggest prematurity as an explanation of delayed speech.

good luck!

>

> I have identical twin girls, who will be 22 months in the next couple

> of weeks and were born at 31 1/2 weeks. I plan to address the

> possibility of apraxia with our pediatrician at our next visit. Their

> receptive language is excellent. Expressive is limited to " da " and

> pointing; and they cannot mimic sounds. I have this feeling that

> there might be a " wait and see " approach given that they were

> premature and that they are twins. What is considered " a reasonable

> age " for diagnosis?

> thank you in advance to any and all with feedback.

>

[Guest guest]

Hi There,

I suspected my son had a speech delay before he turned one. (I'm a

former teacher, and sensitized to those kind of things.) Still I let

others sway me, with the " Oh, just wait a little bit longer, " or " It'll

just explode one day, " and many more. I got real serious into looking

into " the hard facts " after he turned 2. The week after he turned 3 he

entered a special needs preschool in my school district.

It's really never too early to seek a intervention. Had I known that my

son's lack of bubbling, cooing, and playing with sounds was a suspect

factor, I would of done it sooner. Go for it! My son's professional

eval. started when he was 2.

[Guest guest]

Get a state early intervention eval now, at the very least. Its less than

10 words at 18 months, less than 50 or no 2-word sentenses at 2 years that

is the red flag for an evaluation. Sounds like they would qualify for early

intervention speech therapy at the very least (which is free) - and would

get you started. If they suddenly " catch up " - you are ahead of the game,

but if not, you're not scrambling at age 3, and you get the benefit of the

early intervention. Since the twins are ex-preemies, they should have been

on the radar of a developmental pediatrician anyway. If you are concerned,

don't be lulled into the " wait and see " . -

[ ] How Early to Seek Diagnosis?

I have identical twin girls, who will be 22 months in the next couple

of weeks and were born at 31 1/2 weeks. I plan to address the

possibility of apraxia with our pediatrician at our next visit. Their

receptive language is excellent. Expressive is limited to " da " and

pointing; and they cannot mimic sounds. I have this feeling that

there might be a " wait and see " approach given that they were

premature and that they are twins. What is considered " a reasonable

age " for diagnosis?

thank you in advance to any and all with feedback.

[Guest guest]

My son is 34 months and we've been doing early intervention for about a year.

At 22 months he had a few words but his receptive skills weren't all that much

better than his expressive skills..

Basically, if you think there is an issue, find your local Early Intervention

Services and ask for an evaluation. I harrassed my pediatrician for months

before he gave me a referral (at 18 months my son wasn't saying anything he

wasn't saying at 12 months - I would have at least expected progress in some

form...) We started EI about a month before his second birthday. I thought I'd

need a referral from my pediatrician and after all of that, I found out that I

didn't need a referral. Here, you can self refer. They did a hearing test and

then an interview/parent report/observation, determined that many of my son's

language skills were at the 9-12 month level and we started early intervention.

One thing I've learned is that here, they will " give " an hour twice a month and

having been there and done that, it isn't enough. Insist on at least once a

week. We are now doing a private speech therapist too (can you say $120 an

hour?) and we are getting ready to transition to the school district (EI only

goes to age 3). It is definitely a learning process for you as well as for your

kids!

In my opinion, " wait and see " is not the way to go. I figured at the minimum,

EI wouldn't " hurt " so there was no loss in trying. But the further behind they

get, the harder it is to catch up. My son is still far from being " normal " in

his language skills but I think if we would have done nothing, he'd be no

further now than he was a year ago (as is, he went from maybe 5 words to around

60 with maybe 10 signs).

If you want some stuff you can do at home in the meantime and you aren't opposed

to a little tv time, we've had great luck with both the Signing Times DVDs

www.signtimes.com and the " So Smart " DVDs (we have the first words, colors and

ABC ones). With the Signing Times, I have volumes 1-9 but 1-3 are a really good

place to start. They cover a lot of the basics like milk, water, eat, etc... In

my experience, even a few signs can be really helpful when you are trying to

find out what your babe wants...

Tera

" It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without

accepting it " .

[childrensapraxiane t] How Early to Seek Diagnosis?

I have identical twin girls, who will be 22 months in the next couple

of weeks and were born at 31 1/2 weeks. I plan to address the

possibility of apraxia with our pediatrician at our next visit. Their

receptive language is excellent. Expressive is limited to " da " and

pointing; and they cannot mimic sounds. I have this feeling that

there might be a " wait and see " approach given that they were

premature and that they are twins. What is considered " a reasonable

age " for diagnosis?

thank you in advance to any and all with feedback.

[Guest guest]

Get a state early intervention eval now, at the very least. Its less than

10 words at 18 months, less than 50 or no 2-word sentenses at 2 years that

is the red flag for an evaluation. Sounds like they would qualify for early

intervention speech therapy at the very least (which is free) - and would

get you started. If they suddenly " catch up " - you are ahead of the game,

but if not, you're not scrambling at age 3, and you get the benefit of the

early intervention. Since the twins are ex-preemies, they should have been

on the radar of a developmental pediatrician anyway. If you are concerned,

don't be lulled into the " wait and see " . -

[ ] How Early to Seek Diagnosis?

I have identical twin girls, who will be 22 months in the next couple

of weeks and were born at 31 1/2 weeks. I plan to address the

possibility of apraxia with our pediatrician at our next visit. Their

receptive language is excellent. Expressive is limited to " da " and

pointing; and they cannot mimic sounds. I have this feeling that

there might be a " wait and see " approach given that they were

premature and that they are twins. What is considered " a reasonable

age " for diagnosis?

thank you in advance to any and all with feedback.

[Guest guest]

My son is 34 months and we've been doing early intervention for about a year.

At 22 months he had a few words but his receptive skills weren't all that much

better than his expressive skills..

Basically, if you think there is an issue, find your local Early Intervention

Services and ask for an evaluation. I harrassed my pediatrician for months

before he gave me a referral (at 18 months my son wasn't saying anything he

wasn't saying at 12 months - I would have at least expected progress in some

form...) We started EI about a month before his second birthday. I thought I'd

need a referral from my pediatrician and after all of that, I found out that I

didn't need a referral. Here, you can self refer. They did a hearing test and

then an interview/parent report/observation, determined that many of my son's

language skills were at the 9-12 month level and we started early intervention.

One thing I've learned is that here, they will " give " an hour twice a month and

having been there and done that, it isn't enough. Insist on at least once a

week. We are now doing a private speech therapist too (can you say $120 an

hour?) and we are getting ready to transition to the school district (EI only

goes to age 3). It is definitely a learning process for you as well as for your

kids!

In my opinion, " wait and see " is not the way to go. I figured at the minimum,

EI wouldn't " hurt " so there was no loss in trying. But the further behind they

get, the harder it is to catch up. My son is still far from being " normal " in

his language skills but I think if we would have done nothing, he'd be no

further now than he was a year ago (as is, he went from maybe 5 words to around

60 with maybe 10 signs).

If you want some stuff you can do at home in the meantime and you aren't opposed

to a little tv time, we've had great luck with both the Signing Times DVDs

www.signtimes.com and the " So Smart " DVDs (we have the first words, colors and

ABC ones). With the Signing Times, I have volumes 1-9 but 1-3 are a really good

place to start. They cover a lot of the basics like milk, water, eat, etc... In

my experience, even a few signs can be really helpful when you are trying to

find out what your babe wants...

Tera

" It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without

accepting it " .

[childrensapraxiane t] How Early to Seek Diagnosis?

I have identical twin girls, who will be 22 months in the next couple

of weeks and were born at 31 1/2 weeks. I plan to address the

possibility of apraxia with our pediatrician at our next visit. Their

receptive language is excellent. Expressive is limited to " da " and

pointing; and they cannot mimic sounds. I have this feeling that

there might be a " wait and see " approach given that they were

premature and that they are twins. What is considered " a reasonable

age " for diagnosis?

thank you in advance to any and all with feedback.