But first, a little about me: I’m a first-time mom to my sweet daughter Beulah. My amazing husband Adam is an officer in the United States Marine Corps, which has brought us to live in the currently COLD state of Illinois, specifically the north shore of Chicago. ß that right there sounds WAY more glamorous than it is, I promise you. Both my husband and I are born and bred Texans, guilty of daydreaming of Tex-Mex/BBQ/Whataburger more than we likely should and owning multiple home décor items that bare our state flag on it (Do people from other states even do that? I feel like this is a Texas thing). I had always dabbled in writing, but with the birth of my daughter, I found myself FULL of things I just wanted to write about, as well as curious about things (mostly parenting-related) that I wanted to research and share with the masses. Thus, BoydMeetsGirl was born. It was actually born before that, but it was my lone burst of creativity to name our wedding web site, and I definitely haven’t come up with anything better since. I like to write about things that are interesting to me as a mother, in hopes that readers out there will find it interesting and/or helpful as well. So, as strange as it is to try to sum up everything about yourself in a paragraph – Nice to meet you.]
As I mentioned earlier, my paying job is that of a pediatric speech-language pathologist. Specifically, I work with children age 0-3 years old who have speech delays and their families to help them along. I’m guessing that because my line of work, I hear from a lot of family members, friends, fellow moms on Facebook group pages, and parents who I work with who are concerned with their child’s speech. So, here are some things to do (and a couple not to do) if you are concerned about your child’s speech development.
It looks something like this: As it so happens, you were pregnant at the same time as 8 of your friends, which means you get to watch parents share fun and adorable milestones of similarly-aged children while you scrupulously compare these kiddos to your own. “What?!?!? Sarah’s kid is saying 5 words already?? She is 2 months younger than my kid.” And thus you are aboard the worry train. Hell, if you are anything like me, you are the conductor. Choo-choo.
– DO talk to your pediatrician about it. Thankfully, from 0-24 months, we get to see our pediatricians every 2-4 months (and that is just the well visits; our household averages must more frequent visits thanks to illnesses), so the chance that you have an appointment coming up is high. Pediatricians have several advantages when it comes to speech delays. Unless you have a newbie pediatrician, they have likely seen thousands of kids. Regardless, they have seen more kids than you have. Additionally, they are well-versed and familiar with communication milestones. Some pediatricians are more laid back about communication milestones because, in truth, these milestones do vary when they show up in individual kids. However, if you have a true concern, your pediatrician can either stifle your fears or make a referral for your cherub to get a speech evaluation.
– DO find out about Early Intervention in your state. Each state has it’s own rendition of these services, geared specifically for kiddos age 0-3 years. Early intervention services (which typically include speech/occupational/physical therapy and some other family services) are provided in the home and are geared not only towards working with the child but also towards educating and arming the parent with the skills to continue speech development between services. Now, I can only speak to Early Intervention in Texas and Illinois, but every state has this service. At age 3, the “responsibility” of the child’s intervention is directed towards the school district in which you live. Again, this should be the same in every state. And because it is government-related, imagine a bunch of hoops to jump through (possibly ignited with fire, kidding) and a possible long wait time to get the ball rolling, so… get that ball rolling, so to speak.
– DO schedule play dates/take kid to story time/get him or her around other kids. If you are concerned about how your kid is communicating, put him or her around other little cherubs. They are each other’s best teachers! This interaction with children their age, regardless of specific communication abilities, will really help foster social skills and get them playing and “talking” with one another in most cases. Just put blinders on if you start comparing your kid to what the other kids are doing, and instead take these interactions as an opportunity to observe the wide variety of acquired milestones among like-aged children!
– DO ask other’s opinions… with caution. It is common for there to be a… difference in opinion between mom and dad on a possible “issue” with their child. Regardless, both parent’s opinion and experience with that kiddo are valid and should be considered. I personally always like to hear how daycare providers, preschool teachers, or other consistent caregivers feel about a child’s speech as well as parent’s observation. The farther out you go with asking opinions just beware. A well-meaning grandparent or aunt/uncle might have an opinion that you don’t agree with (“What do YOU know about my kid anyway, and what does this have to do with Uncle Stan?!?!!”), or they might have a very valid observation. Just tread lightly with the opinions of others.
– DO follow your gut. Now this is a tricky one, because if you are like me, you wonder if you are teetering on the edge of psycho have the time with what you worry about when it comes to your kids. But, still – I tell parents this time and time again, “YOU know your child best. Better than I do, better than a pediatrician does.” So, your gut feeling is very valid. Be an advocate for your child if you feel like he/she is a little behind in speech development. Which takes me to the next bullet….
– DON’T compare your child to siblings or other kids. I know that this is, in all actuality, impossible. You will still compare because we are all humans with working brains, but do not put a lot of weight in these comparisons. If I had a quarter for every time I heard the phrases “He’s just not like his sister was at this age/He’s just not like his cousins who are the same age/He’s not talking as much as the other kids at church,” I’d be a rich lady. For real. Comparison (in any form, really) is doing a disservice to yourself and everyone you are comparing.
– DON’T wait. What is the harm in getting your kiddos’ speech checked out right now? As long as you have a relatively valid concern and a referral from your pediatrician, get your little child evaluated. It certainly cannot hurt and will only help. It can serve as an educational opportunity for you as a parent, as well as calm your nerves either way the cookie crumbles. Even if there isn’t a need to therapy now, your foot is in the door if you want to get them re-evaluated in 6 months. Now- is that to say that your child’s speech development is DEPENDENT on getting an evaluation the second you have a concern? No, not at all. A lot of times, with typical speech delays, time is only on your side and they will develop speech anyway, albeit delayed. But if it is the difference between starting needed therapy when they are 2 years old versus when they are 4 years old, I think most professionals would agree: the earlier the intervention, the better.
If you are slightly (or majorly) concerned with your kiddo’s speech development, just know that you aren’t alone. I wouldn’t have a career in speech therapy if speech delays were not a very common thing amongst our littlest of children. I certainly hope this post has helped you. If you have specific questions about speech development or anything else really, I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to leave a comment below, and look for my blog posts on Cupcake Mag and on BoydMeetsGirl.
Great article content and style!
My grandson will be 6 in December. .. he has excessive difficulty with many if the sounds. His fathers family history has several members who had to have their tongue cut to lengthen the thingy that attaches to the bottom of their mouth. Could this be a contributing factor to his speech difficulty? ?? And what kind of specialist would he need to see to have this evaluated. He has been in speech therapy for 3years n I cannot see much improvement in his speech ability.you can email me directly with ur reply if you would please.