Speech

[LynnMcG]

My son has motor function issues with his tongue which has caused a severe speech problem. It's not a delay. He talks like crazy, you just can't understand him. He's 4.5 years old, and began speech therapy this past September as part of our public school's handicap preschool program.

I'm curious to hear if anyone else dealt with similar issues with his/her child.

 

[MidlifeMom]

We didn't have the same issues with our DD son, now almost 9, but he has Oral Motor apraxia. To stimulate different areas of his mouth, our speech therapist would use an unusual kind of brush with very unique nubby rubber bristles -available from speech catalogs, to touch certain areas of his mouth, lips or tongue. They also would use spoons or popsicle sticks to touch certain parts of his tongue or mouth to help him become aware of the area they would want him to try to use for making a sound.

You could ask the therapist you work with for suggestions, or watch what he/she does and attempt at home. If you can find out what they call the speech disorder (if they have a diagnosis), then you can research what's out there on the great, wide web also.

 

[RedTulipMom]

my son is PDD-NOS with dyspraxia apparently...i still dont know what it means..what is the difference from apraxia to dyspraxia? all i know is he is almost 3 and doesnt talk..he babbles alot though. Is there something specific i could do to help him talk?

 

[kayd1966]

My friend's son have verbal apraxia also known as verbal dyspraxia. He is 11 now and uses a Min-Speak to talk. He is very "with it" but has problems writing and tends to get frustrated quickly when people don't understand what he's saying.

They still do work with him on a daily basis...blowing bubbles, horns, making funny faces, blow painting (put paint on paper then blow throw straws to make a picture) and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember right now. Basically anything that will help him learn to control his lips, tongue, etc.

When my son was learning to talk, I did some of the same exercises so he would become more aware of where his lips were. I'm not sure if it helped but he's talking now and is very clear.

 

[KimLCMS]

My daughter has a speech delay and is also part of the school's Special Ed preschool. They have 6 special needs kids in the class and 6 typical kids in the class. She has really benefitted from speech therapy and preschool. We loved our preschool that we send our four year old "typical" daughter as well and we plan to send our two year old "typical" son when he is old enough.
My daughter's delay is mostly in receptive speech not (as opposed to expressive speech). In other words she has trouble processing the words she hears from others. It makes it hard for her to follow two and three step directions. She is also PDD-NOS. Her neurologist told us that all kids with speech delays should be tested for autism - I wish we would have known that three years ago.