March EI Check- In

[rachydc]

What services are your LOs receiving?

What are your main concerns / goals?

Where and what do you do during your services?

Have you made any headway since last check-in (January)?



If you haven't qualified for services and you have worries, let's chat about them.

I basically stole all of this from @justinslovo 's last check in  

[swarley]

Mar 1, 2017 9:02:41 GMT -5 rachydc said:

What services are your LOs receiving?

What are your main concerns / goals?

Where and what do you do during your services?

Have you made any headway since last check-in (January)?



If you haven't qualified for services and you have worries, let's chat about them.

I basically stole all of this from @justinslovo 's last check in  

OOOHHH I was just about to post this and you beat me to it! 

[rachydc]

swarley, didn't mean to undercut you! I'm just in the midst of everything and thought I'd post since it's been on my mind lately. I need to come back and fill out the actual questions after my coffee

[swarley]

rachydc, oh no go right ahead no biggie. I need my coffee too, that's why I'm having a late start to my day.

[rayann687]

Tomorrow is our evaluation day. I will be checking back in after her appointment tomorrow.

[rachydc]

What services are your LOs receiving?
Speech


What are your main concerns / goals?
A big goal is just to get A to start using some words to help communicate what she wants. We'd like her to start saying "downstairs" or even "down" instead of pulling us/our hands towards the basement when she wants to play. Or ask for what she would like to eat. Basically anything to just throw us a bone instead of whining


Where and what do you do during your services?
We had her assessment last week. It went well, we decided to just do a monthly phone call check in for now to see how things are going before we start more intensive services.


Have you made any headway since last check-in (January)? We are always one step forward, two steps back. She has a language burst one week (2-3 new words), and then we dont hear them again consistently. For example, she started using "mommy" and "daddy" correctly, but now it seems like she calls everything "daddy" She used to say "star" but now when she points to the star and says it, it sounds like "daddy" It's been really disheartening and frustrating

[ashiscute]

What services are your LOs receiving?

-Speech

What are your main concerns/goals?

-Sam still has zero words. We'd like to see him begin to use words to communicate and get his needs met. His receptive language is still delayed so I'd like to see him improve that as well as become less clingy.

Where and what do you do during your services?

-Services are here once a week for one hour. We pretty much just play and she encourages Sam to use signs and sounds. She gives me feedback and suggestions and answers my questions.

Have you made any headway?

-Yes! Sam has 5 signs he's using consistently now! He has a few others he'll attempt inconsistently. He also is saying mama and dada but not yet with meaning. Overall I'm hearing more babbling than I was 6 weeks ago so that feels good!

[swarley]

Mar 1, 2017 10:31:00 GMT -5 rachydc said:

What services are your LOs receiving?
Speech


What are your main concerns / goals?
A big goal is just to get A to start using some words to help communicate what she wants. We'd like her to start saying "downstairs" or even "down" instead of pulling us/our hands towards the basement when she wants to play. Or ask for what she would like to eat. Basically anything to just throw us a bone instead of whining

This is a great goal.  Down will be easier to say.  Model this for her and take her hand in yours while you help her gesture/point downward.  Whining is definitely easier.  Start with the staples that she likes to eat.  Set her up at the table/highchair with no food.  Have a little conversation, the whole time you will be within close proximity ans A should be making eye contact:

Let's have something to eat! (sign 'eat' as you say the word).  Let's get milk. MMMMMiiiiilllllk (you're going to sing-song the word milk and sign milk- you squeeze your hand like you're milking a cow). Oh, here's the milk (sign again).  Pour pour pour the milk.  Do you want your milk?  As you give it to her you will sing-song milk again.  

Do not expect her to say or sign milk.  Expect her to interact with you through eye contact and any vocalizations.  Do this every time you give her milk.  Over time, you may see her squeezing her hand and/or making a mmmmm for milk.  Do not focus on all the words for all the foods.  Little by little!



Where and what do you do during your services?
We had her assessment last week. It went well, we decided to just do a monthly phone call check in for now to see how things are going before we start more intensive services.


Have you made any headway since last check-in (January)? We are always one step forward, two steps back. She has a language burst one week (2-3 new words), and then we dont hear them again consistently. For example, she started using "mommy" and "daddy" correctly, but now it seems like she calls everything "daddy" She used to say "star" but now when she points to the star and says it, it sounds like "daddy" It's been really disheartening and frustrating

This is actually very typical language development.  It's hard not to get frustrated.  Focus on all the great things she can do!

[lonegalathome]

What services are your LOs receiving?

Speech.

What are your main concerns / goals?

We are working on less whining and more words. I'd also like his words to be clearer and understandable by more than just mom, dad and Nanny. I am really hoping get gets into county preschool for the fall and/or the private talkers group for the summer. It's so frustrating to have been referred to these services but not able to use them because of waitlists.

Where and what do you do during your services?

We have weekly 1/2 hour and then bi monthly hourly at our house. Its all very play based and attempting to get him to make sounds and repeat what he hears.

Have you made any headway since last check-in (January)?

We have gotten Mama and Dada, go and approximations for up, this, no, yes, ds2, dog's name, water, ball, row row. He also randomly says something that sounds like "look at that" when he points to something.

[swarley]

Mar 1, 2017 11:12:51 GMT -5 ashiscute said:

What services are your LOs receiving?

-Speech

What are your main concerns/goals?

-Sam still has zero words. We'd like to see him begin to use words to communicate and get his needs met. His receptive language is still delayed so I'd like to see him improve that as well as become less clingy.

I can't remember if you mentioned what kind of sounds he is making.  He doesn't have zero words- he doesn't have oral words, but he has 5 signs which count as words in my world!  Usually receptive is easier to work on than expressive.  I hope you don't mind me offering suggestions: keep few objects within reach.  Focus on drawing his attention to these few things, asking him where's this or where's that? Also, did you mention if you've had a hearing check/ear infections/wax impaction?



Where and what do you do during your services?

-Services are here once a week for one hour. We pretty much just play and she encourages Sam to use signs and sounds. She gives me feedback and suggestions and answers my questions.

Have you made any headway?

-Yes! Sam has 5 signs he's using consistently now! He has a few others he'll attempt inconsistently. He also is saying mama and dada but not yet with meaning. Overall I'm hearing more babbling than I was 6 weeks ago so that feels good!


Hooray Sam!!!

[swarley]

Mar 1, 2017 13:59:14 GMT -5 lawandorder said:

What services are your LOs receiving? Today was LO's last PT visit. So he's currently down from 3 appointments per week to just one. He continues to see an infant special educator in our home. She works on all areas of development with him. There's not much more we can do during a 1 hour PT session anymore. He would rather walk around and explore, which is great for his development. But we can do that at home or the park.

What are your main concerns / goals? He's still at about a 13mo level for gross motor. I'm not sure at what point he will truly catch up. Goals are to walk on uneven surfaces, go up and down stairs while standing, start climbing.

Where and what do you do during your services? I rarely go to his services because of work. OT and special ed were/are in the home, PT was at the children's hospital.

Have you made any headway since last check-in (January)? Yes, his repeat Bayley in January showed he was average in all areas except for gross motor where he's still significantly delayed. He makes progress all the time though.

This is all fantastic news and he's headed in the right direction!

[swarley]

Mar 1, 2017 14:04:22 GMT -5 lonegalathome said:

What services are your LOs receiving?

Speech.

What are your main concerns / goals?

We are working on less whining and more words. I'd also like his words to be clearer and understandable by more than just mom, dad and Nanny. I am really hoping get gets into county preschool for the fall and/or the private talkers group for the summer. It's so frustrating to have been referred to these services but not able to use them because of waitlists.


It seems like from all the words you listed below that he is making steady progress.  Improved intelligibility is actually really hard to achieve at this age.  So it might take some time if sounds aren't coming out exactly as they should.  Toddlers aren't really focused enough nor are they capable of following directions to move their articulators in particular ways.  But you can do fun activities like give kisses to improve lip closure for m,b,p, play hokey pokey with stick your tongue in and out to promote later development of 'th', and make funny faces like biting your lip to promote 'f.'  

Where and what do you do during your services?

We have weekly 1/2 hour and then bi monthly hourly at our house. Its all very play based and attempting to get him to make sounds and repeat what he hears.

Have you made any headway since last check-in (January)?

We have gotten Mama and Dada, go and approximations for up, this, no, yes, ds2, dog's name, water, ball, row row. He also randomly says something that sounds like "look at that" when he points to something.

[ashiscute]

swarley Sam has one basic sound and it's "uh". He uses it for everything. It can be more "ah" more "oh" and he drawls it out for ages sometimes but there are no consonant sounds paired with it. He does occasionally babble mama, dada, or baba but not consistently and not in conversation with us. No hearing issues and no ear infections.

If prodded to communicate he'll just peace out. So if I say "Sam do it" he just turns around and does something else. I've yet to find anything he wants to enough to work for. He does point a lot for what he wants and is very aggressive with it

[swarley]

Mar 1, 2017 14:58:08 GMT -5 ashiscute said:

swarley Sam has one basic sound and it's "uh". He uses it for everything. It can be more "ah" more "oh" and he drawls it out for ages sometimes but there are no consonant sounds paired with it. He does occasionally babble mama, dada, or baba but not consistently and not in conversation with us. No hearing issues and no ear infections.

If prodded to communicate he'll just peace out. So if I say "Sam do it" he just turns around and does something else. I've yet to find anything he wants to enough to work for. He does point a lot for what he wants and is very aggressive with it

I love him!  He reminds me of lots of kids I've worked with but one child in particular who used to throw the toys at me when I forced her to use her words to talk.  I like that he's babbling.  Does the SLP feel that you're making progress?

[ashiscute]

Mar 1, 2017 15:19:00 GMT -5 swarley said:

Mar 1, 2017 14:58:08 GMT -5 ashiscute said:

swarley Sam has one basic sound and it's "uh". He uses it for everything. It can be more "ah" more "oh" and he drawls it out for ages sometimes but there are no consonant sounds paired with it. He does occasionally babble mama, dada, or baba but not consistently and not in conversation with us. No hearing issues and no ear infections.

If prodded to communicate he'll just peace out. So if I say "Sam do it" he just turns around and does something else. I've yet to find anything he wants to enough to work for. He does point a lot for what he wants and is very aggressive with it

I love him!  He reminds me of lots of kids I've worked with but one child in particular who used to throw the toys at me when I forced her to use her words to talk.  I like that he's babbling.  Does the SLP feel that you're making progress?

Yes but he's been seeing her since September. At that point he had no signs, almost no babbling, and no gestures. He wasn't imitating anything. Now he'll imitate clapping and knocking and is attempting different signs. He's using his "uh" word to communicate.

My DD was similarly delayed but also very quiet and not very social. Sam does not seem to have any issues on that side so that's a relief. She has sensory issues and anxiety and I don't see those characteristics in him. But still bummed that he's here :/ I never thought he'd be more delayed than she was.

[Deleted]

We start Speech Therapy in April (finally). He also has an autism eval in a few weeks based on him M-CHAT-R screen at his 18 month appointment. Honestly, the few things I marked "no" for at the time, he has since started doing. Of course, now I feel like I'm hyper-aware of anything that could maybe put him on the spectrum, and then I spiral from there. It comes down to, the eval is scheduled and if he is diagnosed than I'm glad we will have found out early so he can get the treatment he needs.

He does seem to be getting more frustrated with his lack of expressive communication. More tantrums, etc when he obviously wants something but I can't figure out what it is. Or when a toy isn't doing whatever he wanted it to do and he wants help, but I don't get what he's trying to do either. Still stuck at ~4 words (only 2 of which he uses frequently - on and hot).

He has been babbling and jargoning (I don't know if that's the right word) a lot more lately. It basically sounds like a sentence, but no true words came out. It mostly sounds like he's speaking Hmong. He also seems to say "ummmm" a lot when he's trying to think of something. I think I got him to say "moo" for a cow the other day, but of course, he won't repeat it.

It's frustrating for all of us. I'm counting down the days until he can have a speech eval and hopefully get started with some therapies. I feel like I have no idea how to help.

[rayann687]

Update on S: For now, I won't be in the check in. Yesterday they evaluated her and found that her motor skills were on target. They had no concern in that area. Her cognitive skills were on target. Her speech is delayed. They said she should have more two word phrases, "thank you" is her only one. They evaluated her at a 16 month level for speech, but she has to be delayed to 14 months at least (33% delay), to qualify for services.
They feel that she is doing great for a 29 weeker. They feel that she will be talking more soon, by the way she is acting. They gave me tips for her, and I will be trying them with her. Thanks for all the support, I will continue to lurk here!

[lonegalathome]

O said "go wa wa" today!!! (Go Water) - he wanted to play in the sink.

Its our first two word phrase!! Proud mama here!