A little concerned about speech

Kiefer is doing great in almost every way of his development. He's a very quick learner. He's got great social skills as far as relating and sharing to his fellow classmates and with Cameron at home. He talks a lot, but he's VERY hard to understand. I don't understand him yet in most words. He JUST started saying "Daddy" clearly. He can say his babysitter's name "Kaitlin" clearly and our contractor's name "Tony" (We are doing some repairs in the house leftover from the previous owners). He has been saying "Mama" and "Dada" very clearly, but he does have a hard time with pronouncing almost every other word. He's 27 months and his twin brother speaks very clearly for a 2 year old. His brother Cameron is part of the reason the school is comfortable moving them to the next class early, but they don't want to split them up either, so Kiefer is moving ahead too. I don't believe he should be at Cameron's level of speaking as I feel Cameron is speaking better than a lot of other 2 year olds I've known....at least in my family. But, I have a feeling Kiefer should be speaking more clearly than he has been. I used to blame it on the fact that he's a twin and Cameron just talks for him, but he really is trying hard to speak clearly now and he has not been able to. His teachers and us (DH and I) have been trying for a while to correct his speech as much as we can. He does try to correct himself, but it just never seemed to work out. He gets frustrated. Usually he just gives up, but I can see the look on his face of disappointment and frustration that no one seems to understand him.

Do you think I should ask his doctor about getting him evaluated for his speech? His teachers are hoping that by moving him up to the next class (2-1/2 year old class) that he'll be more motivated to talk more clearly as the students in that class do talk a little better than those in his current class. I do agree it may help, but what if there's another problem? I don't want to be a worry wart and over concern myself with this more than necessary, but something is just making me a little suspicious.

Any advice would be helpful.

 

I would get a speech eval. It can't hurt but can only help. One thing that I was told by a speech therapist is to NOT correct their speech constantly. It only adds to their frustration. The fact that almost all the adults around him can't understand his speech is probably an indication that he could benefit from some therapy. It may be quicker, depending on your insurance coverage, get a independent evaluation. He is nearing the age of aging out of early intervention, and by the time they get an eval completed, he will probably be close to being dismissed from the program (it ends on their 3rd birthday). The independent evaluator will refer you to the school district if they feel that his speech is enough of an issue to possibly qualify for the preschool disabled program--and very few kids qualify these days on speech alone. Good luck!

 

Thank you. I think you are right. I will talk to his pediatrician on Monday and see if I can get a referral.

 

I agree that it certainly can't hurt to get an evaluation done, and in the long run it may be very helpful. Let us know how it goes!

 

The other thing that most speech pathologists will want is for you to get a hearing test done. I know that we HAD to have David tested through EI when we went to get services. Even if you think he's fine, it's always a good idea, just in case. Even fluid in the ear can cause some delayed speech.

 

I had heard that. LOL almost a pun there, almost a pun. But seriously, it would make sense to do that. He is a chatterbox in every which way, but he needs to pronounce his words and if he's having trouble hearing clearly, that would cause him to have trouble speaking clearly. Though, I don't think that is the problem. He seems to have no problem hearing even the quietest noises in the house. He KNOWS when someone from upstairs is coming down even before I do simply because he can hear the gate opening which is very quiet.

 

I think it's a good idea to talk to your ped My Jake has been in EI for some time now and because he turns 3 in January we are undergoing the transition to the public school Speech therapy. So I agree that getting an independant one done or going to the public school to start with, may be your best bet. I also had to have hearing tests done on my two boys that are in therapy. Both came back normal but it was at least nice to know that wasn't the problem. Good luck! Let us know how it goes. :grouphug:

 

My DS was the same way. In Jan at 2 1/2 my DH could only understand about 30% of his words. Now it is more like 90%. My pedi said to not worry until 3 as he was talking and I could understand/know what he meant for most words. As he has gotten older it has improved so much. I would say he is above average now.