Speech-Language Spin Off : how do you know?

[RachelB]

Do all kids get a Speech evaluation? How do you know if your kid needs one? DS rarely talks to his pedi because he's scared she'll look in his ears (too many ear infections have left him traumatized about the doctor) and his preschool has never said anything about him being off track.

DS is 2 1/2. Here are a couple of things I've noticed:

He tends to run his words together sometimes - for example "remote control" comes out as "mote n troll" DH has a hard time understanding him, and I usually tell him what DS meant instead of DS having to repeat himself. We do break down the words for him into syllables and he can repeat them to us correctly 90% of the time.

New words are more often mispronounced. For example, my mom gave him Fruity Pebbles and he started asking for them. But he was leaving out a lot of the words, and it came out sounding like free pickles. He would have been really disappointed getting pickles instead of sugary cereal!

Random people we meet, say in the grocery store, talk to him and are usually surprised at how young he is for how well he speaks. He speaks in full sentences, asks thoughtful questions, but does run his words together sometimes.

Is this all normal language development?

[Suja]

I'd say so. At this age, people that listen to them most of the time, like parents and care givers should be able to understand most things they say, but not all. I believe that 50% clarity in speech is normal at 2, and 75% at 3, so as long as he falls within that spectrum, he's likely fine.

Mira is the same age and an exceedingly clear talker. Even she says stuff that I'm like 'What?' over and over again, enough to frustrate her. That especially happens with new words (Fruity Pebbles would be one of them). Until I figure out what she's saying and model the word for her a few times.

[macksmom]

Sounds normal! If you are concerned you can have him evaluated but I wouldn't waste your time

If you don't have early concerns he will be tested upon entering kindergarten....I think....I think that was part of DD's entrance tests.

[Gwenn]

A good rule of thumb is that a stranger, on average, should be able to understand about 25% of what they say at 18 months, 50% at 2, 75% at 3, and closer to 100% at 4 (although of course even adults aren't perfectly clear 100% of the time). Eligibility criteria for speech support through the school system or EI, though, is likely to be quite a bit lower than that - more like 50% at three and 75% at four, etc. There's a pretty big range of how easily kids are to understand at that age. FYI, how well we can understand a child is referred to as speech development. Language development is something else, referring to how well they are using sentences and expressing their thoughts. A lot of people confuse the two but they are different.

For language, if they are using mostly 2-3 word sentences at two, have a good-sized vocabulary, answer questions in a way that makes sense, and can express their needs to you and follow directions pretty well (at least, understand what you mean when you ask) then they are likely on track. What you described sounds very normal.

Where I live, kids aren't tested unless their parents seek out an evaluation, or if a teacher refers them and the parents agree. There isn't a standard screening that all children get.

[tanyachap]

Gwenn's answer is really great. As a mom of one child with language speech problems who has been in therapy for over 2.5 years and one child who has very good language and pronunciation for his age, your son sounds normal for his age. But you can always get him evaluated if you feel something is wrong. It could be that he has a problem but what you describe to me sounds age appropriate.

[tapir]

Dunno. I'd at least get a hearing test perhaps.

[MamaToe88]

My son will be 3 in November and still does it. Just this past month he has started to speak more clearly. Its normal for them to run words together like that though. You know that he KNOWS the words, he knows how to speak, he will figure it out. My son says popsicle as "bahsickle" but if I say it really slow and clear he says "POPSICLE" very well, and his hearing is completely fine. Motorcycle is "mosycle" and kitty is "Key". I think its pretty normal for them not to articulate at that age. If you are worried, it can't hurt to have an evaulation done, but at this age I really wouldn't be worried.

[RachelB]

Well, sounds like I'm a worry wart! I appreciate the feedback and hearing from you that my kiddo sounds pretty normal. We'll keep an eye on his speech development and continue to sound out words for him to repeat. If he seems to fall too far behind his peers, we'll get him tested.

Gwenn - I read your blog and it was pretty interesting!

Y'all are great! Thanks!

[RachelB]

Double post

[preciousnd98]

I think it is normal to worry some It sounds like he is right on track to me as well. I think Olivia has very strong speech and vocabulary skills and she does some of the things your DS does. One of her recent ones is that she tries to say the name Sebastian and it comes out "Ba-Jasmine" But she will say it in a sentence, and if we break it down for her she can say it more like it is supposed to sound.

[Joie]

Trinity was obviously behind. Modeling words is not helping. For example...."remote" is "bert," "coffee" is "fie," "controller" is "cool" and have been for months and months. She doesn't speak in complete sentences. Strangers can't understand her, and even DH needs a translation often. I don't even understand some of what she says. We should have had her evaluated sooner, but we were in denial. She just turned three in May.

It sounds like your son is on track, but don't hesitate to evaluate if you have concerns. I regret that now. Evaluation doesn't hurt at all, and is like a fun playtime. Trinity is still excited about having blown bubbles with the SLP.