20 Month Old Preemie...speech question...?

Question

My daughter was in speech, had four 45 min. sessions and her SLP wants to discharge her. I'm very concerned and talked to her pediatrician about it. She asked me what she says and if she speaks in two word phrases yet. The only two word phrase that she says is "all done" or "all gone." She also says "duck", "door", "diaper" (sounds like doctor), "Momma", "Da Da", "up", "down", "eat", "cup" (she actually says bup", "boop" (her version of book), "socks", "shoes", "bath" (comes out baff), "nap", she knows almost all of the animals on a farm (pig and cat are still difficult for her) and what they say, and can point to and say her "eyes, "ears", "nose", "mouth", "arm", and "hand". Normal or should she know more??

Answer 1

You didn't mention how early your daughter was, but don't forget that professonals generally will use adjusted for evaluating milestones age until she turns two.

My son was a preemie (two months) and is now two. A HUGE amount of growth in language occurs between 18-24 months. When my son was 20 months he wasn't linking words at all. It seemed like all of a sudden on week he was linking words left and right.

From the examples you gave, it sounds like your daughter is doing fantastic. I'm not really surprised that she's being discharged from speech therapy. If I were you, I'd continue doing what you're doing (I have no doubt that already know the things to do to enhance her learning) and just kind of relax and see where she is by her 2nd birthday. If she still isn't linking words by then, I'd consult with the speech therapist again. Four months is a looong time in toddler-time and I have a feeling she'll be talking up a storm by then.

I hope this helps and good luck!

Answer 2

Sounds normal to me, all kids are different and with your daughter being a premie she sounds like she is really making strides. If you do not feel comftorable with her ending the speach sessions ask how you can help her at home. Try making it a game and praise her when she has said something right. Kids won't say words as well as you or I for quite a while but as long as she is trying she is learning! Good Luck Mommy!! P.S. Words that she is having a hard time with ...Try using that word all day. Like they do in school to learn new letters and words. Find pictures that show the word (pig ex.) an put them up where she can look at them. There is a really cool toy for toddlers called the Leap Frog Animal Barn. It's about $20 (I bought mine from Target) and well worth the money! It's magentic and meant for your fridge. There are two pieces to every animal and when the child gets it right it says ex. "pink Pig!" You made a match, Look what you found, you made a match , here a pig sound...oink oink. Can you tell I hear this toy all the time!! Anyway it is a really fun game and will help her learn to say more words! Good Luck!! I hope this helped!!

Answer 3

It is very normal for a child to not be able to pronounce words correctly at that age. My 4 year old daughter kind of had the same problem, she's in school and she's in a speech program there too. She knows how to say alot but sometimes you cant understand what shes saying when she tries to speack full sentences. In fact I also have a 2 1/2 year old daughter and she will sing her little butt off. She knows alot and she speack full sentences and most of the time she speacks better than my 4 year old. It all depends on the child and it really matters alot if that child has brothers and sisters. My two year old learned so quickly because she seen her big sister talking and she wanted to do what her sister was doing till this day she still do. I wouldn't worry so much if I was you. Your child is only 20 months old, its normal to not being able to pronounce proper all the time.

Answer 4

It sounds like she is doing really well for a preemie.

If you are overly concerned though she will be able to notice the stress, and it will affect her too.

Using toys, that ‘talk’ are a great help. They may get on your nerves, but if she constantly hears things, she will repeat them.

You can also get computer software for her age. If you sit with her on your lap (for as long as she can stand it), and do some of the same programs each day, she will learn too. These will especially help if she is a visual learner. I would think that she is because you said she recognizes animals and can repeat their sounds. I took care of a girl who was about the same age. We would work on a software program that was a living book. These are great because you can set them to read to you or read yourself. If you read yourself you can click on more items and get them to teach more. You simply need to repeat the things that the program says. The one that we did each day was “Dr. Suess’s ABC’s.” She would sit in my lap each day as we went through the software. Sometimes she would sit there for a few minutes, other times she would sit there for 30 minutes. (She would cry when I would get up to go to the bathroom on the longer periods.) She did not do much when we first started it, other than laugh along. One day she was playing with her ABC puzzle and started saying her letters. She had trouble with W at first. I would simply repeat behind her W in the correct way. It did not take long for her to learn the correct way.

If you point out things when you go shopping, the park, for a walk, then she will increase her vocabulary too. You can also stress the words on the different things that she eats, wears, plays with, etc.

I also took care of a 3 ½ year old who was a preemie. She still said ‘flephant’ and ‘lellow’. She knew that ‘flephant’ started with ‘e’ and ‘lellow’ started with ‘y’, but she could not say them. She was old enough that we could work on sounding them out correctly. She was soon saying ‘elephant’ and ‘yellow’.

All kids develop differently. The more you work one on one with her the better she will do. I would not worry about things until she reaches school. If she were having difficulty then, I would try to find some help.

BTW...if that is her picture, she is a doll. :)

Answer 5

Has she been given any kind of diagnosis? If so you have a right to continue services. What were the speech pathologists goals??? Did she meet them? All kids are different but if she has established medical conditions she has rights.

Are you familiar with the IDEA laws?

Here's a link, it's for the state of Georgia but it applies across the country

http://parenttoparentofga.org/roadmap/advocacy/educationlawsidea.htm

Is your child involved with Birth to Three Services in your community? If not you may want to consider an evaluation (usually free or on a sliding scale)

Another link

http://www.birthto3.org

or you can google "your state" and Birth to 3

Answer 6

My daughter is almost 2, not a preemie and with no speech sessions is in about the same place as yours. Yours is completely normal. Stop the lessons. My daughter says "bup" for cup also. I look at her and say "C..C..cup" . She looks back and says "C...C...Bup!" They are right where they should be.

Answer 7

Sounds like she's doing fine. I know kids that age who can't even say the words your daughter does. When she's around 3 and still not talking, then you need to be worried.

Answer 8

Sounds just right to me. My son was preemie too and his daycare told me to get him evaluated. I did, and they said he was fine (was about as verbal as yours) and didnt need any assistance. He was on track with his gestational age, not actual age. They were certain he would catch up. And now he is three, and is a total chatterbox. I agree with the SLP.

Answer 9

Have you tried having her ears tested ?... She could be hard of hearing ...

If you've gotten her ears tested, try this, Leave TV on all day ... I did this for my daughter because I'm deaf and can talk well but I was concern about her picking up my speech so I left the TV on all day ... Cartoons to Disney Movies ... It worked so well that she was so advanced in vocabulary when she entered Kindergarten ...

Im very sure she will do well once she picks up all the vocabulary ...

Good Luck

Answer 10

Dont stress it. I was a preemie, I didnt talk at all until I was 3 years old, When I took off it was rapid, and they just wanted me to shut up lol. Just keep working with her, it will happen.