First of all, thank you guys for all the great advice and words of encouragement! SO, after a long talk with Allison and a very well timed trip to Austin and visiting with the in-laws' good friend who is a professor of Speech Pathology (specializing in infants and toddlers no doubt!) @ UT....I decided to go ahead and set up an appointment to talk to some one at ECI.
Both Al and Babs (the prof) think that Zach is perfectly normal and actually very bright, may just need a little help! Babs biggest thought was that 1) for someone who seems very advanced in some areas (physical, social, etc) it stands out some that he isn't using words/sounds that much and 2) Zach has been so busy perfecting all his other skills and figured out ways to get what he wants without using his voice...that he may have just become somewhat lazy to it. He uses his hand/fist grabbing sign and grunts to get what he wants and hey, why not, cause it works! ;-)
Both of them also think that waiting till 18 months or even later would not do any harm, but since it's on my mind now, why not go ahead and contact them and see what they think. It is quite possible he won't even qualify and then it can put my mind at ease...and if we do, then we can start working now as it will be easier now than later! The main thing is, I can tell Zach gets frustrated by his silly mommy and daddy not knowing what he wants which in turns frustrates us all well so I want to do what I can to help my son! The 1st appointment is July 7th and is mostly paperwork and such and then we will schedule a follow up appointment for the actual assessment. Looking forward to it and getting so tips if nothing else! Stay tuned!
We bought the Baby Babble Video for Alex, and I liked it, there is even tips from a speech path at the end. You might like to see it until you get in for your appt.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.talkingchild.com/
We got the video from amazon
I'm glad you are feeling better! It's really common for there to be a large amount of frustration between toddler/parents when the munchkin's thoughts and needs go beyond their vocabulary. I hope you are able to get more good advice!
ReplyDeleteWith having a boy and a girl to compare at the same time, Mia talked a lot sooner as do most girls...(go figure!!) Our Ped wanted to do Speech Therapy with Jacob at 18mths, I waited and sure enough at 24 months he was talking up a storm.
ReplyDeleteI do a lot of referrals to speech therapy and they will always tell you he needs it even if he doesnt, even ECI so its really up to you :) hope that helps :)