New to the board and just wondering..

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-22-2003
New to the board and just wondering..
Tue, 01-04-2005 - 4:38pm
Hi My name is Therese and I have a son Zach who just turned two last month. Zach has not started to talk yet he does jabber but no words to talk of. I had him tested for speech around 18months and they said he could go into their program. So Zach has been going to a playgroup with therapist 2xs a week for 2hrs and he is still the same. Than we just had a meeting with his speech therapist and the OT and the OT just blurted out that she believes that Zach has SI disorder. I dont even know what she was talking about and she suggeted to get the book the out of sync child. I have and started to read it. My question is can Zach be just acting like a two year old shy and behind on his language or is 2 a reasonable age to be looking into SI. Please what ever info you have I am starving for some input. Thank You
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-09-2004
Tue, 01-04-2005 - 5:06pm
Either one is possible really. My son started showing EXTREME signs around 19 mos of age, he is now 2.5 and is in ST and OT. My son was delayed in speech. He would learn words and stop using them, then SUDDENLY he started to babble instead of talk. He still does this a lot. That was my first sign and I took him to be evaluated. Over time he required more evaluations and more therapies. I would recommend he at least be evaluated by an OT if the possibility is there. That way a professional could rule it out if need be! Good luck with everything!
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-01-2004
Wed, 01-05-2005 - 1:16pm




iVillage Member
Registered: 12-29-2004
Fri, 01-07-2005 - 12:14pm
i also first took my son in for a speech and language evaluation when he was 2. i am an audiologist who did language therapy with deaf children prior to being a stay at home mom with my two kids, so i am familiar with language development. i knew that my son had a real problem because he was trying to talk, but could only make vowels. i suspected an oral motor problem and took him in to see a "professional". my son is extremely shy and just stood at the door and cried for me. (he is home with me all the time.) basically, she could not evaluate him nor could the early intervention program because they could not get him to cooperate- even though they blew bubbles(ha ha). they also brought up sensory integration dysfunction. i never thought my son had any problem but language, but they really looked for a sensory problem. i went along initially because i wanted my son to get whatever help he could-he was so frustrated by not being able to talk. i remember him crying every time he went to ot because she would put him in a lock chair. he still resists the potty because of it. i wasn't sure what to do, and then i remember sitting at speech therapy, and i looked up on the wall where they had a list of developmental milestones. there it was in black and white: 24-36 months- shy with adult strangers. i think a therapist qualifies as an adult stranger. i am sorry for writing so much, so i will try to make this quick. as hard as they tried, they could not find a sensory problem with my son. i wondered why they were looking so hard until i came across this article in a parenting magazine about autism. the diagnostic criteria for autism is quite detailed. however, in this article, it stated that there were only 3 issues:sensory dysfunction, language delay, and social interaction issues. as an audiologist, i knew that if you have a language problem, that will impair your ability to interact. so pretty much, if you have a child with a language problem and they find a sensory problem, they may classify him as having autistic spectrum disorder. that is what they did with my son, and after an entire year of therapy, no improvement (talk about loss of any hope!!!). the whole time, i just knew he wasn't, but professional after professional told me he was. for a year, i watched my son under a microscope, and things that normal kids do would scare me if he did them because i had heard it was a sign of autism. in the end, all of the professionals were wrong. my son wound up having dysarthria, which is an oral motor problem. it even causes him to have difficulty eating but he has been able to compensate so well that we didn't even notice. my advice to you is to trust yourself. for the record, professionals don't know as much as we would like to think. i definitely agree with you that it is normal for a 2 year old to be shy. i do think that the best thing you can do is to read as much as possible- it is the only way you will be able to help your son. you have to be his advocate- nobody else really cares what happens to him. if you read about sensory integration dysfunction and you don't think it is true for your son, let them know. have your speech therapists discuss with you any other possibilities- could it be apraxia, can they rule out that it isn't just a delay in which he will catch up versus a disorder. most importantly, go with your gut. you are his mother and you know him better than anyone else. they may act as if you are just in denial, but remember, as much as you don't want your son to have a problem, you want to help him more, so you would never deny your son treatment if it could help him. even though i did not agree with it, i still took my son in hopes of seeing improvement, and when i saw none, i looked further. he is actually saying consonants now and finally calls me "ma ma" after 2 months of appropriate therapy. good luck to you and your son. i hope this was helpful to you.