I’ve written a bit about Baguette’s school, and their concerns about how she interacts with her classmates. Here are some of our observations:
1) She does get wary around unfamiliar people and large groups.
2) She is overjoyed to play with Bestie, and she warms up quickly to unfamiliar children. Shoot, when we went to Santa Barbara, we’d get to a playground and the first thing she’d do was hug some little girl she’d never seen before.
3) She is not as articulate as her classmates. We knew this was the case with Bestie, but Bestie is a little older and has always been very verbal–the two of them really can’t be compared. Now, though, we’re seeing a difference between her and classmates who are several months younger.
4) Her vocabulary is booming. She repeats things we say, and things she hears from Sesame Street.
5) Her enunciation is not very clear at all.
The result of this is that she lacks confidence in large groups. So she talks up a storm at home, but is largely silent at school. And it’s getting in the way of her toilet training, because while she is telling people that she needs to go to the bathroom, she’s not doing it with words–and apparently her teachers are unable to recognize that.
We wanted to let her develop at her own pace, and gave her until 2-1/2. But it’s clear that the pace is too slow for her own satisfaction, and she’s getting frustrated by the discrepancy between her desire to communicate and her ability to do so.
So we’ve started to explore speech therapy. We have a referral from her doctor, but we couldn’t get an appointment until late January–by which time we’ll have changed insurance providers, making that referral useless. Plus, January. And there are programs available through the public school system, but she isn’t eligible to participate until she turns three.
The next option is a private program, for which we’d pay out of pocket. Not cheap, not cheap at all. But this is a Big Deal, and we save for Big Deal expenses.
We’re gearing up for intensive research. Because we want to give our daughter opportunities. Not the moon. Just the usual stuff. Like self-expression.
Photo by Piano Piano! via Flickr.
Have you looked into early intervention in your state? Does your pediatrician have anyone to recommend?
We have a referral from the pediatrician, but can’t get an appointment before January, and the early intervention program seems to start at age 3, unless the child has problems that Baguette doesn’t have. Still looking!
Look into local children’s hospitals and universities as well!
Great suggestions–thanks!
I applaud you guys for being observant and proactive parents. My nephew has similar issues – he’s currently in speech therapy for apraxia (he’s almost 3, like Mittens). You might call your local school district and ask to talk to someone in special ed or early intervention – though speech is provided via district employees, they usually know which local speech firms are good. Also try one of the regional centers in LA – they help people with disabilities but, again, they know the good speech places because they deal with them. Regional Center in North LA: http://www.nlacrc.org/
Thanks for the tips! We want to be proactive, but we also don’t want to push her or make an issue of things that will work themselves out. The thing that is moving me to act is that Baguette is clearly not happy with things as they are.
Baguette’s self-awareness seems like good indication that something’s amiss or at least needs some attention. It can’t hurt to have her tested and get baselines. The SLP should be able to tell you what’s developmentally normal (just maybe on the lower end) and what’s not.
I agree. If she seemed happy with how things were going, I would feel less need to take action. But she’s clearly not happy, and feels self-conscious with her peers. I think if she feels better about her speaking ability, she’ll gain more self-confidence and be able to interact with them more.
But I still think she’s an introvert, and there’s absolutely no need for her to try and change that.
Good luck to little B. I know it’s hard and I’m so glad you’re doing the right thing. But yeah, January, that’s so far away it feels like! I hope something opens up quickly for you.
We have an evaluation scheduled for next week! And the cost is not as outrageous as I had feared it might be.
In San Diego, I think there are programs from “First 5” (our tobacco tax funded program) to help with this sort of thing. Maybe there is something similar in LA?
I had speech therapy as a kindergartner. I was apparently really hard to understand, and the therapy helped with that. I have no idea if I was frustrated as a toddler- my parents say that pretty much only they could understand me at that age. But I wasn’t in day care, so it probably only became a problem when I started school.
I can see that Petunia, who is less clear in her enunciation, is more frustrated at this age than Pumpkin, who was unnaturally clear in her speech, was. And that is hard to watch as a parent. Good for you for taking this seriously and looking into the options. Good luck!
I know a number of my family and friends who have children who have had speech therapy, and it clearly works. I think if Baguette were home, her vocabulary would increase because she’d feel more comfortable trying, but I’m not sure how much that would help with enunciation.