My son who is almost 3yrs has finally started speech therapy, he has only had 2 sessions and the speech therapists gut feeling is that he has a language disorder. She said he seems quite bright and plays well but is very rigid in his learning so she said her gut feeling is that he has a language disorder, does anyone know anything or have experience of this and what does this spell for his future ? Its not confirmed but just want to know more about it....

Hi, my 2.5 year old also has problems with his speech, he has seen 2 speech therapists on 2 separate occasions and they have said that he is about 18 months behind in his speech. They haven't mentioned any type of disorder as he is being assessed by a paediatrition for autistic spectrum disorder.
My son not only has very little speech but also has very poor understanding of language.
I know that there are many disorders of speech and language as I have looked many times online but for the life of me I cannot remember the names of any of them (pregnancy hormones).
How often is your little one getting to see the speech therapist??

xx x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

He was refered after i pushed for him to be seen when he was 2.5yrs but has only just started therapy after being on the waiting list, at the moment he is having 1 to 1 once a week and is currently still really being assessed as he has only had 2 sessions. He has improved quite a bit since he got closer to 3yrs and was thought to be 1yr behind but is 10 months behind which i have been told is not to bad, his understanding is at a simulare level. Its just awful as you just want an answer way?

DS2 has dysarthria and a right sided hemiplegia. He turned 4 in April and has been getting speech therapy since he was 2 and a bit.

He can say a few single syllable words clear enough for people to understand but mostly you just have to guess. He can't even say his own name.

The waiting is not easy, all I want to know is how he will be later in life, will he ever manage to speak clearly enough to have a conversation in the school playground (where the other child actually knows what he is saying, right now he will talk to anyone anyway).

We have a meeting on Friday to get an idea about Primary school (he should start school in August), hoping to get him a place at a speech and language 'school' as I don't think he will do well in main stream unless he suddenly gets a hell of a lot better at this communication lark. I don't want him being left being or bullied and I think he will in main stream. Although I swore he would go to 'normal' school until recently.

I find it easy to 'deal' with the mobility side of his disability, that doesn't define him... but speech is such a huge part of our world it's hard. You can see them struggling and see that they have stuff to say but.. I feel such a failure at times when he is standing there, excitedly telling me something and I have no idea what he is saying, and such a fraud when I smile and say 'wow, thats great!' and he looks so happy thinking he has told mummy something awesome and really, mummy has no idea what he was saying. I've never actually said (or typed) that before.

KK1981, you are doing well getting your LO seen weekly, my son has been seen twice in 4 months and only then because I complained that the first speech therapist was very young and didn't have the first clue about autistic spectrum problems. The second therapist he saw was really good although she only saw him for less than an hour and just told me some stuff to do with him and sent me on my way saying she would see him in 4-6 months!!! She did book me in for a morning signing course though.

Through my sons consultant my son was referred to a Portage team, these are child care proffesionals who help children learn through play, the Portage lady has been to see us (at home) twice now and she if fantastic, she helps give me ideas on how to try and bring on his speech and language as well as teaching him how to play ( I know this may seem odd but my LO is very rigid in his play). I would go back to your gp and ask for a referral to see a paediatrition and see if there is any other help for your LO in your area.

Angelstardust, what you said about your LO standing in front of you and coming out with a load of babble all excited really struck a chord with me, my little boy does exactly the same, you would really think he was talking in a foreign language (or alien as my brother affectionately calls it), he has loads of inflection in his voice and sincerely seems to believe he is talking total sense to me. It breaks my heart and regularly makes me want to cry when he does this. It is not something that is easy to explain to people.

My sons speech has come on a fair bit I believe since he has been watching something special on cbeebies and has been learning some sign language from the programme. He also has a kids laptop that has helped him and even though he can't converse he knows all of the alphabet in both english and french and has even started spelling some words!!

My younger sister had a language disorder, which impacted on her learning and she ended up with learning and social difficulties. At 10 years old she still dressed, spoke, and played like a 6 year old. She was completely mute, apart from unidentifiable gurgling, until she was 4.

She is now 15, turning 16 on the 14th, she is my best friend and totally 'normal' for want of a better word. She is coming top of her classes, apart from in french and german, but she is still doing both a GCSE on the foundation tier. She's fantastic, and probably going to go on to cure cancer or something similar.

She went to a school for children with learning and social difficulties until she hit year 5, when she went into mainstream. She struggled, and was bullied by some of her classmates. The bullying continued until around year 8, when she started really catching up and accelerating in all areas. And developed scathing comebacks and a kickass sense of humour!! She's so quick witted now it's untrue!!

There is alot of hope out there ladies My Mum thought she would never speak... then she would never learn basic commands... then she would never be able to do basic math... then she would never go to a mainstream school... now they are saving her university fund.

There is a really good, easy way to describe language disorders. It's a broad field that can impact alot of areas, but I was brought up being told;

Imagine your brain is made up of 26 filing cabinets, each of these cabinets is assigned a letter and they are organised alphabetically. When you hear the word 'Apple' your brain hears the word, runs along and files it under 'A'. Then you want to say apple, and your brain checks in the A cabinet, finds it easily, and says it.

Well in Sarahs* brain, the cabinets are all jumbled up and in the wrong places. When Sarah hears the word 'Apple' her brain runs along... and can't remember which cabinet to put it in. Sarahs brain files 'Apple' in the 'Q' cabinet. Sarah then wants to say 'Apple' and can't find where it is, because everything is so messy. Sarah ends up so confused, she ends up making noises and pointing instead.

Sorry it's explained really childishly, but her disorder was spotted when she was 2 years old, when I was 6, so it was explained to me in a childlike manner! Hope it helps anyway, not very scientific lol but might help you get your head around it? Sorry your going through this at the moment x

just thought i better catch up with this thread so as im shattered im just starting one at a time
stardust , firstly dont blame yourself although i do it myself, thinking did i do something wrong could i have prevented this, could i of made it better? Im sure you are doing everything in your power to help him and support him to develope so he can take on the world. Ive done the same on a different level with not understanding, my son will keep repeating a fraction of a word over and over and over whilst im struggling to figure out what he wants. It must be so frustrating for him.
Im can totally understand that it must be soul distroying to not be able to share some magic event that has happend in his life that he desperatly wants to share with you, but you are doing the right thing by being just as excited as him. Im sure in time things will become clearer and you will have plenty more magic moments that you both can enjoy together xxx