Just as I suspected, he needs speech therapy. She said through this program (early steps) they typically say one session per week, lasting thirty minutes. She told me (off the record) that I should request through the speech therapist that he get therapy TWICE a week for a total of one hour per week. They would have to write in a written request for that.
They tested him in all areas aswell, through asking me questions and doing "activities" with Zac.
I could not take the results with me because they need the origionals, they will mail me the copies. I can tell you what I do recall:
In all areas (other than speech), gross motor, fine motor, social, personal/independence, etc...he scored from 80-90+ (out of 100). He was around a 12 month level for most but there was one area where he excelled and he was at an 18 month level, but i FORGOT which area it was! :doh: I THINK it was social. ANYWAY, the speech was a lot lower, as I suspected all along. His expressive speech, he was at an 8 MONTH old level and his receptive was around 11 months, that part is surprising as *I* thought he understood a lot more than that. DH is not thrilled, of course but hey, we just watched a special last night on TLC on "the world's smalled children", about children with growing disorders and all kinds of other problems. If a speech delay is all we have to deal with I'm PREFECTLY fine with that.
That's it in a nutshell. I now have to pick a provider and make the appt. The good thing is that since I went through Early Steps (thank you Lesley), I don't/won't have to pay any co-pays or anything else!

I'm so glad you went Sara. I hope this therapy helps bring Zac's speech up to his age level. I'm not surprised that he did so well in the other areas, though!

Sounds like a good thorough evaluation, Sara.

I'm glad that they are getting a plan in place for you! :)

He'll be jammering away in no time!

I'm glad the appt. went well, Sara. Let us know how his first session goes. I'm sure Zac will be talking up a storm, soon!

:hug:

It's good you are putting this into perspective. Zac just needs some help, and now he's going to get it!

It sounds like Zac is doing so well in the rest of his development, Sara! I'm sure the speech therapy will help him to soon be talking away. It's good you put your name on the wait list!

**edited to add "in the rest of his development"

Hi sara

I've been following your concerns with Zac as Ava also doesn't speak much
can you re-fresh my memory regarding what Zac can say/# words etc
I am wondering if Ava needs an evaluation
She babbles CONSTANTLY, points etc
She only says cat, meow, mama, dada, hello, bye, baby, NO (constantly) and maybe 1-2 other words

Good Luck with starting therapy...hope it pays off!

It sounds like Ava is doing fine to me. Zac says no words, nothing. He babbles a lot, but that's about it. No pointing or gestures either.

Sara, I know how frustrating it is to see a delay in your child, but I'm confident that with the SLPs help and ideas, and with you working with Zac at home, he's going to improve by leeps and bounds. He'll be chattering away before we all know it. Have you tried teaching him any signs? We found this to be an incredible help while waiting for Evan to be ready to get out his first words. He still forgets himself and uses a few of the signs sometimes, and he'll still sign come if I don't understand him right away.

Glad you are getting therapy through early steps. Eliana has speech therapy 1 hour a week and occupational therapy 1 hour a week.

They are working with food aversions (getting better but have some slight problems still) and her speech (which was a 37% delay when evaluated in late Dec 05)

I think once he gets going on this he is just going to take off...as he excels in all other areas!
Does he make sounds to comunicate with you?
I have heard of kids making up there own words before thats why I'm asking.

Have you tried teaching him any signs?.
Not as of yet, I don't even really know any myself. :oops:
I did mention this to DH and he does not agree. :roll: He says that signing does not sound like a step forward but mearly like a bandaid. He's really frustrating...yah!
Does he make sounds to comunicate with you?
He babbles all the time, but just "squeals" when he wants something, or whines.

I can see why he'd think it's just a bandaide solution, but it's a step towards communicating, and that's what counts. Often kids will then learn to say the words with the signs. It really helps those who are later at speaking to communicate and thereby to avoid the anger and frustration that follows when they can't make their needs known and are old enough to understand that. I highly recommend introducing a few simple signs, like 'more', 'all done', 'thank you', 'please', etc.

I agree 100% with everything you just said, that's exactly what I told dh. :roll:

It's amazing how fast they pick up sign, Sara. My nephew is about the same age as Zac and he is doing it after only about 3 weeks.

He does "eat, more, all done, milk, sleep" - pretty cute to watch!

We're going to work on it with Joshua. I really think it helps to increase their ability to communicate their basic needs, and to lessen frustration too.

What a great eval...I hope the therapy works well for you guys! Let us know how he is doing..once the ball is rolling!

OMG, Sara! Teach the boy some signs! It's made such a improvement in Catherine's frustration level.

We'll have to compare notes in Cleveland ... although I won't have a copy of her report until the 18th. The SLP for forgot to bring it with her and she won't be back until then.

sara, great that you are getting speech once a week. I can only get Hobbes speech once amonth here and the waiting list is 2 yrs! That is great!

:lol:your Dh and mine should get together! They think alike! My Dh says the same thing about signing. I would doi it but ST has decided not to do it with Hobbes.

SOunds like a great appt Sara and I'm so pleased that you went with your gut instinct. When will the therapy start?

Therapy will start as soon as I find him an appt. I will do the calling tomorrow. I'm so glad that I went through Early Steps because I just foudn out my insurance will ONLY cover ST under certain circumstances; autism, injury, congenial anomily (sp?) or stroke. APparently his situation does not fall under any of those so we're on our own. They will cover it though through step C, whatever that is.
Lesley, about the sign language, I know...the funny thing is, this kid doesn't get frustrated! :dontknow: He really is very easy going so that is a tough one in this circumstance. I dunno...maybe I just "offer" too much instead of waiting for him to tell me. His routine is VERY strict as far as timing, so at "this time" he gets food, at "this time" he gets his nap, at "this time" he goes for his walks, etc etc....his days are very predictable so maybe that's the issue w/him not getting so frustrated? I'm not sure. I guess there are days that I just cant take him on his walk, and when the time comes around for it, he'll go to the back gate and wimper and look at me...so it's obvious he knows what he wants there! LOL

We are teaching Jayden some basic signs too, for right now he just watches and laughs at us. But you can see he is thinking about it.
My oldest dd went to school for ASL (american sign language)
We live near one of the largest deaf communities in the country and also the most looked after deaf school.
Just throwing this out there ...has his hearing been checked? Not that he can't hear but may he has some imparment?????

Sara, I'm glad you got him evaluated and won't have to pay a copay! That's great. Connor is in Phsysical therapy once a week with a $15 copay and is probably going to start speech/feeding therapy which will be another $15 a week. I know it could be worse but it adds up! I bet Zacman will be talking in no time!

I am so glad that you are getting early intervention for Zacman! It is all about being proactive these days.:wink:

Today I met up with a 15 month old boy who weighs more than Iain does and has a repetoire of around 20 signs already. I was astounded to see this little guy using a bunch of them and asked if his son was suffering from a speech delay or some other issue which required sign. The answer was no. It was simply a tool they introduced and it has helped this perfectly healthy and developmentally on track little boy with a precurser to speech. I heard him talk and use more words than any 15 month old I have ever seen before. The signs have been used since birth and obviously made a difference in this child. It is not just a bandaid for children with speech delays. It is valuable for ALL children regardless of health and ability. It has been a wonderful addition to our therapy for Iain.

Keep us posted Sara. I know your little man will catch up right fast!

:hug: Sara. That's tough when you want to sign with Zac, but your DH isn't thrilled with Zac signing. Will your DH be there during his ST visits? Maybe the ST can explain to him the benefits of signing?

A few months ago, Emma used to only sign certain words, and made absolutely no sound when she did it. It kinda worried DH, too...he thought she would just rely on making the sign instead of learning to say the word. However, everytime I did the sign, or she made it I would say the word outloud so she knew she was signing a spoken word.

Now, Emma uses a combination of speaking and signs. When she wants "more" of something...she'll make the sign for more and say "ma", makes the sign for all done and says "da", makes the sign for milk and says "mil", etc. Some days (and they're getting more and more like this) she'll just say "mil" or "da" (for milk and done) and doesn't sign the words at all. Other words, like potty, book, thank you, plane she only uses the sign for, but I know someday she'll say it.

This website is really good...the demonstrator shows you how to make the sign...it's like a short video clip and there are tons of words.

http://commtechlab.msu.edu/Sites/aslweb/browser.htm

Rachel, his hearing was checked and we have no concerns about that issue seeing as how this child hears a pin drop from across the other side of the house. :roll:

Amanda, that is an excellent site, thank you so much!