Delay in Reciprocal Conversation...Help!
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| Wed, 02-07-2007 - 9:18pm |
O.k.....everday it's something new. Jack is Pdd-Nos and gets play therapy and a SEIT. He is very bright and has a broad and advanced vocabulary however, because of the social issues, he does not always apply his knowledge appropriately. He was eval. for speech but did not qualify. I'm going back to committee within the next 6 weeks and I'm going to demand OT (for sensory issues) and now I am wondering about requesting speech as well BUT I do not know if I am going down the right path.
When he was initially eval. he had just started echoing...it was new but it obviously was a concern. It started off slowly and then increased and then about 3-4 weeks after his dx it just sort of 'disappeared'. Of course, the evaluator focused heavily on this (as she should have) however, as his mom I really felt as though it was not true echoing, instead it was just a stall tactic. Anotherwords, he was only echoing when he was being asked questions (usually open-ended) and he could not find the words to answer. I felt as though he was echoing to buy himself more time because he knew the socially appro[riate thing to do was answer but he just really did not know HOW to answer. For example, if I asked him what he had for snack at school (concrete question) he would quickly respond crackers w/o any echoing. If I then asked him, what was his favorite thing he did in school then he would echo the question. During that time, I began to make him aware of the echoing and then I narrowed down the question to something like 'was your favorite thing gym class or story time' I then would get a response, he may even say at that point no, I liked project time the best. Is that because his brain had more time to process the initial question OR ...I don't even know??????
Now, flash forward a few months and the echoing has dimished drastically to almost non-existent BUT he is still struggling in the area of reciprocal conversation. Using the above example, if he said he liked the project the best, he would never spontaneously start telling me about the project, etc. In addition, any 'conversation' held with Jack usually does not go beyond 2 or 3 exchanges before he is off and running. Now, my question is this age appropriate or would you guys consider this a sig. delay? He is my first and any and all stages are new regardless of dx. And would speech services, in addition to all the other services, help him improve on reciprocal conversation. His play therapy is great but will that really help him 'organize' his words so he can use his intellect/vocabulary.
Any information would be so helpful as I am not even sure which discipline would address this issue.
Thanks,
Anne

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Hi Anne,
I am not sure how old is Jack?
visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
thanks for your input...where are you on long island? i live in hauppauge!
anne
Anne,
It is good that you raised it with the Dev. Ped as well as the SEIT. Did you get any feedback yet?
I'm in Syosset, so it's Nassau Co.
visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
i will hopefully get some solid feedback by next week and my next appt. w/ the pediatrician is not until next month...you know how that goes!
anne
Also check out The Cody Center for resources out in your direction. I think they are part of SUNY.
-Paula
visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
***Lurker Alert***
Hi! I have a similar issue with my 4 yr old, Lily. She also has PDD-NOS. I can't recall ever having an actual conversation with her. Of course, I know I shouldn't complain considering the fact that I used to worry if she would ever talk at all. But still, I do wonder how to help her hold up her end of a conversation. She is like your son in that unless I get very specific with my questions, then she just gives some off the wall answer, like she's trying to change the subject. Then she just stops there and we never have a give and take conversation of any kind. I know that with my oldest dd, I was having conversations with her at this age. I know I shouldn't compare my children, but I still think that a 4 yr old should be able to have at least a simple, short conversation. I'm going to be bringing up the same issue with Lily's new speech path this next week. We recently moved, but in our old district, Lily's speech path was the one who was working with her on answering questions, expressing emotions verbally, etc. I'm hoping that it's the same way in our new district. I hope that someone from the board has some insight into this particular issue as I'm very interested/concerned about it too. Good luck!
Amy~mom to Natalie (10 yrs) and Lily (4 yrs)
Hey all,
Just wanted to say that's great that you brought it up with the SEIT (hopefully we'll be getting a SEIT for Riley shortly) and the Dev. Ped. Keep us posted on how it goes.
I'm also in NY - I live in the Hudson Valley - in Dutchess County, just about an hour north of NYC. I know I'm not in the LI cluster... but wanted to say I'm in close quarters to you all!
...but I was wondering, are there
visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
Adam is 3 1/2 w/ PDD and gets speech a total of 3x per week. Just this week, literally, he has been extra chatty with me. Granted it's on his terms but like 3-4 sentence exchanges. His teachers and therepists have even noticed this week. I have a social skills group he goes to for an hour at this therepy center. I literally focuses on social skills and speech only. I love the outcome so fare.
A matter of fact, we had a play date w/friends today, 5 (nt), 3 (nt) and 2 (speech delayed unconfirmed dx). He did so well I cried on the way home. He actually told the kids what he wanted to play and shared books etc.............
I believe working hard and just encouraging all the "good" that is coming from therepy and school.
Every child is so different even NT kids.
Nora
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s225/irishwildrose/pp2.jpg
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