What is oral motor planning and how does it affect toddlers speech?
My two year old only has a hand full of words and someone mentioned he could have oral motor planning issues. I’m still waiting to hear back from EI for an evaluation.
Yes, he understands everything and knows exactly what he wants.
April 25th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
My now three year old daughter was saying very few words at two and she was referred to our local Elks program, California-Hawaii Elks Project. They will come to your house and work with your child and evaluate them to see what the problem may be. My daughter has “Developmental apraxia of speech (DAS) ” which is where she knows what she wants to say, but has a problem forming her mouth in the correct way to say it. She sees her speech therapist once or twice a week at our house. She loves it and she is improving well.
April 25th, 2011 at 2:08 pm
I don’t know technically but sounds like a fancy way of saying your child thinks about the words and wants to form them perfectly before speaking them.
I don’t know what a “handful of words” is, but if your child is very physically active sometimes two year olds only have a handful of words. How is his/her understanding of spoken language? Does he/she comprehend your speech? Did he/she have any hearing delays, lots of ear infections or tubes? All of this can effect a child’s speech. You can go ahead and get a speech evaluation, states typically have Birth to 3 programs that will do a free evaluation. Talk to your pediatrician for more information.
April 25th, 2011 at 2:08 pm
Just get him in and get him checked. My friends little boy was pretty delayed in his speach, my sone who was nine months youner than him was talking way better, which is how I noticed. She got him tested and he has had two years of speach theapy in a preschool setting and has improved tremendously. He still is a little behind but he is doing really good from where he started, some kids just need a little extra work, doesn’t mean anything. If you get it caught early enough it will be better for him too. Good luck and maybe he just may be a quiet child and you are worring for nothing.
April 25th, 2011 at 2:23 pm
That sounds like Verbal Apraxia or if they say some words it’s called Verbal Dyspraxia. It is where the nerve that connects from the brain to the mouth is not fully connecting. It’s o.k. if you get proper speech therapy for it. My son was in speech for 2 full years. It’s not as common in girls but 10 percent of boys have it. Generally, kids with high iq’s or intelligence will have it. The difference between that and delayed speech is the understanding is delayed as well, If you child has good understanding then this is what they most likely will have.