Today we had the twins evaluated for EI and like I expected, they qualified for due to a speech delay. Now all 3 kids are accepted into EI for speech. I am actually glad that all 3 are involved as I think it will make life easier overall. We are trying to get them into a group, which I think is beneficial for all of them. Personally, I think all 3 kids could use some interaction with other people than just me and my husband. I think they need to be around kids their own age other than each other. I am hoping that with the fall coming and the weather getting cooler, we'll be back at the park more often. I plan to look more into other groups, hopefully that are free or really low cost. I'm really looking forward to getting out IFSP (plan) in place so that we can start working with the kids. They have already given us a bunch of good suggestions that we have actually started to incorporate into the schedule. The best part about EI is I am supposed to incorporate thigns into our daily lives not try to find a special time to set aside to work with them. Since I have 3 under 3, this makes so much sense. The thought of trying to remember to set aside time to work specifically on speech is kind of terrifying. On the other hand, the thought of incorporating it into our daily lives is so freeing. I am looking forward to getting things started and moving forward with their speech!
Amy
It is great that you are starting now, with the speech therapy! It will probably help the kids get off on the right foot, when they go to Kindergarten! It is better to be proactive!
ReplyDeleteWe have a screening in early Sept., for our second to youngest, because of her behavior. It would be nice for her to be around other kids and learn that she has to listen to other adults! She could use some speech therapy too!
I'm glad everything worked out so well!
ReplyDeleteI definitely recommend the EI playgroup if it's an option. My guys love it, and I love that they have a set time each week when they get together with other two-year-olds for some somewhat structured playtime. It took Buba a while to be comfortable in the group without me there, but now he's fine talks about his friends there all the time.
ReplyDeleteQuick question as I'm sort of new here...what prompted you to get speech intervention? Hailey is really hard to understand sometimes and I was just wondering if I should pursue some sort of service for her. She talks and has her own little language (many words we can understand without a problem), but there are some words that are her very own. I'm curious as to what prompted you...thanks!!!
ReplyDeleteRebecca-I decided to do an EI eval for the 3 kids since none of them really have any words. My older son is almost 2 1/2 and my twins are 19 months. To communicate, they mostly grunt and point vs saying any words. My older son is at more of a 12 month age range when it comes to both expressive and receptive speech and the twins are probably the same level. They are great with their gross and fine motor, but they just don't talk. That is the biggest issue.
ReplyDeleteYEAH!!! We had all 3 go through EI - including the groups - as well. Push for that IFSP *before* Sept 15th ... as I've heard that's when the fees go up. I think you'd be grandfathered in if you get it all set up before then though.
ReplyDeleteNancy-the teams that evaluated the twins started the IFSP for that very reason. We just need to get Michael's done!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you're getting them into EI. I really loved it for my twins. I have always said I don't know what I would have done without an expert coming to my house every week helping me out. As a result, I've learned a lot from scratch for my singleton! We also really liked the EI playgroup. We went to one in Malden that was structured with both time to be together as a whole group, then time when you left the children with their therapists and the adults had group for a while. It really made me feel better about my whole situation to talk to other parents in EI.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone suggested sign language as well? I found that it helped my children express themselves better, they were happier and I've learned that children who learn two languages at a young age are better at languages when they are older - and ASL counts as one! We did most of our sign learning (parent and child) through Signing Times DVDs. It was a nice break for me to have it on for the kids too.
I have an award for you on my blog :)
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