Speech delays

No surprise, we have a speech delay.

Colorado offers free evaluations and therapy for kids up to age 4 (I think?) so our pediatrician recommended we get Lachlan evaluated. He has 30+ words but isn't putting two-word sentences together yet (though the day before his evaluation he said "bye-bye truck"). And he speaks in LOTS of gibberish. Super cute sounding gibberish, but nothing that we can understand. As a college grad, I got my B.A. in speech pathology so I knew what to expect at his evaluation, though I don't really remember all that much about the actual therapy part. But it's so much different being on the other side of things, I can tell you that!

So I took him in on Monday to a really great place for his eval, they had a room full of toys, a play kitchen, a slide, puzzles, tables and chairs. He did a lot of fun running back and forth between one thing and another, and they were really sweet with him. They got him to do a bunch of things like open a jar, fit a shape into the matching piece, figure out how to get a crayon out from under a clear box, feed a baby it's bottle, blow bubbles, push trucks down the slide. They just followed his lead and got the info they needed in about an hour. They asked me questions as well and I told them that he knows what I'm saying, he knows all his body parts, he knows a bunch of Star Wars characters even, he just won't say things back to me unless he already knows the word, though that is only sometimes. Like, if I say, "Say car" he won't. But if he sees a car he'll say "guck" which means "truck" which means "any vehicle at this point." He had a vision and hearing test too, which he passed. An OT and SLP evaluated him to be at 18 months with his speech and language (he's 2). Everything else, motor, sensory, behavioral, etc was normal.

So now we qualify for free speech therapy in our own home, which is really nice, though I'm wondering if he'd have more fun going somewhere with new and different toys and activities. We'll see! And if he still needs therapy when he's re-evaluated at 3, he will get free preschool.

Overall, I'm a little bummed he's delayed. No one wants their kid to be behind or struggle with anything. But at the same time, I'm not too worried right now. I feel like with the therapy and time, he will get to where he needs to be. He's a smart kid, I know he understands us and he can point things out to us when asked. But it would be really nice to understand him to avoid lots of frustration and tears when he tells us stuff we don't understand. I also would LOVE if he could tell me what he wants to eat (wishful thinking, I know!), because right now I HATE meal times as we're usually playing charades with him and guessing what he wants. It's hit or miss. One day he'll like something, but the next day he hates it. There's SO much food wasted! Plus, I kinda want to hear my sweet baby boy talk in words, he has such a sweet voice as it is.

Has anyone had success with speech therapy for their kiddo? I'd love to hear your experiences!