Speech Therapist

[luvmum]

How abt going KKH or NUH for a child development assessment first? If confirmed require one then you can source for it. Hospi waiting time is long and irregualr so for more effective results, may want to consider spending more for private therapist. Painful to pay out the money each month but the coverage and the frequency is far more better than govt ones.

[janet88]

My son was pointing at things and doesn’t speak much at the age of 3. I thought it was bcos of his cleft…anyway, I brought him to see a speech therapist which is under the ‘umbrella’ care group of the cleft. After 2 months of speech therapy, he started to talk more. NOW, he talks non-stop. He’s 10 now, but when he went to Nursery at 4, his teachers complained that he talks endlessly.

[KoalaMummy]

sheryl:

My sixth sense tells me my son is having some speech problem. He does not seem to know how to place his tongue. He drinks his milk with his tongue sticking out slightly. He does not swallow his saliva. When he speaks, his tongue is also out.


I rather play safe. Bring him for an assessment early just in case. Will PD be able to tell the problem on speech?

yes, your pd is also able to refer u to a speech therapist. my son was also referred to one via polyclinic during his yearly checkup. :celebrate:

[BigDevil]

At 3, DS can only manage phrases with 3 or 4 words, and most of the time we can't understand him. His sister, on the other hand, was able to form complete, logical sentences by the time she was 2. So when DS had his 3yo check up at polyclinic, we told the doctor that we were worried about him being a slow talker.


We were referred to KK, and during the first appointment, the doctor thought that DS was fine. Nonetheless, we were referred to the speech therapist and DS had his first session last week.

The speech therapist was a sweet, young, bubbly lady. DS at first refused to talk, but warmed up quickly after the ST brought out some toys.

The ST was pretty good (as far as we can tell) in guiding DS to talk. At times, DS surprised us with answers to questions that we didn't expect him to be able to answer. The session lasted nearly 1.5 hours, and at the end of it, the ST told us that DS is about 6 months behind in his speech development. We were given \"homeworks\" to help him improve, and our next session will be in Oct.

All in all, we were glad we brought him for therapy. It really helped us understand how we can help. For instance, I had always been reading story books to him, but the ST told us that instead of simply reading, we should observe where his eyes are looking, then talk and ask questions about the pictures which interest him. So I guess it was a fruitful session, and I believe we are all looking forward to the next session.

[KoalaMummy]

mine was my no3. same as BigD, when he was around 2-3yo, we are not able to understand his speech, but his siblings understands. :roll: actually, i understand him more than dh... also went for a few times of speech therapy, sent him to childcare (instead of looking after by my previous maid, who, i think did not really talk to him and always leave him in the room, which caused him to be more 'quiet') and now, he's 5yo and talk non-stop too... tho he's more of an introvert (like me) compared to my ds1 who talks non-stop since he was 10mth old..

[sheryl]

I’m afraid of the long waiting time at govt hospitals. So I would like to bring him to a private ST for assessment. Or a private PD who is good at child developmental. Any recommendation?

[BigDevil]

DS’ appointment was at 3:30pm and the ST showed up at about 3:40. We were quite surprised ourselves that we didn’t have to wait long. But that was only the first session. Will know if we have to wait long after the next few sessions.

[KoalaMummy]

sheryl:

I'm afraid of the long waiting time at govt hospitals. So I would like to bring him to a private ST for assessment. Or a private PD who is good at child developmental. Any recommendation?

actually nowadays, govt hospitals like KKH, TTSH, the waiting time is no longer very long.

Sorry i do not know of any good pte pd. why don't you go back to yours to get a referral. it's faster this way too.

[jedamum]

BigDevil:

DS' appointment was at 3:30pm and the ST showed up at about 3:40. We were quite surprised ourselves that we didn't have to wait long. But that was only the first session. Will know if we have to wait long after the next few sessions.

i think by 'long waiting time', she meant the date to the first appointment and in between appointments, have to wait for long time.

[jedamum]

BigDevil:

At 3, DS can only manage phrases with 3 or 4 words, and most of the time we can't understand him. His sister, on the other hand, was able to form complete, logical sentences by the time she was 2. So when DS had his 3yo check up at polyclinic, we told the doctor that we were worried about him being a slow talker.


We were referred to KK, and during the first appointment, the doctor thought that DS was fine. Nonetheless, we were referred to the speech therapist and DS had his first session last week.

The speech therapist was a sweet, young, bubbly lady. DS at first refused to talk, but warmed up quickly after the ST brought out some toys.

The ST was pretty good (as far as we can tell) in guiding DS to talk. At times, DS surprised us with answers to questions that we didn't expect him to be able to answer. The session lasted nearly 1.5 hours, and at the end of it, the ST told us that DS is about 6 months behind in his speech development. We were given \"homeworks\" to help him improve, and our next session will be in Oct.

All in all, we were glad we brought him for therapy. It really helped us understand how we can help. For instance, I had always been reading story books to him, but the ST told us that instead of simply reading, we should observe where his eyes are looking, then talk and ask questions about the pictures which interest him. So I guess it was a fruitful session, and I believe we are all looking forward to the next session.

BigDevil,
I took ds2 to ST when he was 3yo too. It was a recommendation from his Behaviourial Therapist (BT). Our session is at CDU and is only 1hr session; i knew that someone here mentioned that KK is a better place, but I couldn't get referral to KK when i visited my polyclinic to get referral (dunno why). My ds2 is also considered a mild case and we were put on a 6 months review after 6 bi-monthly sessions. The sessions were eye-opening as it reviewed the mistakes which could have contributed to the speech delay.
Do look forward to your boy's 3.5yo milestone; my ds2's speech progress hit a new high during his 3.5yo week (4 mths ago). It was an exciting week for us. Now, although he gets his tenses or description wrong, we are glad that he is able to communicate and joke with us. :love: