Need help for my son

[worriedmom1973]

My seven year old son had speech delay. He is in Ist grade and going for speech therepy in school . He had beads stuck in her both ears for almost 2.5 years, my poor baby,we were ignorant. Now also when we or my friends ask him some thing, he says "what" at least 2-3 times. When I asked why we have to repeat question, he said " he doesn't understand what we asaked". We didn't do any tests. We are bilingual family but speak only english with him. He finds hard time following directions and need reminders in class.  He is very good in reading, writing and more than average in maths. Can you please help what should we do. Thanks.

[specialmom]

Something the above poster did not mention which is also relevent to a child with a speech issue is the area of motor planning.  This is praxis.  To understand a question and respond----------  a child must be able to organize what is said to them and then organize a response and then send the message to the oral muscles to articulate it.  That is the three parts of speech that all must be there for effective communication.  Receptive speech, expressive speech and articulation.  Even a slight problem will cause a child to be slow at responding or not respond at all.

My son has issues with motor planning.  His hearing is perfect~!  But he will at times not answer a question, say what or take a while to answer it.  He is processing what has been said to him and processing how to respond.

Look up sensory integration disorder and how it effects speech.  My son has sensory integration disorder and speech is affected.

How does your child do with fine motor skills by the way?  

Very often processing disorders are the culprit for what you describe.  In the area of motor planning and one other area--------  auditory processing.  Some kids hear all things at the same volume-------  child breathing next to them, mower outside, mother's voice asking a question.  The rest of us tune out other noise and will hear our mother.  But a child with auditory processing issues doesn't always do that.  

Your post to me sounds processing related.  My son, by the way, is doing really fantastic after intervention.  If you'd like more info on that, please let me know.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi!
If your son is repeatedly asking questions and needs you to repeat in order to understand, then he could be having some hearing loss—maybe brought about by the beads stuck in his ears. Hearing loss can delay speech development. Hence this needs to be first identified and then corrected. Please consult an ENT doctor and an audiologist. Take care!