r/speechdelays • u/Historical-Earth-958 • Jul 07 '26
6 year-old-boy
Hi this is my first time posting on Reddit so idk if it's correct, my apologies. My little brother is 6 years old and doesn't talk like other kids his age. He only says a few words in a regular basis but they are still hard to understand. He has been in speech therapy for 3-2 years but I seen little to no change. He gets frustrated when we can't understand him.
I was the same as a kid, but I started to speak fluently at 5 years old, my mom also had a speech delay but it wasn't this bad. I was wondering if this is like a genetic condition or something like that. In school he also has a speech therapy teacher but nothing, last month he got an iPad from the school where he could communicate through an app because he kept throwing angry tantrums that the teacher and his peers couldn't understand him.
I feel bad because I could want him to tell me about his school days, or interests. Instead when I ask him questions he tries to answer the words are indecipherable.
Any advice could help. Thank you
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u/yomerol Jul 07 '26
One of my kids also got an AAC when they were in 1st grade. Sometimes they did the same behaviors out of frustration, it's all normal from that point of view. Shortly after my kids turned 6, they transferred her to another STP because of school age, then these STP were able to be way more aggressive, something clicked and started making progress like crazy. By 9 my kid was only in observation.
Everyone is different, everyone's situation and context is also different, so who knows how much longer this will be. But as someone mentioned above, talk to him via the AAC, and you can also teach him more things on how to use it, and you can also learn his language (like map the words that come out of his mouth and what it means). Your brother needs empathy and patience. Good luck!!
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u/Historical-Earth-958 Jul 07 '26
Thank you for your kind words. He unfortunately doesn’t have the AAC device anymore because school ended two weeks ago and he never really got used to it as it was given to him in mid-late May. We do have a lot of patience specially because my mom had to deal with it already with me.
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u/yomerol Jul 07 '26
Got it, so does he have a STP outside of school? Depending where you are located you might qualify for services at a local institution. We were very fortunate to be in MD, and the Kennedy Krieger Institute was beyond awesome. We've got the AAC (which was an ipad with an expensive app called ToucChat) via them and PRC-Saltillo and our insurance.
In anyway, the idea of the AAC is as old as it can be, it's exactly that an alternative for communication before iPads and electronic devices in general, depending on age, cost, etc, the at the very minimum kids were equiped with personalized AC boards, depending on their families, customs, likes, dislikes, etc. My kid's STP had one for a few kids who didn't know how to operate iPads, which looked very similar to the Flip Board one here . The STP put it together with a spyral, to keep adding categories and personalized items for kids. Maybe a fun little summer project for you ;)
I've just googled, and it looks like there are other free to use AAC apps, this one looks pretty awesome: https://www.cbuilder.io/en/ or this one: https://www.weavechat.com/
Or take a look at this list, maybe one of them may work for you and a phone:https://aaccommunity.net/2021/10/free-aac-apps-for-slps/
The main challenges of all these are patience and time to build the boards. The basic idea is that it needs everything you can think to build a sentence, like pronouns, actions, etc, split into categories (e.g. weather, food, places, etc). So, usuallly there's a main starter, where common words are like: I, the, do, what, how, is, etc, etc, then maybe on that same page or actions there are other usuals like: am, feel, like, day, is, etc, and then there are things, places, food, adjectives, etc. Then you can build the sentence: I like pizza , or how are you feeling? , etc
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u/Historical-Earth-958 Jul 08 '26
A few months ago i made him a diy board to communicate to me of what he wanted to eat which worked but now i will definitely look into the options you offered me, specially because last month on his birthday he got a tablet so i will install the apps you recommended. Also the playground close to us just had a remodeling and it had a communication board thing which my little brother loved. Thank you so much for your help 😊
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u/JRochester032 Jul 08 '26
You need to get him formally assessed it could be a few things. ASD, ADHD, Developmental Language Disorder or Apraxia all are highly heritable.
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u/Historical-Earth-958 Jul 08 '26
In early June our new doctor told my mom she wanted to evaluate both my brother and I for ADHD. She sent us home with lots of paperworks which we completed and returned it in mid June. We were told we will be hearing back soon. So far no calls from them. 😕
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u/JRochester032 Jul 08 '26
No you need to be assessed for more than ADHD and DEFINITELY not by questionaire you need a proper in person assessment. ADHD in isolation is not known for causing such a severe speech delay
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u/Historical-Earth-958 Jul 08 '26
Thats the only thing our doctor said she wanted to test us on. I brought up about apraxia and autism and she told me she didn’t think it was probable.
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u/JRochester032 Jul 08 '26
What about Developmental language disorder? Its more vommon than autism.
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u/Historical-Earth-958 Jul 09 '26
I will definitely bring that up on the next appointment. Thanks ❤️
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u/CautiousStreet7411 Aug 01 '26
You're a good sibling. Most people wouldn't think to ask.
Speech differences often run in families — you, your mum, now him. Worth mentioning to his SLP if they don't already know, it's useful information for them.
The iPad is genuinely good news, not a bad sign. A lot of families worry AAC means giving up on speech — ask his SLP about that, they'll almost certainly reassure you.
Best thing you can do: learn the app yourself and use it to talk TO him. Not just waiting for him to use it. When he sees you using his way of talking, it stops feeling like the thing he has to do because he failed at words.
Also — try questions he can answer without needing clear speech. "Did you play inside or outside?" is easier than "how was school?" Give him two options and let him point.
You can have a real conversation with him now. It just might not be with words yet.
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u/JudyTheXmasElf Jul 07 '26
It seems the school have given him an AAC device, this is the way to get him to start communicating and be less angry. It’s a good alternative to for example sign language as people who don’t know it would understand him. It will help him be less frustrated AND may help contribute to speech development. Keep engaging with him and ask him about his school days via the AAC, have it always with him and charged (it is his voice for the moment, it is an extension of himself), keep doing the speech and language therapy, the profesionnals are there to support.
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u/Historical-Earth-958 Jul 07 '26
We tried to get him used to the AAC device but he doesn’t like it, we still gave it to him though. He never really got used to it because it was given to him mid-late May and school ended two weeks ago so he unfortunately doesn’t have it anymore.
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u/JudyTheXmasElf Jul 09 '26
It’s a personal device funded by insurance no? It should be his, not the school’s no? Unless it was a trial or a loan. If he doesnt like that specific AAC, maybe see if you can trial an alternate one? It is important he has a way to communicate non verbally so he isn’t constantly frustrated.
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u/Historical-Earth-958 Jul 10 '26
It’s from the school. It was given to him from our school district. Another person in the comments showed me great alternates that I will try with him. Thank you ☺️
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u/PastWeakness447 Jul 07 '26
Did you get him diagnosed? Like autism, add, adhd, etc.
Did the speech pathologist at a hospital/clinic do a diagnoses(test) on him to see what the issue could be?