On Delay Speech , Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Developmental Paeds

Been wanting to share with all of you the experience im going through with my son uZAir. But each time i decide to sit down, i ended up lost of words on how to compose it. May i warn u, this will be a very “wordy” entry. will try to put photos (irrelevant) in between so u wont feel like as though u are reading a thesis…haha

Uzair is already 3 years and 4 months but has not started talking. I mention about his and our frustration in this entry. Anyway, each time i raise the issue of uzair’s delay in speech, i kept getting assurance from others ” biasa lah tu, some ppl start talking later” “ala, nanti once dah cakap, sure ckp tak benti” ” X and Y start cakap when he was 4, dont worry” . but my maternal instinct told me the other way. I was worried sick but kept it to myself n make lots of dua’ to Allah.

Beside delay in speech, he doesnt really mix with others. He likes to take two things and start knocking it together, it can go on for hours.  I was worried of autism back then but alhamdulillah he has eye contact whenever we interact with him. but i wouldnt want to be too confident and rule it out by myself without professional help. Thus i made an appointment to see developmental pediatrician. It was back in June when i called up for appointment, unfortunately there isnt much developmental pediatrician here in Malaysia, the only slot we manage to get was end october. So for those who suspect your kid with anydevelopmental issues, i suggest you call in for appointment, and if along the way, u manage to tackle the issue, u can always call to cancel the appointment. Doctor Rajini is from Sunway Medical but she is at the Baby Beyond Clinic in Bangsar Village II every monday. We got our appointment in Bangsar Village 2.

Besides the speech delay,we didnt realise other issues that should have been a concernbecause our elder 2 were premature, so we couldnt compare their development progress. now that we have uWais, we can see things that uzair didnt do when he was younger. He was lack in imitation. If we sing and do action and all, he didnt imitate  much (tapi if programme Wiggles tu, reti pulak nk imitate). he wasnt interested in toys (not much curiosity), you can bring him into Toys R Us, he will just look and show no interest at all in any of the toys. The toys we have at home pun tak hairan. Uwais yg baru 10 bulan ni pun dah reti nk main toys n rampas toys dari elder 2.

I did ask the speech therapy (uzair started going for speech therapy since May) at what point i should already be concern and brought him for speech therapy (after realizing we should have seen speech therapy earlier too). According to her, if uzair has imitation, role play and other interaction, then boleh lah if nk tunggu skit lg, coz ni jatuh under category soon-he-will-start-talking, tp since uZair dah takde sume tu, then it means mmg ade issues that need to be address. So my advice, if your anak have these signs i mentioned, or another thing is if he tends to pull himself away from crowd, avoidance and such… it is a concern. Should seek professional help. Get the appointment and while waiting for 3 – 4 months for your slots, if he out grow from the issues, you can cancel the appointment. Coz if u say takpe lets give it another 2 3 bulan camane, ha by then nk buat appointment…jenuh nak menuggu another 4 5 months

Anyway, he is attending speech therapy  at Hartamas. I was given number for speech therapy centre called Speech Help in PJ but they were full and they gave me the lady in Hartamas. Im very happy with her, and best part is, she rent a house and turn it into a centre, thus parking is not an issue. boleh park depan her house. Her fees is RM120 for an hour session. We attend once a week. Since we started with the speech therapy, we can see uzair’s improvement in terms of his interaction. Previously he wouldnt even acknowledge presence of guests in the house. at least now if my aunts datang, he will approach the guest and showed some gesture. And whenever we go to my inlaws die dah reti lah nak “bertepuk tampar” with the others. In fact although i stay with my parents, previously uzair does not has much (almost to nil) interaction with my parents, nama je duduk sebumbung. n now dah boleh miggle around with the other siblings too, harith n athirah gelak, die pun join gelak.

Anyway the developmental pediatrician diagnose uzair as Sensory Processing Disorder. “Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD, formerly known as “sensory integration dysfunction”) is a condition that exists when sensory signals don’t get organized into appropriate responses. Pioneering occupational therapist and neuroscientist A. Jean Ayres, PhD, likened SPD to a neurological “traffic jam” that prevents certain parts of the brain from receiving the information needed to interpret sensory information correctly” . ” We receive and perceive sensory input through sights, sounds, touch, tastes, smells and movements, Difficulty taking in or interpreting this input can lead to devastating consequences” And this explains uzair’s speech delay.

Doctor suggested for Occupational Therapy for uzair. We have started going for the therapy and he loves it. He is getting all the sensory sensation that he needs. The centre is full of padded mat, bean bags in which he can simply crash himself anywhere and fulfill his sensation seeking. Result in occupational therapy questionnaire showed that uzair obtained scores that indicate typical performance on auditory visual processing, vestibular and oral sensory processing BUT definite difference (more than others) on touch and multisensory processing. Some people their touch and multiprocessing is less than others, tu sbb some kids if pegang pasir pun can be painful, they also avoid glue or muds, or can be very sensitive to sound, get irrirates easily with loud sounds. But uzair on the other hand, he is seeking more than others. if nak sapu die, jgn lah sapu lemah lembut, mmg tak feel langsung for him. “One person with SPD may over-respond to sensation and find clothing, physical contact, light, sound, food, or other sensory input to be unbearable. Another might under-respond and show little or no reaction to stimulation, even pain or extreme hot and cold”. Uzair falls in the category under-respond. We were told that uzair becomes frustrated or upset easily due to confusing information from the sensory system. In some cases, the child’s nervous system is not interpreting the input in a helpful way, leading to the child’s sense of disruption with what is going on around him.

So kesimpulannye die bukan lah sesuka hati nak throw tantrum, perhaps thats the reason why my maternal instinct stops me from pinching or spanking him whenever he misbehave. i always believe he throw tantrums because he is frustrated not able deliever to us what he wants…bukan sesuka hati nak tantrums. But of coz my sister thinks the other way round, she thinks im being bias , pilih kasih…kan hanah, kan? 😛 . For now, he also attends Occupational Therapy once a week, it is RM 100 for an hour session. So for the Speech and Occupational Therapy for uzair monthly is RM880… maka dgn itu jgn lah berangan nak gi Johor Premium Outlet :P. Xpe, org kate bumi Allah ni luas, insyaAllah rezeki ade merata2 🙂

Anyway, pics above were during our trip to FRIM waterfall. Look at elder 2, they can be very sweet at times. Harith feeding athirah,