Speech and language

After thinking about it pretty extensively, I decided to go ahead and make Tristan an appointment for speech therapy.  Luckily, there was one at UVRMC, so we didn't have to go to the Orem office again.  Haven't really had very good experiences there.....

Anyhoo, so he had his appointment today.  I had already done some research, so I knew what was going to happen.  The therapist assessed his ability to comprehend as well as speak.

For his age, Tristan should be able to understand about 300 words.  He should be able to understand compound commands (pick up the toy and put it in the box).  He should be able to articulate 50 words.  He should be able to put a noun and a verb together (dog run), or create simple sentences.  He should be able to mimic to some degree.

He can understand very well, he can even communicate what he wants to some extent (pointing ans screaming, he also signs "more").  Nick and I were both surprised when the therapist showed him pictures and asked him to point to things.  He knew milk, balloons, ball, cat, cookie.  But he can only say about 4-6 words, and none of them consistently.   And he didn't really say any of them for the therapist, just "yeah"

So, he's got a ways to go, he's a little behind.  But at least his comprehension and retention are pretty on schedule.  And apparently he knows a lot more than we thought he did, which made us feel tons better.  We're going to go at least once a week to meet with the speech pathologist, and in the meantime work on repetition and just voicing everything we do with him.  Hopefully he will catch on.  And hopefully in the next appointment the therapist will be able to evaluate his tongue movement (he wasn't too cooperative about it this time).