Emma accompanied her brother, Nathaniel, to speech therapy today. She had a consultation with his speech therapist. Her father and I have been wondering why she wasn't talking like her brother. We thought it was odd that a child who has good hearing wasn't talking as much as our hearing impaired child. We had her hearing tested, even so far as getting a sedated ABR, which showed her hearing was perfect for a child of 7 months. She has perfect hearing so the audiologist suggested we get her speech evaluated. I've heard that babies are either mobile or they talk, so maybe it's a case of her being a mover and him a talker.
So today we have news, her lingual and labial (upper lip) frenulum are restricted, aka tongue-tied. The frenulum is a small fold of tissue that secures or restricts the motion of a mobile organ of the body. In this case, the tongue and the upper lip, which are used in speaking. Also, the labial frenulum can cause a gap between the two front upper teeth. It can also increase the incidence of choking on food, something I've noticed Emma having some problems with now that the twins are eating coarser foods. A restrictive frenulum can even cause a bad latch while breastfeeding. I thought her GERD was the problem associated with her reluctance to breastfeed, perhaps the restricted frenulum was another factor.
So we can thank her hearing impaired brother for her getting help. If it wasn't for his hearing loss, we wouldn't have gone to the Developmental Pediatrician who suggested that Emma get a hearing evaluation. If it wasn't for his speech therapist's interest in Emma's lack of speech, we wouldn't have gotten an answer for the problem so quickly. We're going to see their ENT on Monday and Emma will start speech therapy in December. She needs help catching up her speech development - more than just cooing, squeaking and crying. I'm sure in no time she'll be babbling up a storm. Perhaps, the twins will develop their own language like many twins do. I'm looking forward to that.
No comments:
Post a Comment