Suggest Treatment For Difficulty Speaking In A 6 Year Old

Posted on Mon, 31 Aug 2015

Question: My sun is 6 years old , he did not talk till now, when he was born they found 3 true knotes in his umblical cord, but his movement is ok ... He is very hyper active, he is not introvert at all, he likes to play with us and hug us. He loughs without reason and likes to jump from the furniture to the floor, and he is very strong.
We did MRI and EEG and the lap technician said the test is fine.
We did the Organic Acid test, mineral toxic test (both utin and hair), IGG, IGE, CK, and more Labs ( I dont know how to send them as they are in PDF format)
I am giving him mb12 injection (0.15 ml 2 times a week)
I need to know if there is any more test I can do or I should start medication or not, and what is the diagnose

Answered by Dr. Archana Verma (45 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
You should visit a speech language therapist

Detailed Answer:
Hi
Welcome to the HCM

I have gone through your question and understand your concerns. If your child is not speaking a single word till age, it suggests that he is suffering from mutism. Since his motor and cognitive development is normal as per your description, the reason for his mutism is most likely a hearing loss or speech defect. The tests that you have mentioned are not sufficient for the evaluation and management.

I would recommend you to take him to a speech- language pathologist. The speech-language pathologist will assess:

-what your child understands (called receptive language)
-what your child can say (called expressive language)
-if your child is attempting to communicate in other ways, such as pointing, head shaking, gesturing, etc.
-sound development and clarity of speech.
-your child's oral-motor status (how a child's mouth, tongue, palate, etc., work together for speech as well as eating and swallowing)

If the speech-language pathologist finds that your child needs speech therapy, your involvement will be very important. You can observe therapy sessions and learn to participate in the process. The speech therapist will show you how you can work with your child at home to improve speech and language skills.

In case, an evaluation for hearing is needed, then he may ask you to go for audiometric tests, OAE ( oto acoustic emmision) and BERA.

Hopefully this will help you. I would be happy to help you in any further questions.

Take care

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Archana Verma (35 minutes later)

Its not selective mutism because he is trying to talk and imitate but he faces difficulties.
And he is in ABA & speacj therapy for more than 4 years.
He never pointed or user his head to communicate, if he wants someting, he will pull my hand toward that thing

Answered by Dr. Archana Verma (18 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
It suggests that he probably has problem in phonation or articulation

Detailed Answer:
Hi

I didn't say that your child has selective mutism (mute in certain situations).
I said that he may be mute due to hearing or speech defects which needs a complete evaluation by speech language therapist. If you have already been to speech therapy for past 4 years and still the child is not improving, it suggests some underlying pathology still not completely evaluated.

So, you may visit an ENT specialist for complete examination and evaluation to rule out hearing impairment and phonation/ articulation defect ( aphonia/dysarthria).

Hopefully this will help you.
Take care

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar