anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

A woman at my gymboree class noticed Melania sitting on her knees, with them spread to her sides (like the letter W)
she sits like this often..shes 9 months old, and has been doing it here and there for about a month. The lady told me her ds was in speech therapy and the therapist told her that since he was sitting this way as well, it was effecting his speech? Something about "low on the hips, slow on the lips"??

Has anyone ever heard this? Any truth to it?
BTW: my dd is already very physically advanced, and she does say mama dada pop pop and cat already, so im not so sure this could be true across the board? Got me nervous though, and thinking.

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

I just started speech for my ds so I could ask. I honestly never heard of that I only heard that their hearing and if they have I forgot what it's called but it's under the tongue, if that too short it can effects speech.

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

The "W" sit can be a sign of low muscle tone. I would just speak to your ped. about it. You could also switch her position when she does sit like that.

ETA: I would bet that woman's son was probably getting more than speech. He may have been getting other therapies (PT, OT)

Message edited 10/4/2009 8:20:43 PM.

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

I've had to children in speech and never have heard of it, but if I remember I'm gonna ask on tues. when I take my son.

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

Jaime, I never heard of this at all, who in the class said this???

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

I am a speech therapist and I have never heard of this. HMMMMM

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

I teach special ed. Many of my students receive OT and have low muscle tone. Most of my students also receive speech therapy. Some of them who receive both services have poor mouth posture. I am thinking of one in particular who also has feeding issues as well as extremely poor articulation. I would think there is a correlation of some sort for her to make a proclamation such as that.

HOWEVER it was extremely rude and inappropriate for her to say something which sounds so "diagnostic" when she is clearly not a diagnostician. That can be frightening to a parent.

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

Just wanted to write that I sat that way for years and never had any problems with muscle tone or speech.

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

i sit like this all the time and was an early talker/reader. DS seems to have inherited this trait from me and he does have a few words - although he is more interested in making animal noises

until she shows some evidence of speech issues i would not worry

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

There is a definitely a connection - I can't explain how since it's new to me, but I have been told by professionals that it is. My DS has a speech delay and when he was evaluated, I didn't realize he needed and OT eval. Now his speech therapist said he shoudl get an OT eval bc he toe walks and sits like a "W", the latter I knew was not good so I always try to correct it but I didn't know it was related to speech. He is getting his OT eval next week. I know an Occ Ther and she said many times she's seen a child get OT for the gross motor and it helps the fine motor tremendously, which I am hoping is the case.

I do agree it was a leap for a mother to say that since your child is so young, she's not a professional and she really doesn' know your DC but I don't know that it was so horrible. It's just more info for you to store as a parent should something come up in the future. I'd rather have heard of more than less, KWIM?

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

I am an OT and "W" sitting can be a sign of low muscle tone, however it isn't usually seen a concern of low muscle tone until the child is 2-3 years old. It can be quite typical to see in a younger child as their muscles are still very lax.

I guess I can see the connection to the speech issues if the mouth also has low muscle tone, but not in a 9 month old.

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

My DD who will be 3 sits like this all the time. I only recently started to make her change positions. I never saw her as having low muscle tone but it does make some sense.

She was always early with milestones, sitting up, crawling, walking, however she never runs as fast as other children, and is not as quick on her feet as my DS, but I never thought anything of it. She spoke early, but sometimes she doesn't speak that clear - but has a full vocabulary and speaks in full sentences, etc. I just see it as "her" not an issue. I did a search and found this:

Link

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

ok ladies, thank you SOOOO much for the replies..i just found this thread again (i couldnt find it for hours lol) and had a few questions..

First..thank you to all who replied..i dont know if i thought she was being rude, but it DEFINATELY has made me concerned..even now that im reading that this DOES have some correlation..so now some dumb questions by me..
If she had low muscle tone..would she have been crawling by 5 months? Would she have been pulling up to stnading by 7 months? And now at 9 months, taking 2-3 steps alone?
And also, since she IS saying 2 words BESIDES mama and dada (and she knows who we are each seperately) could there still be a problem im not yet aware of??
I have her ped appt next week, but id love some insight from those of you who happened to answer..

thanks again..im kinda nervous now.

eta: i do want to mention, that when shes sitting like this, its usually to play, and then she moves from that position, to kneeling on one knee..then to standing sometimes, OR just to move around and crawl..
she never stays like that for more then a minute or two, and since this happened ive been discouraging it..but i feel like the more i discourage, the more she wants to sit that way?

Message edited 10/5/2009 9:56:06 PM.

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

I'm sorry she scared you, most likely needlessly. I guess people try to be helpful, but it doesn't always come out that way.

Next time you go to the pediatrician, I would mention how she sits just to get it off your chest. She may be sitting this way now also since I'm guessing sitting is still relatively new for her and her muscles may not be built up so much yet.

I am not a speech therapist, and I am new to speech therapy, but nothing I have read suggests sitting in this position is indicative of a speech problem. I guess it could be a sign of low muscle tone which in turn could turn into a speech problem, but if she is saying words at 9 months, this doesn't sound like the case. DS was not saying any words at 9 months, just babble.

But honestly, try not to worry about it too much.

Message edited 10/5/2009 10:26:53 PM.

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

Re: anyone taking speech therapy ever hear this?

Jack used to sit in the W all the time - that was one of the first things the evaluators and therapists mentioned to us. They like for them to sit in more of a V. To be honest, I didn't give it a second thought once they walked out the door!