How to improve cognition delay

[Anonymous]

My 22 months old boy has cognition delay & only a few words. He has been seeing therapists from EI for the last couple months, maybe 15 classes so far, but not big improvement yet. I am more worried about his cognition delay. He has no problem learning or playing or figuring a new toy or wood puzzles/shape sorters. The problem is he is not interested and cannot recognize anything from a book, e.g. first 100 words, baby animals etc. He is easily to get distracted and lose focus. He just wants to play toys than learning. Anythings I can try or tips?

[Anonymous]

At this age, playing is learning. Stick with the EI and reading books to him. Based on what you said about his ability to figure things out, reading/naming will come. I know it’s hard to be patient. Hang in there!

[Anonymous]

Play is learning. Quizzing him on books and letters is NOT LEARNING. Please stop. Please, please, stop. You are so off base here.

[Anonymous]

OP, reading books with your child is a good idea, but instead of reading books that "quiz" him or list things for him to memorize, read him story books. Read him nursery rhymes. Read to him and with him. You don't have to try to turn activities into teaching because he is learning all the time, every moment of the day. You can try with the nursery rhymes, after a few read throughs, if he's willing to fill in the last word --

Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the [you stop] -- he might say "Clock"

But this shouldn't be a quiz, OP. It should be fun.

[Anonymous]

You have to adjust your thinking on what it means to learn. My middle child who had many delays including cognitive, had no interest in letters, colors, words or numbers. But he knew different types of cars at a young age. Clearly he could learn but had strong preferences on what he would learn. He was well into kindergarten before he knew his letters.

Preschool helped - especially the four year old class.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I do read a couple of the same books with my 22 months boy, but normally he is not interested at all, just want to play with toys. He does not sit through library storytime, does not sit through craft time, except he would draw with crayon for a couple minutes. He is the type of boy that is good with fine & gross motor skills, jumping, climbing, running everywhere, picking up tiny dirt on the floor.

For the last couple months intervened by EI, he only learns to speak one additional word, which is "Hello!". I am a stay at home mom, and that me thinks more what I can do to help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I do read a couple of the same books with my 22 months boy, but normally he is not interested at all, just want to play with toys. He does not sit through library storytime, does not sit through craft time, except he would draw with crayon for a couple minutes. He is the type of boy that is good with fine & gross motor skills, jumping, climbing, running everywhere, picking up tiny dirt on the floor.

For the last couple months intervened by EI, he only learns to speak one additional word, which is "Hello!". I am a stay at home mom, and that me thinks more what I can do to help.

Have him learn through play.
Since you aren't understanding that you should send him to preschool that has a learning through play environment ASAP.

Sing the ABC song together or at least to him - can you do that? Sing Itsy Bitsy Spider And act it out, but let him keep playing if he wants.
Do the 'Hokey Pokey' together.

Let him circle pictures out of magazines, cut them out (if he can use scissors) and paste them in a letter book

[Anonymous]

Oh, and Funfit classes where they will learn through active play -

Www.funfit.us

Our kids even acted out and sang nursery rhymes in swim classes at the YMCA

[Anonymous]

I'm sure all the posters here are well meaning, but this child is 22 months, can't sit through a story, and only has a few words which may or may not be used communicatively. I think regular preschool programs and "little gym" type activities are off base here.

OP, language, play, and learning are all tied together at this age, along with social interaction. The best way you can help your child is by learning ways to get him to play and communicate with you (simple games like peek-a-boo or tickle). From there you can build in more "educational" activities.

If he has a cognitive delay you will not be able to "teach it away" but you can help him. Do you have any of the Hanen books, like More Than Words or It Takes Two to Talk? Those have really good ideas in them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sure all the posters here are well meaning, but this child is 22 months, can't sit through a story, and only has a few words which may or may not be used communicatively. I think regular preschool programs and "little gym" type activities are off base here.

OP, language, play, and learning are all tied together at this age, along with social interaction. The best way you can help your child is by learning ways to get him to play and communicate with you (simple games like peek-a-boo or tickle). From there you can build in more "educational" activities.

If he has a cognitive delay you will not be able to "teach it away" but you can help him. Do you have any of the Hanen books, like More Than Words or It Takes Two to Talk? Those have really good ideas in them.

Of course those programs are not off base here. All of those programs are open to all children. My DS was way more delayed than her kid and those childhood classes helped tremendously. My kid was severe enough that he would sit there and scream to bounce a ball in the corner instead of participate in the activities and I took him to all of them and it made a huge difference in his life.
There should also be special preschools open to this kid very soon but also private preschools shouldn't shut him out either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I do read a couple of the same books with my 22 months boy, but normally he is not interested at all, just want to play with toys. He does not sit through library storytime, does not sit through craft time, except he would draw with crayon for a couple minutes. He is the type of boy that is good with fine & gross motor skills, jumping, climbing, running everywhere, picking up tiny dirt on the floor.

For the last couple months intervened by EI, he only learns to speak one additional word, which is "Hello!". I am a stay at home mom, and that me thinks more what I can do to help.

How is that a cognitive delay? That is pretty normal with a language disorder.

[Anonymous]

Op, get the Hanen book "it takes two to talk." Ask EI if the parent class is available. You're basically learning to follow the child's lead. Many toddlers can't sit through a book start to finish. That's okay. Following child's interest is key. Playing with him will strengthen your bond and naturally stimulate brain development.

[Anonymous]

OP -- have you been to a developmental pediatrician yet? If not, you should. Even at age 2 they can check for ASD and some other disorders. I'm not saying your child has ASD, but it would be good to have a developmental specialist listen to your concerns, evaluate your child, and recommend possible therapies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP -- have you been to a developmental pediatrician yet? If not, you should. Even at age 2 they can check for ASD and some other disorders. I'm not saying your child has ASD, but it would be good to have a developmental specialist listen to your concerns, evaluate your child, and recommend possible therapies.

I should add -- I don't think most 2 year olds like "learning" as in memorizing numbers, etc. It's not developmentally appropriate at that age. But the fact that the child won't sit still long enough to hear a story is unusual in my (limited) experience. But a developmental pediatrician can tell you more about whether what you're noticing is normal or not, and advise you on how to proceed. Children's has a Developmental Clinic where you will see a developmental psychologist. We did that and it was very helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 22 months old boy has cognition delay & only a few words. He has been seeing therapists from EI for the last couple months, maybe 15 classes so far, but not big improvement yet. I am more worried about his cognition delay. He has no problem learning or playing or figuring a new toy or wood puzzles/shape sorters. The problem is he is not interested and cannot recognize anything from a book, e.g. first 100 words, baby animals etc. He is easily to get distracted and lose focus. He just wants to play toys than learning. Anythings I can try or tips?

Op, this an example of play based strategies: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DO_sneeTZDQ

This child happens to have autism but how the SLP is teaching the grandmother how to interact/play is generalizable to lots of kinds of kids.

Also patience on your end is key. Celebrate the little victories. Kids can change and grow so much. Give yourself a lot of credit for intervening early. I have a SN kid who is 10. We started ST at 2 through EI: we still do ST. It's a marathon not a sprint.