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When Emily’s son Cameron reached eighteen months of age, he had not said his first word. At that age, the recommended milestone is twenty words. Concerned that there might be a communication difficulty, Emily brought him to their family doctor. The doctor recommended First Words, the Preschool Speech and Language Program of Ottawa and Renfrew County.
A partner of CHEO, First Words offers free and bilingual services to families of preschool children (from birth to entry to junior kindergarten) in Ottawa and Renfrew County. It is also available in other languages through interpreters.
First Words starts with an online screening and intake tool called the First Words Communication Checkup. When concerns are raised, the screening tool then helps families access speech and language pathology services at CHEO, as well as First Words.
For Cameron’s family, strategies were provided following initial assessment to help him with his communication development. This was the beginning of his journey to learn how to make new sounds and use them in words that could be more easily understood.
Through his experience, Cameron and his family learned that he was presenting with many characteristics of Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), a motor-speech disorder. Knowing the name of Cameron’s difficulty made a world of difference for his family. “It helped us understand what the troubles were and how to support him. The First Words report was super helpful for us to give to the school to help support him,” Emily said.
First Words also played an essential role in connecting Emily and Cameron to different hospital and school-based services across Ottawa. For example, they were referred to Audiology at CHEO and discovered some wax buildup which affected Cameron’s hearing.
Cameron has since become more confident and his vocabulary has grown significantly. He recently started senior kindergarten and is thriving with his friends.
“I would never have known where to start or how to help without the support of First Words,” praises Emily. “They showed us what we needed to do and how to support him with lots of online resources.”
Recognizing speech and language problems early on is the best approach!
Use the First Words Communication Checkup tool to know if your child is meeting communication milestones. Refer online if necessary. For more information, visit the First Words website or call the Access Team at CHEO: 613-737-2757.