‘Counting On’ Star Jessa Duggar Gives Hopeful Update on Son Henry’s Speech Delay

Jessa (Duggar) Seewald and husband Ben Seewald’s youngest son, 2-year-old Henry, is making major strides when it comes to a speech delay that has his mother seriously concerned about his development. The Counting On star gave a hopeful update Tuesday under a photo of her husband and Henry, as well as big brother Spurgeon, 4.

“We are going back this morning for a follow-up speech evaluation,” the TLC personality replied when asked by a commenter how Henry’s speech was progressing. “I think Henry is really catching up!”

Jessa first addressed her son’s speech delay in a November episode of Counting On, revealing they would be taking the toddler to have his hearing evaluated to see if that was behind the delay.

“He has some speech delays,” Jessa said in the episode. “We think it might be a good idea to just have him evaluated, have his hearing checked and see what they think we should do next.”

The mother-of-three first noticed something was wrong when Henry “wasn’t communicating like his older brother did at [18 months] or like other kids his age.”

“We realize that each kid develops at their own pace, but he’s not been really catching on,” she continued. “He’s not really able to talk and communicate what he wants. A lot of the times it’s just grunts and pointing and that kind of thing.”

After a doctor determined there was no hearing loss, Jessa was both relieved and concerned at what would be ahead for her middle child.

“Developmentally, he’s not behind. He’s on track with where he should be. It just seems to be a speech issue,” she said. “So, at this point, she’s recommended that we see a speech pathologist and go from there.”

Jessa noted that while her husband has been “a little more level-headed” in his feelings about their son’s delay, she had struggled with feelings of stress and guilt.

“I feel like, especially as a mom, it’s easier for me to kind of stress out, like, ‘Oh, no. He’s delayed. What’s wrong with him?’” she said at the time.

Photo credit: D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra