First Time Mom - Abington,PA

I work in a family support center that evaluates children with a test that will show any delays or behaviorial issues. I feel the sooner you get some help the better. There are many good programs that can help you and I suggest talking to his in home worker for any concerns or questions. He will probably get speech therapy and he will learn to communicate more effectively with others. I have seen this many times and with therapy he will be communicating in no time.

this sounds fairly normal. He is at the age where he is learning to communicate, and he wants to do so, but people don't understand him. By 2 most kids should have at least ten words. Kids who don't have a ton of words at their disposal often learn to communicate with hand signals, and gestures. When he gets frustrated, or when you see it building, try to ask questions, like, "do you want the ball?" If that's it, say something like, "Mom, May I have the ball?" And then hand it to him and say, "thanks, Mom" with a grin on your face. You're giving him the words he needs, and solving the problem at the same time. As he learns language, he'll begin to use words more and more, and you'll see his frustration decrease.

I have a friend who was actually working with a special needs child whose language skills were very poor. He did a ton of fussing, adn what she did was to get a book on sign language for kids. She learned it, and used the sign with the words, and he learned to sign AND speak. His frustration level lowered very effectively once he could communicate what he wanted to "say".

Frankly, your son may be very smart. He knows he wants to communicate and he's frustrated because it isn't working well. Talk with him, read stories, when you "do" things, talk your way through them, and his word volume will grow and he'll begin to practice using words, too. As he practices, praise him, and correct him at the same time. Back to the ball idea, if he says, "I want the ball" You can say, "May I please have the ball?" and hand it to him. And say, "Thank-you, Mom". You're giving him the ball which he wanted, so his communication worked, nad he will be happy; and you added to it the level of politeness you would like him to use.

Good luck, and don't worry. All kids go through this at some point - I am just suspicious that he's demanding more of himself than other kids do of themselves, therefore he gets more frustrated sooner, which is what the daycare staff noticed.

After you work on the talking thing at home, and you see results, you can let your daycare staff tell them what you are doing, and that it helps, and ask them to do the same.

And Happy Thanksgiving !!!

If he's having a hard time expressing himself then he should have a specific speech evaluation. These things can easily be fixed.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HarrisburgPAChat
Chat and events, within 2 hour radius

Early Intervention is great. I have a nephew who has gone through it for the same issues. In just a few months, he was a totally different kid. Also, if he's having trouble communicating, have you tried signing with him? I know using sign language with my kids has alleviated a lot of frustration on their part because they can communication their needs.

J.,

I have not been through this but just dealing with other possible issue and care for my children I think I understand what you are feeling. You can't believe that your child is not perfact because we all believe our children to be..even if they drive us crazy sometimes.

Let it all sink in for a few days and I am sure you will get a better perspective on this and realize that the fact he is getting early intervention is a good thing. Better to help him work this out now than later.

Keep thinking positive!

i think it cant hurt!!

That is great that early intervention is going to help you. It sounds like he is a late talker. With those kids, you sometimes see hitting and biting etc because they can't say, please let me have a turn now. Besides it's much more effective just to hit or throw a fit or what ever.
I'm not bashing moms who have to work,Our world is just like that. But i think it's one thing to say, Oh it's just the terrible twos, when you stay home with the child and it's just you and him and you can hold off on lunch or getting shoes on to go outside while the kid has a thirty minute temper tantrum. In a day care setting with 12 other kids, those teachers just can't forget about all the other kids in the class and spend huge portions of the day,dealing with your son, whether it's the tantrums, or keeping him from hurting the other kids etc. I don't want this to sound mean at all, but i'm just suggesting that you think about it from the point of view of the other parents.
Since your daycare seems to be working with you and since Early Intervention is coming to help your son, I think you should probably stay at the center you are at. But you might want to ask Early Intervention if they would still come if you switched day cares, and then start looking around and see if you can find a better one. Have you talked to the teachers? IT really seems like they are frustrated, but maybe if you thank them for what they have done for your little guy and ask them what you can do to help your son have a good day at school, it might help.
I also wanted to say, if you get to see the speech therapist you will probably be so thrilled with how nice they are and what great things they teach your son. I know sign language is supposed to help kids learn to talk, because their brain has an association for the word and it's easy to make the vocal sounds after you know how to communicate. Also reading to your son every day, tons and tons of stories, what ever he likes listening too. And singing to him, any silly little song you can remember or make up even if it sounds awful to grown ups will help him learn to talk.
Good luck with all of this. I bet he'll be talking up a storm in no time and the situation at day care will improve too.

Some 2 year old can't controll their anger it takes time so let them help him. He son't know how to express himself yet.
jade

Early intervention is great. My 2 sons had trouble with many words at an early age (you'd never know it now!) and early intervention came to our home once a week. It was wonderful, they taught them some sign language to help them 'say' what they wanted until they could say the words for people to understand them. It's a great free service and it's sad when people don't take advantage of it. Good luck.

It sounds like you are on the ball. You're a smart mom for getting him some help. Have you thought about teaching him some basic sign language so he can communicate basic wants, etc.? Yu could take to his helper about it.....
The earlier the better as far as ANY kind of intervention for kids! He'll be fine.

Please get him evaluated at CHOp--they are very through & will find out what is going on.

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving.

:) D.

I wouldn't be worried at this point. The tantruming and difficulty with communication sounds very familiar to me. Both of my kids had very limited vocabularies until their second birthdays. Then immediately after turning 2 they made significant gains in terms of being able to speak and communicate. Now they talk very well - good sentence structure, clear pronunciation, etc. Our peds said they see this with a lot of kids because at this age they are active and learning physical skills, socializations skills, how to play games, follow rules, etc so something has to be put on the back burner. Your son may be one of those kids. If so, he will likely catch up soon. A few things that calmed my worries before my kids started talking were that they were able to follow simple directions, make eye contact, use facial expressions and hand gestures, acknowledge they could hear me, etc. Our ped felt confident that if those language markers were in place the speaking was soon to follow. Good luck.

at age 2 1/2, my son was only saying a 3 or 4 words and wasn't trying to talk anymore than that. As a result of not being able to communicate with me about his wants and needs, he would throw "tantrums" or get frustrated and cry. At the pediatrician's request, I called early intervention. My son was evaluated and determined to be in need of some extra help. Once a week, a speech therapist came to my house and worked one-on-one with my son. Within 6 months, he was discharged from the program. He speech was so improved. He was saying a ton more words and using them in simple sentences.

I have nothing bad to say about Early Intervention Services. They help me and my son. I am confident that they will help you too. Early intervention is there to help you and your son. With the right assistance, you son will be able to communicate better and the "tantrums" should decrease.

Good Luck.

My son went through early intervention. It was the best thing for him.. He is 4 now and he is doing wonderfully. He just got released from them coming out.. It is a wonderful program.