My Son Is 23 Months and He Does Not Talk

K.,

A friend of mine did not speak until he was 5 years old. There was absolutey nothing physically or mentally wrong with him. He was the youngest and everyone just anticipated his needs and, I'm guessing here, he just never had anything important to say. He was a member of the honor society in high school and went to Villa Nova Universtity on a full scholarship. Good luck.

K.

I was ready to ask for help about speech delay, when I opened my e-mail box.I have a 4 years old boy. I think he started to speak when he was about 26 months. We do not speak english at home, The nanny was spanish and the rest TV, street,english.
For about 2 years I,ve taken all the "give him time" or "enjoy, when they start talking, they never stop." The point is you do not have time he need is speech and listening know. It is very important for many reasons and need to be addressed as soon as possible.My son have had many ear infections, the first one , he was 8 months old and after that nothing impressive, and then last year, that was on and on and on. He never had fever or pain, I took him to the pediatrician because he was not hearing correctely, I had to repeat very often, and also face him for him to understand. Now he has speech delay, and I still don't have a remedy. We have tried antibiotic, homeopathie, osteopathie, so far nothing. In my son 's case I know the damage has been done, he has lost a precious year of hearing and listening, social skills, langage and speech have been impacted, but I still keep my hope high espacially about that listening program...I recommend you to read "when listening comes alive" Paul Madaule and "late talker" don't remember the author. Those two books have really explain a lot about that topic.Even advice on nutritional suplement.
I'm trying to find a pedatrician that is a speech patologist. People I know, took their son(18 months) to see him. I also heard about a listening program ( similar to tomatis method)that is supposed to give wonderful result.
I hope that will help you even a little.
Act now,Read those books, Good luck.

You got great advises here. I have just one. Try to give him things to chew! Yes! Chewing is a big part of exercising the muscles for language and will help with speech. If all he eats is soft food he will not be able to move his mouse accordingly. Big pieces of meat does miracles! The face is another muscle we have in our body. I had a son with the same problem and everything change just with the food we gave him!!

Good luck!

Dear K.
While it is true that children start talking at their own pace, stuff like this should always be checked. I say this from experience. Anything to do with hearing should always be checked.
Contact local EIP (early intervention program) and have him evaluated (it's a state run program therefore any services he may qualify for are for free). In meantime have his hearing checked. If you're close to st. mary's hospital, then the audiologist there is denise tognan. Let me know if you need phone numbers for any of these. I'll ge glad to help out any way I can.

If his hearing turns out to be fine that then will put your mind at ease. He may still qualify for speech therapy if the evaluation shows he is delayed.
I understand a lot of people want to give time to kids to start talking.There is nothing wrong with that. The other side is that if there is a problem, it needs to be addressed earlier rather than later.
Good luck
V.

Hi K.

I can understand how you feel, when my daught was about three years old she was the same way the only difference is that when i noticed she was going to have difficulty with speaking an early age, I ammediatly had arranged a speciality to meet with her at the day care once a week for about half and hour, when she was school age she also had a speach specialist that helped her with pronunctuations as well as other things. That helped me tremedously, and it payed off in the long run. She no longer need a specialist but developed a love for reading. My advise to you is to seek as much help as you can and never make him feel like he is different, he just need a little more help then other, and thats a good thing. Good luck.
D.

i would get an evaluation from the early intervention program STAT.. i knew something was wrong w/ my son and it was not till 2 and a half that they finally listend. he got therepy threw eip then he started school at 3. many children w/ language delays have autism. ans many people say o he smiles or hugs ect.. there is a wide range on the autism scale. my son has a milder version pdd and he smiles and hugs. but therepy is a must. early therapy is a MUST.. my son did not start talking till almost 5 and he still is not talking right.. many children on the spectrum will not talk unless they get early therepy. your son may or may not have autism.. there are other problems to mimic it.. but an evaluation asap is in order.. huggs aj

Hi K.,
i have a son who is 18 months now, and all he says is some words he can immitate from his sister who is 3 y/o. she is late too and i can notice that. But i am not worried .I believe that you can detect if your kids are delayed or not. the doctor always recommed tests and diagnoses, sometimes not needed. we hear about a lot of kids who speak late, but when they grow up, they are the best or the smarteset students. SO may be it is something hereditary or they just want to take their time.
hope i helped a little bit.
take care,
N..

K., don't get too out of sorts over your son speaking. My now 16 year old didn't talk clearly until she was 3 yo and she is now duel enrolled in college and high school, a member of the national honor society, and maintaining a 4.2 in HS and a 3.8 in college. I couldn't understand her until she was 3 and we were afraid her speech was going to be affected. Some kids just don't talk until they have something to say.
A.

I am a pediatric certified and licensed speech language pathologist. Don't test his hearing at home. Get a full audiological evaluation if you have concerns re: his hearing. A speech evaluation will be great since he is not using any words. Make sure they also do an oral motor evaluation.

Also, everyone will tell you that they have a cousin, or relative that didn't start talking until 4 or 6. Not being able to express oneself is very frustrating for the child, teacher, and mother.

Speech therapy is not torture. It is a child-friendly way of helping you to help your child express his needs, wants, and desires.

Also, is English the only language spoken at home?

Pam M.A., CCC-SLP

My son was in about the same situation. At that age he was saying ma, da and daw. I know alot of people say to give it time because they know kids who didn't speek until they were a few years old. The reality is that every child is different, and it does not hurt to make sure everything is ok. It could hurt to let it go and find out later that there is a problem, or that speech was so delayed that it slows future learning and education.

My son was evaluated and aproved for speech therape which has been very non evasive. He actually has a lot of fun with it. His speech has improved a great deal, but it is still off pronunciation. It will probably come together soon. Even with improvements there is still plenty of confusion between us and it is very frustrating for him. Every little bit of help we can get with this is well worth it.

It's good that you are getting him evaluated. Florida has a good program that is more thorough then some states. Here the child needs a 25% delay in any area to be covered free by the state. Many states want an actual lable of some dissorder, handicap, or dissability. If he is covered he should be able to be seen at home or at a facility that handles his needs.

Don't get me wrong, he could just start talking in full sentences one day, but I would not take my chances nor count on it. Little ones that start out behind in early years are more likely to remain behind for the rest of their school years if they don't get adequate help. Children are expected to know more then they ever have before they even start school. So I think any extra help he can get is worth the effort. Plus, if he is better able to speak and understand what's going on, he will probably have an easier time grasping things later on.

Hi K.,

I had the same fears as you. However.. my son didn't speak until he was almost 3 - then he spoke in COMPLETE five, six or seven word sentences!

I had older children in the house too, and two different doctors I took him to, told me the same thing... The girls talk enough for him, he doesn't need to talk.

My son was smart as a whip and was just absorbing EVERYTHING around him. (He's in Kindergarten now, and reads on a 3rd grade level, and math on a 2nd grade level!) So he definitly was learning!!

If you still have concerns, get second, third opinions. But if the hearing tests are okay that is good. What about attention span??

Girls, 99% of the time, talk sooner than boys... and more! :)

Hope you find the answers you need!

L.

Does he hear sounds? Test it by shaking something loud behind him or out of peripheral vision range, does he turn his head? if you call him from another room, does he hear you? how abuot when you cover your mouth? That will be a start to find out. Or he just thinks that you give him what he wants, no need to talk. I was that way, even in nursery school my brothers knew what i wanted, i hardly talked.
S.

I have a daughter, she is now 3 1/2. But she was a late talker and now she won't stop talking. She started to talk in sentences just around when she turned 3 and I was also a worried mom that she might have a hearing problem etc. But she was just a very late talker.

But it does not hurt to get him evaluated. Keep us posted.

my daughter is 25months and is going to be evaluated on friday for speech she has very few words but has her own language. it wont hurt to get your son evaluated. better to get it taken care of sooner then later

N.

my son is 21 months old, not talking. i was concerned, but the doctor told me that sometimes, boys just take longer. some things to consider though are:
does your son respond to his name? to your voice? does he understand simple commands like, where is your nose? or go get mommy the ball? if he does, then just be patient (that is what my doctor said. it will come. also, is he in daycare? or around other children HIS OWN AGE? my son started in daycare, and although he is not much for talking yet, he has started doing so many other things just by watching the other childres. good luck!

My son is 25 months and is just starting to say others words than "mama" and "dad". We thought about having his hearing checked as well. But within the last month his vocabulary has just started to pick up. I hope this makes you feel a little better. I have been told by family and friends this is very common, and girls do seem to learn faster.

M.

Hi K.,
Like some of the responses you have recvd. I agree with them in reference to the early intervention program. My son is in this program. He was tested when he was 27mos. He only had a few words(on a 17mos. old timeline). He qualified for speech therapy. The therapist comes every week for 1 hour. There is a big change in speech. We have a history of late talkers in our family. He has come a long way in 3 mos. I'm so glad he is in this program. You will need to hurry though the part c program only last until they are 3 years old. (government pays for it) I hope this helps you in anyway.
Julee Mc

My son was 18 months old and still on stage 2 baby food. He also wasnt talking at all and was very quiet. I took him to UCP. They have an early intervention program that is paid for by the government. He learned sign language so that he could tell me what he wanted to eat or drink. He received speech and occupational therapy while in class. The class also helped him with socialization skills. My son had no muscle tone in his cheeks which prevented him from talking or eating solids. You can call UCP, they have locations by UCF, downtown, pine hills and i think in wintergarden. I also took my son to a developmental specialist. Dont listen to doctors when they say that hes a slow learner. Follow your heart and gut instinct. My pediatrician just brushed me off when i shared my concern but the Specialists supported me 100%. My by the time my son was 4 i couldnt shut him up LOL Dont worry. Everything will be fine. Good luck!

Hi K.,

I was wondering how your appt. went your son. My 24 month old daughter was just referred on Monday for the same thing. She does not say any words, but definately understands everything. She can follow simple commands and she has demonstrated that she does have selective hearing. And I thought they did not do that until they were teenagers! My husband and I are inclined to give her another month before we start this process. She was behind on crawling and walking, but eventually she did it. My gut feeling is there is nothing wrong with her, but at the same time if she does not show any signs of talking over the next month I want to help her if she needs it. I was wondering what you thought of the intial consultation and who it was with. Thanks and I wish you the best!

R.

Hi!
Two little points...Kids do things at their own pace...Mine didn't crawl at all and didn't walk until 23 months...and we were told that the hearing test when they are born does not rule out hearing problems- it's only a "point in time"...
The evaluation should give you somewhere to at least start your further investigation if warranted...
By the way, we did early intervention with our son for almost a year for motor delays and it was alot of fun for all of us...
Hope everything works out...
These little guys sure keep us on our toes don't they!

Hello K.,

I have a 9 year old daughter and a 5 year old son. My son didn't start talking as nearly as fast as my daughter. I have read that girls are faster at speaking than boys. They say that girls gradually improve whereas boys seem to just start talking perfect English one day out of the blue. My son as I mentioned before is only 5 and has just started to talk really well.

What we as parents seem to forget is that each child is different. We just expect our second child to do things at the same time and speed as the first one. We expect them to walk, crawl, talk, etc. at the same point in time that their siblings did before them.

my grandson will be 2 years and 5 months old this 23rd of january.
he is not talking like he should either. at 2 he could say mama dada baba mmmmmmm for food and that was about it. his mother kept a pasiphyer in his mouth when ever he didnt have a bottle in it. so he had learned to talk binkytalk . i call it that because if you shut your mouth and say words thats what they sound like. the words come out his nose. we have been telling him to talk outloud with his mouth because we cant understand him and he has started that. his mother who gave us gaurdianship of both her kids one is 2 and one is 5 months old when we got them. on monday after all the mess of trying to get them some medical help from the state , he will be going to speach classes. see if the doctor can send you to a speach doctor for a test to see if they could help. Im sure they could give you hints on what you should do or not do. i found he likes to grunt like a monkey and point a lot and i know its ticking him off but we have him try to say the words like food and stuff he has added many words since he got here its just very hard to start them late. Good luck as I know what your going through.
PAPA Jack

I highly recommend Hemphill Speech and Language Center for speech therapy if your evaluater thinks he needs one. My son was speech delayed, and now, 6 months after starting speech therapy, he's almost done.

It is a very child friendly process, and my son LOVES going to therapy every week.

I have the same problem with my 26 month old boy. His pediatrician advised me to have him evaluated for speech therapy and he takes it one day a week, the also travel to his day care for his therapy.

My son is 18 months and doesn't say a thing either. He also doesn't point or grunt or problem solve to get what he wants in terms of food or drink. If he can see what he wants, he'll climb for it. He passed the newborn screening, but had multiple ear infections between 2 and 8 months.

We contacted the early intervention program a few months ago after discussing it with our pediatrician. They sent someone to the house for the initial screening to determine if he qualified for a full evaluation. We go tomorrow for that.

I will tell you that you need to move fast. I was told that they don't start the process on kids after 2½ because they school district should pick him up through pre-primary impaired at the age of 3.

APH's website has a link to the developmental center. You can read the center's stages and see if your son would indicate a 25% or greater delay. I would think that if my son does at 18 months, yours would at 23.

Good luck!
A.