Not Talking at 2 Years Old.

My daughter is 18 months (only child) and is speach delayed as well. She can only say Mama, Dada, Go, Baba and now Tickle. I have heard her say new words before and then stop saying them. She babbles a lot! I am a SAHM myself and I feel like a failure. I read to her, repeat words to her, talk to her like an adult. I am doing everything I am suposed to but with no luck. Even the little girl that I watch that is younger than her can say more words.

We are now doing speach thearpy with ECI...we just started so I am not sure how it is going. I think she just doesnt want to talk. My mom said I could only say mama and dada until I was 3.

I was told by ther ST to give choice to force her to talk. Such as when feeding dinner ask her do you want Carrots or Pea's. Dont just give her items when she points and make a noise for it. Ask do you want your blankie? Ask again and then give it to her. Okay here is your blankie. She said repeat the word three times...any more than that is usless. So far this is all I have learned.

I will tell you one thing she knows what I am saying. We have worked since her birth on the sign lang. word for Food. She would never do it...I stopped doing it about five months ago. And then out of the blue with out warning she gave me the sign for food!

I think when she is ready to talk she will.

Good luck!

P.S. If you plan on using ECI (Free to most people) you need to contact your Peditrician about it now. ECI only treats kids up until they are three years old.

I would actually make an appointment with a good ENT first. The hearing test that they conducted on my 2 year old with ECI consisted of standing behind him and whispering to see if he turned his head - pretty stupid as a 2 year old will always look behind him. She said "no hearing problems!" but the ENT said that he was almost completely deaf. A fairly simple surgery cleared the whole thing up and he caught up. His case is not the norm, but I still recommend doing everything possible. You never know! Good luck!

My son is delayed as well. We are currently going through the evaluation stage of ECI - Early Childhood Intervention - as mentioned below. It is a state-funded program. They will do the eval for free. Depending on salary, insurance, etc., there might be a nominal fee. I highly recommend checking it out.http://www.dars.state.tx.us/ecis/index.shtml

I thought my boys were 'behind' when they were two years old and barely talking at all. However, since they are identical twins and they were a few weeks early, I wasn't quite as concerned as I would otherwise be. Plus, when I realized that they could follow just about any instruction I gave them and they communicated with each other quite well, I relaxed quite a bit more. We never needed to use ECI but I have heard that it is a great program if your little one needs it. :)

I have three boys and my last one is talking somewhat, he is about to be 2, but my first two didn't say much until they were 3. They said shoes and water and a couple other things but that is it. Now they won't stop talking. My six year old is in first grade and is doing great. The doctor even told me he should be talking more at his two year check up. I was a little nervous, but he didn't seem to have any issues, so I didn't let it bother me. I think boys just like to babble and girls talk so much faster. Boys like to make car sounds and other things.

You can contact ECI or you can take a wait and see approach. My son is now 27 months old. At his 18 month checkup his doctor said he was behind and might need help but that we would discuss it at his 2 year appt. I kept a list of every word/phrase spoken. At his 2 year appt. the doctor looked at my list and saw enough improvement that he didn't think speech therapy was necessary. My son has been a little behind in other things as well but eventually did them. My husband and I feel our son is "lazy" and is doing things at his own pace. We see progress all the time so we are letting him learn at his own pace at this point. It's all a matter of what you feel is the right thing to do.

I stay at home, so I make myself feel guilty a lot about his development. Every child is different and learns differently.

L. A.

Please have your child's hearing checked. He may not be processing things because he cannot hear them. God Bless you.

L. E. R.

Hi L.,
I suggest contacting ECI (Early Childhood Intervention). My son's speech was also behind due to horrible ear infections and not hearing very clearly. It took a while to get his speech caught up to where it should be, but now, he never stops talking.
You can find the ECI office closest to you by just doing an internet search.
R. B.
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