Speech

Just relax ! Make playing FUN ! Do learning while pushing cars or riding down the road ! It sounds as if you and he are doing a great Job ! Don't worry kids learn at there own pase ! All three of my sons are so different I can't even compare them !

Your son is doing fine. Don't stress. By 18 months my first son knew colors (to include silver, copper, and gold), shapes and his letters. He began reading in November of Kindergarten.

My second son is 21 months younger and didn't know those colors until he was over 3. He knew his alphabet late and walked 7 months later than his brother. He still loves baby board books at age 5, 2 years later than his brother did. But this past year tables began to turn...He is about to go to kindergarten and already is reading independantly at an end of kindergarten DRA level.

Biggest lesson that I have learned and that I still have to remind myself of? STOP comparing my boys. Read 20 minutes every night to your children--individually--before bed. My husband reads to one while I read to the other. Read, read, read. Point to the words while you read them. Books will help with all of your concerns and are a great way to bond with your kids.

First of all, you're a wonderful mom! You're on top of his speech and language! As a Speech Language Pathologist, I appreciate your devotion to your child. His articulation will take time to sound "normal." He may need speech services when he's a bit older, but he may not. Since the sounds he was hearing (and thus imitating) were muffled, so were his productions. As he is able to hear the sounds clearly and hear his productions clearly they should start to sound more appropriate. As for colors, shapes, and letters... Keep working with him on those specific skills targeting them for about 10 minutes at a time, 2 times a day. You may want to make a ritual of using a certain puzzle or toy that emphasizes colors and shapes. Tell him what the shape/color is... have him repeat it... then ask him about it again. Repetition is a wonderful way for kids to learn. There are foam puzzles of letters that you could get to help him with his letters. A book that I suggest is the "ABC Book" by Dr. Seuss. It's a fun book that uses alliteration and rhyming (two important skills for language development) with the letters. It sounds like you're going great!

Don't rush him he is only 2, he will get it. I promise. SMILE!

Hi Lynnette,
We had the same problem (my son is 3) and we found some success by looking straight at him and saying the word correctly - enunciating each sound, and sometimes repeating the sound. Like truck would turn into T-T-T ra-ra-ra uck-uck. He had to look at our mouths to see which way our tongues were going. We had to be very encouraging and happy about it - he was already getting frustrated since we couldn't understand him. And we cheered very loudly when he did say the word correctly - but if he started getting frustrated, we asked him if he wanted to try again later.
That helped us... Also we purchased the Letter Factory Leap frog video, and that was great with enunciation. And he shocked us right after his 3rd b-day with matching all of the letters to their 'title' and their sound! I was floored!
Good Luck!
S.

Greetings, Lynnette!

Hon, it's ok! Boys are known to be alert but yet behind on certain actions. Don't worry! He is doing fine. Soon he will let you know he can talk just fine in his own time. Let's think about it, he's of the male chromosone. So when we want our men to talk, they don't until they are ready. This is something a psychologist would describe and diagnose as pure stubborness. Smile....

Hey Lynette,

I would wait until he turns three and then have him evaluated by your local school system. You can check out the website and go to special needs and then speech to see what all you need to have in order for him to be tested. (usually this is the shot records after the 3rd birthday and also a hearing, vision and dental form along with birth certificate, ss card, etc. If he qualifies, then he can receive speech therapy at your elementary school and it is free. As for knowing letters, etc. I wouldn't push it- he will learn all that when he goes to preschool and trust me he won't be behind. Good Luck!

What worked for us is getting pictures and having them in places where he normally plays and pointing them out...We would have him repeat syllable by syllable....Also, my son will watch a video over and over again ...The Leap Frog educational videos really helped out...I hope this helps!

Lynette,
I am a special education teacher and I would say at this point the most important thing is to NOT stress. The child will feel that from you. Make everything fun. When you pick up a toy or a shirt say "wow! This is orange (or blue or whatever). The more you play the more relaxed he will become and the language will come.
R.

This is a bit early to be concerned about his not recognizing his shapes, colors and letters. I would concentrate on only one thing at a time. For instance on Week #1 we would only talk about a red circle. Next week a blue circle. When he could tell me the difference in the red circle and blue circle we would move on to another primary color. After he knows his primary colors and shapes move on to learning some letters. Continue with the colors with the letters and review his shapes every day. By the end of a year he will probably have matered it all. Much of this would be learned in 4 year old kindergarten so he would certainly be up to date with everything. Don't get discouraged if he takes more than a week to master a color/shape. Just don't move on until he does. V.

I wouldn't worry too much at this point. He is still developing and you will see changes in his speech over the next few years. Just speak normally to him so he hears correct pronunciations. Once he starts school, if there is still some concern about his articulation, you can have him evaluated by your school system. My daughter (who is now almost 25) had some speech issues after trouble with ear infections and tubes at a young age. It wasn't enough to cause great concern, but I could hear it and requested that she be evaluated for therapy. I had to push a little bit, because it wasn't a glaring problem, but once she was evaluated she was approved for speech therapy at school. After less than a year there were no signs that she had ever had any problems.

I was told that by the time a child is 3 years old, strangers should be able to understand 90% of what the child says. I am in the process of enrolling my daughter (age 4) in speech through the county schools. Two of my other children had speech classes when they were ages two and three. The programs I know about are through the local schools, Babies Can't Wait, and private therapy provided by health insurance companies. Who evaluated your son in March? Was it the school system? If not, you should give them a try. They are usually very thorough. I try to make sure my children are finished with speech issues by kindergarten, if possible. Instead of elongating the vowels, it would probably be good to try really enunciating the consonants. That is what most children have problems articulating. When he says words incorrectly (assuming you understand him), repeat the word or phrase or sentence back to him correctly (without making him feel criticized). There are also activities you can do, depending on which sounds he needs to work on. For example, one speech teacher suggested that my son practice gargling water so he could work on strengthening the muscles used for the gutteral sounds "g" and "k." When my daughter was three and working on the sounds in the word "shark," we used to play a game that if she said the word correctly I would act scared like there was a real shark nearby. We could even practice that while driving. She thought it was hilarious! There are other things you can do to make it fun.
I would definitely get a second opinion on the speech therapy. As for the colors, shapes, and letters, I wouldn't worry about those yet. You can talk about colors and shapes as you go through your day together or read together. It seems early to be thinking about recognizing letters. As long as he is caught up by kindergarten, no one will ever know the difference. Sorry this is so long. Let me know if you have any specific questions I might be able to help with.

I am a mother of an autistic teenager, who is also speeech delayed. He had reoccuring ear infections so he didn't talk until he make a complete sentence until he was almost 6. The only way I can tell you is that we labeled everything with the picture and name of it example television with a picture of a tv with it. It taught him to recognize the word that he was vocalizing. He still can't spell it but he knows it when he sees it. Also, with colors we worked with crayons, m&m's and skittles to teach him. When he dressed I had all his blue shirts in one stack, white shirts in another and would request he get me a blue shirt. Stacking them helped build his confidence that he would get the right one. Now his clothes are all mixed together and he is able to get you a blue shirt without hesitation.

He sounds like he's doing just fine. your post caught my eye because I just substitute taught in my son's preschool in the two year old class... some I could understand, some I could not. Some knew their colors and shapes, others did not. I wouldn't worry. Incorporate talking about colors and shapes into your day. It will come.

Shapes and colors will come during during age 3 and 4 he's sounds like he is doing fine. After he's age 3 getting closer to age 4 will much of what you are talking about come together. Letter will also come maybe get some alphabet letters to hang all around his room with maybe an animal picture on each. It's fun he can see it everyday and he'll learn it, in fact my boys didn't know all there alphabet by themselves until about 4 yrs old while going to prek. He's actually not behind really on time will help him catch up and he's still got time honestly.

I am a Dr. of Audiology and would suggest the following:

1. First you need to make sure that the tubes are patent (open). If your childs tubes are not open then its like they are not working. Remember, children say what they hear. This can be accomplished by visiting your Dr. every 3 months to keep up with the progess. I am also assuming the hearing was tested and was normal?

2. As far as the speech you need to ask the speech therapist to provide you with milestones that should be expected for the childs age. If the child seems to be behind his peer group this is concerning, however, every child is different and you have to remember we have no idea how long the ears were "clogged" and he was not receiving the proper speech input, that is why his speech is not clear. I am sure with continued work that he will have no problems. If you are still concerned a second opinion from another provider may help. In the "big picture" being 2 months behind with chronic ear infection history is not uncommon and expected with children your sons age and with working with him as you are he will catch up with no problems.

hes only two.. the life of a toddler consists of many many many new things. they sometimes tend to excel in some and are behind in others, you shouldnt expect him to be the best at everything give him time he will suprise you

My son had constant ear infections from a young age and got tubes during kindergarten. He was behind in speech but not behind enough to merit speech therapy. So we worked on sounds he struggled with at home. He would get very frustrated with me when I worked with him. But when Grandpa came to visit and worked with him, it was a treat. Try letting someone else make a game of the sounds and give yourself a break. It's hard to be mom and speech therapist!

Sounds like he's right on target with his other development, though. I don't know the sex of your other child, but I had two girls before my son and he was always slightly behind the girls developmentally, so I had to remind myself that I couldn't compare them, as hard as that is. He has finally (at age 8) learned all of his sounds correctly (r and l were last) and he is exactly where he should be in school; in fact, he's ahead of grade level.

Don't push him too much or jeopardize your mommy relationship by becoming his teacher 24/7. He needs to know you love him even when he's mispronouncing words left and right. Someday (believe it or not), you'll look at your not-so-little guy and miss the way he said a certain phrase with all the consonants wrong. I do.

Lynnette,
I do not know what county you are in but if there are many articulation mistakes in yous son's speech PLEAS call Babies Can't Wait in your area. They may be able to do a better speech assessment than the one you went to.

My daughter was 2.5 yr old and she did not talk well at all. Had the same ear problems and a Binky past the age of 2 so part of it was my fault (the Binky) but the ear stuff is NOTHING to take lightly.

If your son cannot hear properly, then he won't speak properly.

As far as him knowing colors and things like that... he is still young and that will come with time.

My older child, could say the alphabet, numbers to 20 and his complete name at 2.5 yrs old but the other stuff came with time. He's 24 now and in college. Just don't sweat the small stuff, but check out Babies Can't Wait. Pre-schooler's age out at 3 yrs old.

Hope this helps,
B.
deaffmommie