What Is Normal Speech for a Twenty-three Month Old?

My son will be 2 in two weeks and I am also worried about his speech, I thought he was only saying about 20 words but when I sat down and wrote all the words I got close to 60. he grunts and mumbles alot of the time and just points to what he wants, I am trying to teach him numbers but all he will say is SIX, he would only say the color BLUE but he now says other colors, I borrowed some baby Einstein DVDS from a friend (I don't like him to watch alot of TV) and he loves them, he is very interactive with the DVDS and we say the words together, this has been great..I also bought a book called "100 first words" it has bright pictures and word and we read this alot too..

I will ask the doctor at his 2 year check up about his speech, my mother-in-law tells me my husband used to be the same way until he was 3!! but he came top of the class in Engineering at college so maybe it's no big concern..

my son is 20 months old and does not say much more then 3 words if we are lucky !
so he is seeing a speech therapist and she said he is just going to be a "late talker".
i would be Thrilled if my son said 3 word phrases and 20 basic words in the next 3 months !
i think your son is doing just fine :-)
D.

Have him evaluated NOW! don't wait. The state of florida has a program for early diagonosis and interventiion. Take advantage of it and do it now!
I have 3 children. My oldest is a girl then 2 boys. My daughter started talking very early on and never had a problem. My second born boy mumbled. His pre-k 4 teacher told me she couldn't understand a word he said and should see a speech therapist. I didn't take him and figured he would outgrow it. He did but it made everything else take longer to develope. His reading abilities took years. He is now in 6th grade and is a terrible reader. He see a reading specialist once a week and I am told he missed the basics.
My third born boy, similar to what you described in your son. This time I waiting until he was 3 1/2 to put him in school. But I got him tested through the public school system. They tested for everthing including autism, which is usually seen at that age. Fortunately all he had was a speech delay. With intensive therapy he did much better. But because he didn't get therapy sooner, he was behind developementally 7 months. When he began Kindergarten, he fell behind. This year he is 7 and repeating Kindergarten. His Bday is in June so was the baby of the class. But now, he will be the oldest and will have a chance to catch up. What I learned for my ordeal, is how important developing your speech is. Everything begins with speech.
Save your little one frustartion as well as yourself. get him the help he needs now! Good luck.
H.

Hi M.,
As a speech Pathologist, I feel that early intervention is the best medicine. So, get your referral and have your son evaluated. At the very least, you'll have peace of mind. For now, don't allow your daughter talk for him and make him use a word if he wants something. Pointing and vocalizing at this age won't advance his speech.
Good luck,
S.
www.createwealth.myarbonne.com

a speech evaluate at this age is not too late...try and find a number for early steps or early intervention, am not sure what they go by but if they do find that your son is a bit delayed then having speech therapy will only benefit him....right now i feel i will benefit from speech therapy myself...look into it, its better to be safe than sorry

You know your child best; just to let you know, my brother didn't speak a lot until he was three. Now, he is almost 50 and won't shut-up. My parents have a friend that didn't speak until four and he went to Harvard. I would wait; unless you think you need help.

Hi M.,
You and Bryan have been nice enough to answer my pending diapering questions, I hope I can help. My oldest (7) has autism. At 3, his preschool had concerns with his speech. This link http://www.paec.org/fdlrsweb/ will take you to how to get a free evaluation from the county. If they recommend more, I can give you a whole list! However, take a deep breath. My middle son had speech delays and at age 4 he took a PreSAT for a church kindergarten we were considering and he scored like a 1st grader. So it may or may not be anything. However, testing is free. Thank God Charlie Crist signed the insurance bill this spring for Autism (which makes insurance cover autism and all kinds of speech/developmental delays). Feel free to email me or contact me for anything!
Bev