2 Year Old Not Talking - Fairfield,OH

P. - by 2 my son was not talking either..we were also ref to the Help Me Grow programs and I quickly quit doing everything they told me to!! They were trying to make it seem like my son had a major issue with developement and was quick to label him...we didn't do the speech therapy and he is now three, getting ready to turn four and is talking a mile a minute - very clearly. I truly feel that sometimes you just have to give your child time and they develope as they want to. I feel too many people are quick to label kids these days and make parents freak out too much. If you would like to put him through all the speech therapy go ahead, but we just worked with our son at home and he turned out just fine.

Hi P.,
You are doing the right thing by getting free services through Help Me Grow. Definitely use their services because you can't hurt anything, but maybe it will help. I used Help Me Grow for my son's slight gross motor delay....and it has really helped me focus on what to work on with him. It's really education for you so that the speech therapist can work with your son but then give you everyday things to practice with him. Believe me, it's MUCH better to intervene now than when he's older. He is probably 100% fine, just needs a bit of help. Just remember, your son is perfect just the way he is, and you are just being his advocate and his biggest fan by helping him along.
My advice about Help Me Grow is to get them out to your house ASAP and get the evaluation specialist coming once per week...sometimes they take a while to get back to you so keep calling. Also, ask about something called "individual budget" if all your son needs is speech therapy. That way, they give you a budget of $$ to use on private speech therapy. It works well if that's his only delay. If, however, he has a fine motor or gross motor, etc delay as well (which the evaluation specialist will tell you about once she comes to your house a couple of times) then you want the evaluation specialist coming weekly because she can work on a bunch of things.
Take care and feel good that you are giving your child a great (free) head start that many parents don't take advantage of...good job!!

First boys don't deveolp as fast as girls. That being said the youngest grandson had a vocab of maybe 1 word until I started watching him. I had him for a year. He talks nonstop now. But he's just turned 3. He also says his Abc's he calls them ABCD's. Know his numbers can do some math. Addition and some subtraction. And had started reading when Mama got a hair up her butt and teminated without warning my services. He now attends daycare and the teachers are shocked he picks up toys and is so much farther along than the other kids his age. All I can say is talk constantly to him and when he points or reaches for something ask him what he wants or what it is. A friend of our's son did not speak until he was 6. He didn't need to do more than grunt or throw a tantrum before they would give him what he wanted. He was so uch del;ayed they said he's autistic. I felt if they would have worked with him more as a child he would have spoke sooner. I know another whose's condition is more severe but he spoke sooner. Keep working and he'll catch up. Our middle grandson had a major speech problem he was tongue tied and had speech for 6 years after the surgery.

One of my children was not talking at two. We did start speech therapy and his speech took off. He is now in speech again (he's 9) for the letter "R". Take advantage of the services. Be sure they give you exercises and practices to do at home in between appointments. Good luck!