Speech in Toddlers

Don't give him the things he wants you to get for him. Let him whine or point and you give him every thing around the thing he wants. Let him know you don't understand, he has to TELL you or get it himself and walk away. He'll break down sooner or later and you'll have taught him. Be patient.

As a mother of a child with a speech delay, I ran across a lot of advice like just be patient, ask pediatrician, etc. I know everyone means very well, but the sooner you get intervention, the better. And frankly, pediatricians are not really experts when it comes to developmental delays. When I asked our pediatrician, she just said be patient, all kids develop at differently. Well I didn't listen to her and got an evaluation done, and the pathologist told me my son's speech issue was not anything he was going to grow out of, so I'm glad we got the intervention when we did. Do what Ann Marie said, and get a hold of Early Intervention. The website is below. I believe the screening is free, and they will come to your house! That's what we pay taxes for! Remember, that speech affects EVERYTHING. It affects all forms of development: communication, social skills, even academic, so go with your gut and get the screening.

http://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=31183

if what he says is clear, and understandable, then wait till he's 3 and take him to your local school for a preschool screening (free!).

If what he says is not clear, ask for a referral from your dr. to go to an ENT for a hearing evaluation and to get speech evaluated. Do this immediately if he isn't speaking clearly.

M.,

My first thought is what has your peditrician said about your son's comunication and speech? It is your peditrician that can help you get your child evaluated.

One way to encourage him to use his words is to offer choices.For example, do you want milk or juice? And he has to tell you or he does not get either. An example, when playing, you could say is this orange or red? Reading will help as well.

Hope I helped you a little.

R.
Director
Baby Crazy
www.iambabycrazy.com/R.

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If you are concerned, contact Early Intervention as soon as possible for a FREE evaluation. Even if he doesn't have a delay that needs to be treated, the therapists that come for the evaluation can give you some great tips on how you can encourage him as his speech continues to develop. And, in the case that he has a delay, the earlier you get him help, the better. Plus, EI will arrange for a FREE hearing test for him as well if you ask. There is no need to spend any money on this by seeing specialists right off the bat.

have an evaluation by a speech therapist as soon as possible. it is so much easier for them to catch up the sooner you start.

Absolutely get him evaluated by Early Intervention. I tried every trick in the book to get my daughter to use expressive language, with little success. It wasn't until a speech therapist showed me helpful ways to interact with her that I felt like we were getting somewhere. When all else fails, ask the professionals.

Good luck!

hello..
I have been a preschool teacher for 14 years and had a child who had both receptive and expressive language delays. Don't waste any time. Absolutely have him tested. There are agencies in your county (birth to 3 program) or you can get more info by calling your local school district's special education office. They can point you in the right direction. You have nothing to lose and everything to possibly gain.

Absolutely don't depend on your doctor for answers for everything about your child. They simply don't have the time or interest to address every developmental issue in their patients. They should but they don't. They see the child for 15 minutes. You know your child best. He should be combining words at this point. He may have an expressive and or receptive language delay.

My son was over 2 years old when he really started to talk. He is now almost 19 years old and there was never any problems with being a late talker. In fact he was a late walker to but now you can't stop him from going, going, going or talking, talking talking. In fact he will finish at discipleship school and you need to be a go getter to be involved with disciplining others in Christs word.
If you wanted to get him tested consider getting his hearing checked. That is one thing we did because our son had to get tubes in his ears by the time he was 2 years old.
Hang in there all will be fine.

God Bless,
S.

My son is 22 months and we have the same issue. He is now being visited by early inntervention in our home once a week. You have to have a 30% delay or more in order to qualify for services. I had him tested (which is free) when he was 18 months. I think the program is great and he definitely enjoys when his speech therapist comes every week. He has a blast! Just so you know, they would like 18 month olds to have around 30 words, 50 words by 2 years and also be putting 2 words together. I am not big on my child meeting criteria exactly, but just to give you a reference point. Early intervention is a great resource and easily met financially and it doesnt get any easier by having a therapist come to your home. He also had his hearing tested for free at sertoma by a physician all through early intervention. Why not utilize such a great resource for your child just to give him a boost? That is why it is there and extremely worth it. Good luck to you and enjoy the summer!
B.

I would get him screened by early intervention. It is free. Probably there is nothing to worry about but if there is, it is better to know early and so to develop a plan. If you google illinois early intervention or call a local department of human services office, they will point you in the right direction. good luck.

If this issue is disturbing you, I would definitely speak to his doctor. You don't want to be stressing out, especially since you're pregnant! Kids all talk at different rates, so don't compare your son with other tots. If he understands what you say, then you know he's acquiring language. Keep encouraging him to talk. Sometimes when my son, 19 months old, says something, I don't know what he's saying. I ask him to show/tell Mama, and he frequently points at whatever it is he said and repeats his "word." Then I tell him "Yes!" and repeat the word back to him. So, for ecample, if he said "gok!" and shows me a cookie, I say "Yes, cookie!" In his mind he's said a word, and I recognized that and reinforced his word. For me, this has been a good way of building his spoken vocabulary. But again, to set your mind at ease, do talk to his doctor. Good luck!

As a mother of 2 sons i know exactly what you are talking about. Because each child is different my suggestions is to talk to your child about everything. I used to find myself talikng to my children when they were that age about everything. sometimes will feel because they are young that they do not understand. I remember a doctor saying once that "How will a child learn to talk if you do not talk to them" She also stated not the baby talk but a conversation. i used to talk about things we saw and go into detail. Reading always helps too.

You may want to get his hearing checked just to make sure that is not an issue. Check out the leapfrog videos or word world (I think on PBS). My son barely spoke until after age 2. He is now 9 and never stops talking unless he is sleeping. (hee, hee). He was in an interesting speech study at a University in which he went quarterly to be evaluated. Between the age of 2-3, toddlers generally learn 300-500 words. We kept track of it and he did say more and more by the end of the year. They also were trying to prove that slow speech is not an indicator of any developmental abilities. My son gets A and B's and we think he is very smart and talented. Hang in there, he will start talking before you know it.

Keep in mind that every child is different. Have you talked to your pediatrician about this? Was there any concern there?

Read, read, read to him as well as talk, talk, talk. That will help. Try not to anticipate his needs, make sure he tells you what he needs. Try to get him to say the words and not point.

Has he had any ear problems? My son had to get tubes and that seemed to really help move the speech along.

Call the peds office and talk to the nurse. See what she says and go from there. Do it now because after #3 comes, this kind of stuff tends to fall through the cracks.

M.

have to tell you from 1st hand knowledge....Boys do things when THEY are ready and not before! My son hit every developemental milestone AT the outside edge of "norm", at 3 talked very little also would NOT hold a crayon or pencil...took him to our district school for testing in Jan 05. He started going to speech intervention 1x per week in Mar 05, continued the next school year with speech and OT for the writing and hand pressure issues. He was born 2 days after the Sept 1 cutoff for school enrollement and the superintendant wanted to test him that summer to see of he was ready for K and allow him to start at 5. I said no we would wait. Now my almost 8 year old is the best story teller in his 1st grade class, excels at all subjects especially reading, is in the top 10% of his class& is the most emotionally mature. he is a leader in his class, and does not struggle to grasp concepts as taught.
Be patient when he has something to say....he will and then you will never get him to stop! Check with your school regarding speech testing, they are there for early intervention. Every little bit gives them a great foundation for learning.