Talking Limited

Hello W.,

I had the same Problem with my daughter. A friend told me about Early Intervention. They offer their Services (FOR FREE) to help children with Developmental Delays. Those people are great. I have somebody coming over every week to play with her and work on her speech. It's been two month now and she is making great progress.
Here the contact number:

York Early Intervention Unit ###-###-#### or (800)-441-2025, Ext. 9618

Good Luck !!
M.

He's saying a lot! My friend's son is three and doesn't know that many words. It's awesome he likes the alphabet. Don't worry about any deadlines you hear, kids develop at all different times. You'll know if something is "wrong". Many boys don't say much by 2. Relax! :)

W.,

My son was in the same boat a few months ago. We contacted early childhood intervention and are THRILLED that we did. For no charge (no matter how much you make), they send a speech pathologist to your home on a weekly basis to work with your child. My son went from saying only 20 words at 26 months to speaking in complete sentences at 29 months! It was very easy, but it does take a little while, so I would talk to your doctor about referring you now so you can begin by the time he is 26 or 27 months old. They only stay as long as they are needed, and teach mom and dad just as much as they teach your child. My husband and I cannot praise the program enough! If you need more information, please feel free to send me a message. Good luck! :)

I would highly encourage you to contact Early Intervention. It is free, and they will sent a speach therapist to evaluate your son.

The best case is that they confirm for you that he's perfectly fine. If they decide he is behind, they'll provide speach therapy for free. There is NO downside to this. Give them a call - all you have to lose is an hour or so of your time.

My son is the same way. He's 2 1/2 now and is just now starting to say 3 & 4 word sentences. He's definitely behind other kids in his class at daycare, but he's quickly getting better :) They say boys are slower to develop, plus he was our first child too and they say that may have something to do with it too. Just keep doing what you're doing and talk to him all the time.

Hi W.! No way!! You should not be worried for an instant! Every child develops language at their own pace...just like potty training. Can he follow two or more step directions? Like: Go to the toy box and get your red car? Does he make his wants and needs clear to you most of the time? Knowing his ABC's, learning how to count and his colors is great...full sentences will come with time. My oldest took a while to talk in complete sentences while my middle one was a talker at 9months. Then my youngest never said more than a handfull of words until after her third birthday! LOL we haven't had a moment of quiet since! Relax! Best wishes.

My boys didn't really start talking much at all until 3, but I had them evaluated by early intervention anyway and it was awesome! If you receive help is based on the delay of your child and not how much you make at all. My sons qualified until they turned 3 and then they were where they should be. A speech therapist came to the house once a week to work with them, they loved it everytime she came. It is all free and worth looking into! It is a free state program and a wonderful one.

Hi W.,

Some children talk sooner than others. Don't worry.

Good luck. all the best. D.

I know that the other ladies have already said about contacting Early Intervention but I want to add that it is a great idea.
I contacted them with my son was about 2 years old. They came over did a free evaluation and then he continued with free speech therapy until he was 3. After that he transitioned to another place for speech with is also free.
He is a totally different child now thanks tot he help with his speech. He ised to get very frustrated that we could not understand what his grunts or babbles were. Now he is much happier.
Again, I completely agree with the others to get your child evaluated by Early Intervention. I was very pleased with everyone we talked to there.
Best of Luck!

My son was the same way. He was about 2.5 before he really started talking, and now you can't make him be quiet to save your life! He now sounds just like all his friends who have been talking for much longer. Not to worry, some just take longer and when they really start talking, it comes in a flood!

Dear W.,
Contact Early Intervention for your free evaluation as soon as possible. This will give you peace of mind, if nothing else. If they determine that your son needs speech therapy, he can receive speech therapy through Early Intervention at no charge to you. My son was in virtually the same position not quite four years ago. He will be six the end of April, and still receives some services. However, is speech has GREATLY improved, and we can understand him almost 100%! Call Early Intervention, the evaluation will at least let you know whether your concerns are valid, or your just a typical somewhat overprotective mom. Good luck! :)

If you have any concerns, contact your area Early Intervention and they will give your child a free evaluation.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HarrisburgPAChat
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My kids both had limited vocuabularies until just after their second birthdays. When I had discussed my concerns with the ped around 18 months she told me to look for other language cues - facial expressions, gestures, acknowleging hearing their names called, following simple directions, recognizing names to objects (mom, dad, ball, etc) and adding any new word or sound. If the kids were doing this she felt that was good enough at that age. She said that with all the learning they are doing (physical movements, playing games, learning social skills, testing limits, etc) that something has to take a back seat and often it is speaking. If they weren't exhibiting any of those language cues or if they weren't adding any new words or sounds by 24-26 months to let her know and we would then look into the possiblity of a delay. It turns out that just after their second birthdays they both started talking in short sentences and adding a few new words every week. Now at 3.5 and 4.5 they are very articulate and able to express themselves without difficulty. My son just had a speech screening at school that indicated he is on target for his age range. I would continue exposing your son to language - verbal, written, expressions, gestures. Make note of those other cues. Continue reading, writing, singing, etc. If you still feel in a month or two that he isn't making any progress or enough progress I'd discuss it with your ped.

I had similar worries about my daughter. I felt like kids her age were talking more and more articulate than she was. Every time I came close to taking her for evaluation she would progress and I would put it off. I never did take her, and she is now 4 and speaking beautifully. She still has some cute mispronunciation, but is right on track! If you are worried talk to your pediatrician, thats always a great place to start!

Hi, W.. I'm a speech-language pathologist and I've worked with lots of kids the age of your son. It's a big age for learning lots of new things and it's not uncommon for kids to be a little behind average at that age and then go through a burst. Most kids won't really combine words into two-word (or longer) sentences until they have at least 50 words in their vocabularies, so it makes sense that he's not doing that much yet. I would recommend that you keep a list of all of the words he says--you may be surprised and find out that it's actually more than you think. (If you google something like "toddler language list" you'll find some checklists on the web that make it easy to just mark off the words he says). Keep track of new words--he should be adding a few new words each week, and shouldn't be losing words. Also, make sure that he is really communicating despite his relatively small vocabulary. Some kids are very good with gestures, or signs, and facial expressions and can get their point across even without talking-that's a good thing compared to a kid who's not really interested in interacting. Do you have any concerns about his understanding of what you say? That would be a sign of a more significant problem. Keep talking to him a lot, and doing lots of imitation games, with sounds and gestures as well as words. If he hasn't made a big burst in his language by 2 and 1/2, I'd talk to the pediatrician and consider having his hearing and his language development screened. Good luck!

don't worry yet be happy...my daughter didn't talk till almost 3 and now she is graduating from an ivy league school...maybe your son is thinking faster then he can speak...just enjoy before they can talk back to you and get fresh...2 is such a great age

I would not be worried at all. I have a cousin who didn't speak well until he was 5 years old, and today he is a preacher! My stepson didn't talk well until he was over 3, and he is now 14 and talks your ear off! Don't worry, just enjoy his development. He sounds very bright and will talk when he is ready.

One thing the speech pathologist suggested for my cousin was that his parents stop talking FOR him. He used to walk up to the fridge and point to the fridge, and the parents would ask, Do you want cheese? Do you want milk? etc. These questions required simply a shake of the head until they found what they wanted, and then he would nod. The speech pathologist suggested that they say, "Use your words to tell mommy/daddy what you want." Have them repeat after you to pronounce the word for what they want, and accept whatever they give as the pronounciation, and them give them the item.

Also, when my kids were little and they would whine for something, I would say, "You need to use your words to tell mommy what you want, I don't understand 'whine'. Sometimes as moms, we already know what our children want when they point or whine or whatever, and we forget to urge them to speak.

However, I wouldn't worry about developmental delays. Probably a little more encouragement will do.

Hope that helps,
L.

My bet is that he's just absorbing it all and will O. day soon say "Hey Mom, how do you spell 'endoplasmic reticulum'?"! ;-) LOL
Seriously, he may just be a quieter kid. If you are very concerned, be sure to ask your pediatrician about it.

My son was the same way. He just turned three at the end of December. I was very concern and was about to talk to his doctor about early intervention, but then over Christmas Holiday he just all of a sudden started talking in sentences. I think some kids take a little longer to come around, especially if you get everything for them without making them ask for it. Our family was very guilty of that....Good luck

I am new to this area and don't know about your local Early Intervention program, but I DO advise contacting them or someone else who can screen your child's hearing and speech. I also wanted to say that my daughter at 2 is very verbal and I thank, in part, the Infant Sign Language that we used. We used the board books from "Signing Time" (.com), but you can also usually get their videos from the Library. They are active and engaging, and since they are language based, maybe they could help, and still be fun?
Best wishes, and I stand by all the moms that say you should check with professionals since you are concerned, but in the meantime, don't worry too much, every child is different!

Don't worry. My oldest was VERY verbal, and I was really surprised when, at her 2 yr old check up, the doctor asked me if she knew 10 or 20 words. She knew so many more than that. But if 10 or 20 is what they expect, then probably your so is right in the ball park. Just keep talking with him, and you can give him sentences, like, "May I please have a cookie?" tell it to him, let him try to repeat it, or some of it, and then say, "Thank-you, Mom" after you hand it to him. He'll get there. It sounds like he's very bright to be so interested in letters. Just grow that sense of wonder about his world. It sounds as if you're doing just fine !!