Speech and age?

Trish, don't be too overly concerned yet. My youngest son didn't speak til he was almost 3. He just pointed and sometimes grunted. It sounds as if your doctor isn't too concerned at this point either. Just enjoy him at the age he is now, you'll look back later and wish he still wasn't talking *grin*

Question- if he points to something (without asking for it) do you hand him that item? A lot of times children will not talk if they don't feel that they have to. So, if he's just pointing to things and you respond by handing him that item, you need to start having him tell you what he wants.

I wouldn't be too concerned yet. You're doing all the right things- reading to him, naming objects... Remember that children develop at different times.

Has your physician addressed your concerns regarding his speech?

Trish, you didn't say enough in your article to yeild a "be concerned" or "don't be concerned" for me. Was he formerly talking and stopped? Or is his language just later in starting? Either way, your doctor's response seems incomplete.

Trish one thing to do is to make sure he doesn't have a hearing problem. I know of two different families that the doctors didn't notice the childs hearing problems till they were 3 or older. One can not hear at all and she was 3 before they caught it. The other could hear but his hearing was severely impaired. He started talking at a late age around 2 1/2. The 3 year old never talked.
Then you also have kids who just wait til they are ready. My oldest didn't talk till he was about 2. Part of the problem was my mom gave him anything when he pointed. I also had that problem with my youngest but it was my older 3 kids giving her everything when she pointed.
Kids talk when they are ready. My 10 month old grandbaby says moma, dada, dog, kitty, hi, bye and eat, yum yum, nana, popa, ola(spanish). Then I have a fourteen month old niece who only says mama and dada.
If you are really concerned have the doctor check her hearing. If it is okay don't worry give your child time.

I wouldn't worry, Trish, esp. if his doctor has found no physical reason for his delay (such as hearing issues as someone mentioned above).

My son didn't start talking until he was almost 3. I assure you, it had no effect on his development, or intelligence ... he is a very bright child. Once he began talking, he didn't stop :)

I too expressed my concerns to my son's pediatrician, and the dr. assured me that he was physically fine, and said that some kiddos don't speak until they feel like it --depending on personality and their persoanl desire to self express verbally. That was our pediatrician's opinion, and it made sense to me.

If your child's dr. says everything is fine, I wouldn't worry -- he will speak when he is ready :) And if he is like my late talker, once he gets started, he will talk your ear off :)

my first talked shortly before 16 months and hasn't shut up yet! LOL My second was just like your son...he didn't WANT to talk. I stressed over it, but the Doctor said he'd talk when he was ready...and guess what?!? He did! And now in 2nd grade his teachers are amazed at his diction and expression when reading aloud and sharing with the class. My advice is to take a deep breath and relax. As long as there is no evidence of hearing problems or other learning delays...speech will come when he is good and ready. And remember this. Einstein was a late talker too. His mother wanted him to talk and pleaded with him to try. He refused. Then one day he began to talk in complete sentances. When his mother asked him WHY he hadn't spoken before now he replied, "becasue I didn't have anything to say!" :-)

My son was a late talker, and we found out he had apraxia. He had speech therapy at 2 1/2 and finally started talking at 3. We had him tested for hearing, he had a EKG, etc. You should get the book, Late Talking Children, by Thomas Sowell. There are studies done on late talkers. Most catch up eventually (my son had speech therapy on and off until he was 9), almost all are exceptionally bright, most are good at math, sciences or computers when they are adults, or they are great musicians (which mine is!). The biggest thing to worry about if he's speech delayed is the treatment he'll get from his peers when he's in school. I would get him to a doctor to make sure there is nothing physically wrong, and then get him tested. Your school district can do the testing.

The more people talk to him, the less he will have to say. If you ask him what he wants, or read to him, it is helping him develope a vocabulary, but he won't need to speak.

I wouldn't be too worried about it. Most speech therapists say that the more older brothers & sisters a child has, the longer it takes for them to -need- to speak. If he's not speaking even basic words, like Mama, or Daddy, etc, then I'd be worried. But don't compare when he starts with when the other kids did, you'll only drive yourself nuts. ;)

Kids all learn to talk at their own rate, and some just have nothing to say. My husband didn't speak anything other than very basic words until he was almost 4. Then, he just shocked everyone by telling his mom, "Mom, you forgot to close the door."

If you are really worried, go to Moore Hall on CMU's campus, and set up a hearing test. They can test him in a way that he'll respond to. If there's any hearing damage, then his delay could be related to that. Some insurances will cover the testing (I know Medicaid used to, when our son was 1 and had to get tubes put in, they needed to test his hearing), but otherwise, it might be expensive to get tested, so call and ask.

As long as he is speaking basic words, though, and responding to loud noises, or turning towards you when you speak, etc, he's most likely fine.

Kids just develop at different rates. If he's listening when he's read to, etc. the odds are his hearing's OK, but I'd check anyway. What does he say? At least the basic mama, dada stuff? Does his babbling imitate real speech? It's not impossible that you're so eager for him to speak that he's responding negatively to the pressure, too. If the rest of his development doesn't indicate any problems, if his hearing's Ok, and if he seems generally intelligent for his age, I'd tend to back off trying to get him to speak. Two is still pretty young, and a lot of kids don't really start talking until they're around three.

He will speak eventually, my 22 yo didn't really talk much until she was around 2 1/2 -and her father wondered if she had problems.....

I want to address heather's questions first..... He only says ma da and dye... that is the extent of his speech... I am not joking.... he does not point to objects he wants... he will bring a cup to me if he is thirsty and wants a drink... he does not even try to make a sound for drink.... he does turn when spoken too.. he passed the infant hearing test.. his 2 year check up is coming up next week and i will readress this issue with the doctor and to make sure there is not fluid build up or any other reason he is not talking yet. he was tongue tied at birth and had his frenulum clipped at 3 weeks old so that he could properly nurse.

And like i said.. the only words he can say are ma da and dye for bye... that is it. .nothing else.... he cant say no.. which i know is said more than any other word to him...lol... he cannot say drink or eat... he literally can only say 3 words... and its ma da and dye which is his word for bye... when he babbles it sounds like he is speaking a foreign language and does not mimic anything.. almost like you would expect to hear out of a 6 month old trying to bable... he has never even tried to say things like ta ra sa ba.. he did not even say ma and da until like almost a year old...

I will take everyone's advice that if all checks out that there is no physical reason he is not speaking I will just wait it out... you are right.. once they start its like a pringle.. they just dont stop....lol

Someone mentioned that late speakers are great musicians.... i like that idea... we have a piano and out of all the kids he is the one that really enjoys to play it.. there are times you would think he was playing something the keys he was playing just went that well... .maybe he will be my little bach as he gets older... they have to be 7 before you can put them into lessons.. already checked into that... but we let him play away all he wants to...

I was a slow talker and my nephew is, too. I started at 3. My parents were very concerned at the time and I ended up going to a speech therapist for a long time. If the doctor isn't concerned, I wouldn't be too concerned right now. Just make sure he has access to lots of verbage...your voice, the television, songs, etc. I'm sure you already are doing that.

I guess because I work with students with disabilities on a daily basis, I tend to err on the side of caution. My views are probably a little bit skewed, but I have seen many children who would have really benefitted from early intervention.

I found a great article on Babycenter.com that talks about speech development in two year olds:
http://parentcenter.babycenter.com/refcap/preschooler/pdevelopment/64153.html

This is what it says about when to seek help:
If by age 2 your child rarely attempts to speak or imitate others, doesn't react when you call her name, or seems uninterested in talking, seek help. If by the end of this year she still says only single words instead of two-to-four-word sentences, uses new words once and then doesn't repeat them frequently, or doesn't ask or respond to simple questions ("What's this?" or "Where's your hat?") then she may also have a speech problem. In each of these cases, talk with her pediatrician, and if she's in preschool, with her teacher. Her doctor can refer you to a private speech-language pathologist for an evaluation. Her preschool may refer you to an early speech and language intervention program (usually coordinated through the county or public school system) that will provide a free speech and language screening.

I also wanted to add that your local school district should have some type of ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) program and they should be able to do a screening for free to determine if your child would qualify or is in need of additional services.

I think it's great that you have been keeping in contact with your physician and also think that some of the recommendations you have received about getting his hearing checked out are excellent. Did he have a history of ear infections as an infant? Also, is he able to follow directions (ex: go pick up your toy, bring me the ball, etc.)?

As a Speech and Language Pathologist, I would strongly recommend that you ask your physician for a referral to have your son evaluated. Based on the information that you have provided it sounds like he may need therapy to facilitate his language development. I encourage you to get the referral now rather than later. While it's true he may just be a "late talker" and will be fine, I would encourage you to err on the side of caution since early therapy can make a big difference for some children. School systems provide evaluations for children 3 years of age and older. Your son will need a referral from your physician for a local clinic or hospital-based therapist. Your son's history of a "tongue tie" also complicates his history which again makes me urge you to take him for an evaluation. Because this is my job I could go on and on!! Please contact me if you want to chat directly or if you have any other questions! laurajeanne.gather.com

Laura is right on the money. My middle son is 3 now and when he was 1 he didn't verbalize much and when he did his words were really unclear. I asked his pediatrician about it and she told me about a program we have here called Babies Can't Wait. At first she said let's just wait and see, but she decided to at least get him evaluated. I'm glad we did because he was approved for speech therapy in our home once per week for a year and a half. It was that length of time because at 3 they age out of the program. Had the speech "problem" been more severe he would have had therapy more frequently.

It was discovered that he has a short, uh, what's the piece of skin/muscle called under the tongue that controls how far the tongue goes out? An-t-way, his is short. The speech therapist gave us exercises to do with him. He also started going to a home child care part-time in January. Being around other kids helped as well.

The final verdict is that he is at age level now. I opted out on getting him evaluated in the school system because he would be considered "special needs" in the schools - so I would caution against that unless it's deemed really necessary. According to his speech therapist and his daycare provider his speech is good to go for his age and there's nothing amiss developmentally.

It is a little work to help to get your child speaking correctly, but the work has definitely paid off. When I hear him talk (even though he talks SOOOO much now), I can't believe this is a child who had problems a little over a year ago.

I hope this helps. Good luck!