OT - Toddlers and Vocabulary

[KelleyD]

ok. So my son is 18.5 months old. I think he has a fairly large vocab. Of course most times I am the only one who knows what he is saying, but I can hear the words he is trying to use.

Just an example, he can say garage, Didney(disney) eggie(could kill my husband for not saying egg), boat the normal pop pop, dada mam, nana, susie, cat etc. These are all fairly clear.

The problem? if its really a problem , is the word yes. He will not say yes. He will say Ahh. Always. I usually always say yes to him then get whatever it is he wants. But I think it is driving his daycare teacher insane. When I was in there she said oh he can say yes - and then proceeds to try to get him to say yes but he just hung his head. I know she is always trying to get him to say yes instead of ahh.

So is this really a problem? I just figured when he got a little older he would master yes and that would be then end of it. For the record, yogurt is ogre...so he doesn't have the y there either.

Any thoughts?

 

[imthatgirl]

no, not a problem. i dont have any experience with day cares, but i would think your provider would also know this is normal.

 

[tam626]

I would'nt worry too much. I remember my older son talked very early, said 3 word sentances by 18 months, but could'nt say his L's right until he was at least 3. I bet he gets it in no time.

 

[KelleyD]

Thank you. I figured he would get it, I guess she is just trying to help him. But I feel like telling her not to worry about it because I'm not...its kinda cute actually. But I was worried that maybe it was my fault because I wasn't correcting him enough.

So thank you.

And off topic again....Leaving for Disney tomorrow!! Yay.

 

[tam626]

You must be so excited!!!!!!!!!! I have a little over a month & it seems the closer it gets, the more excited I get!!

 

[kellyg403]

I wouldn't let it worry me either. I had a few children that were early talkers with great vocabularies and I had one child who had a little more of a hard time with certain letter sounds.

I have 3 grandchildren, one turned 2 in March, one turned 2 in July and one who will be 2 in November. The first one, has been talking and making sentences along with sounds for about 6-7 months, the one born in July..still has a few words you can understand but for the most part mom has to translate. The one turning 2 in Nov is a mimic. He can actually ask you "where are you", "what are you doing" etc. I blame dd...I know she probably says this to him 100 times a day. She still has not adjusted to having him walk around freely..which he has been doing since 8 months. So, I don't think a big deal at all.

Kelly

 

[Relish]

At that age the important thing is that he has sounds he uses as words. If he is consistently using "Ahhh" to mean yes, then you/she/Dad/everyone should respond to that sound as meaning 'yes.' Once he gets older and can form different sounds more easily he will substitute the 'real' words in for the sounds he can make now.

Learning to speak is very hard work, as any adult stroke victim can attest. The important thing is to encourage him in his efforts, and responding to him when he expressed his idea/wish/answer clearly really is far better than trying to force him to say something the 'right way.'

 

[laughinplace199]

I would not worry at all. My DS is almost 2 and he does something very similar. He gives a little chuckle in place of saying yes. We think it's cute. I think saying "Ah" in place of yes is really cute too. He will grow out of it soon enough - they're only babies for such a short time...

 

[soontobewed07]

do you say yea or yup(?sp) instead of Yes DS 16 months says yea and yes he usually says yea when talking to my Dsis (14) when she uses YUP .

 

[KelleyD]

Thanks again everyone. I guess I needed assurance that my thinking it was cute wasn't going to stunt his vocab in the future

 

[bartleby1]

Kids sometimes pick a strange word for something and I think they truely think they are saying the right word. My oldest was a late talker but extremely bright and knew colors, letters, numbers, etc, long before she could speak. While trying to get her to say the names of the colors, she started using the word "num" for the color red. Even after she was speaking fluently and in full sentences, she would still call red by the word 'num'. I would even ask her to say 'bed', 'head', 'fed', etc, trying to lead up to 'red'. She would repeat all of them perfectly but when we got to 'red' it would still come out as 'num'. So, I tried having her say rrrrrrrred. That came out as rrrrrrnum! It was very cute and lasted quite a while. I even asked her pediatrician about it and he said that one day she would wake up and think to herself, 'they're not saying num, they're saying red' and she would fix it. And, guess what? That is exactly what happened. One day, she just stopped saying 'num'. It was almost a little sad for me!

So, I wouldn't worry about it. Enjoy the cuteness of the age. It really does go by so fast.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

DS is almost 16 months old and says very little that we can understand. He jabbers constantly but very rarely does he say a word that makes any sense. The funny thing is that he used to say things much more clearly - mama, dada, ab-bah (his sister Abbey), Mick-ey, juice and sort of spit trying to say the word sissy. Now the only 2 words that he really says clearly are juice (joos) and cheese (cheesh).

He just went to the Dr last week for a sick visit and his ears were clear so I don't know why he isn't speaking more words clearly.

KelleyD - enjoy your trip!!!

 

[amandaraye]

Sounds to me like he's doing great! The most important thing is that he's communicating. He understands when you speak and he's speaking back, and rather well from what you're saying. I think he's right on target!

And JMO, so take it ask you may...but your daycare provider really shouldn't be forcing the issue. I would think she should know it will develop in time. It made me sad to read he hung his head when she was trying to push the issue. :-(

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

Our son didn't ever say "yes" either. Even now at 2 and a half he usually will say "OK" when he means yes. At his 2-year appointment, our pediatrician said he should have a vocabulary of about x number of words (I don't remember how many) but that any sound he uses consistently to mean the same thing (like saying "ahhh" to mean "yes") counted as a word.

Those kids sure do learn to say "NO" very clearly though!

 

[HGD24]

My niece said "Ahup" for the longest time because people around her said "Yup" and "Ahuh" instead of yes. She's now a very smart 7 year old who says "Yes". I would do just what you're doing - say "Yes" in response to your LO saying "Ahhh" when you know he means "Yes". It acknowledges what he is saying and will encourage him to eventually say the correct word.

Also, he may very well say "Yes" at daycare. You'd be amazed at the things kids do at daycare that they won't do at home. Our DD will hold and drink out of her own sippy cup at school, but not at home. Another child at her school will go #2 on the potty at school, but not at home.

 

[amyj1024]

Kelleyd,
I work as a special ed prek teacher. We get a lot of kids at 3 with speech issues. I also have an almost 18 month old, and have concerns about his speaking--but he is not saying any words really-- da for dad, and by-bye
I asked the speech therapist for some milestones for speech and she gave me a bunch of info (based on the H.E.L.P. checklist and Rosetti)
between 15-18 mos:
For LANGUAGE EXPRESSION: says 15 meaningful words, uses consonants such as t, d, n, and h; talks rather than gestures, imitates words heard in conversations, ask for more, asks 'what's that': names 5-7 familiar objects upon request.
For LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION: finds familiar items not in sight, completes 2 requests with object, chooses 2 familiar objects upon request, understands 50 words, identifies objects by category (like all drinks being juice)
The HELP says 10-15 words, vocalizes wishes or needs at the table, names 1 or 2 familiar objects. Greets with verbal cues.

too much info?? Hope that helps!
Also, 's' sounds usually don't come in till closer to 3 years old. Around 2--these sounds should be clear--p, b, m, k, g, w, h, n, t, ,d
We are going to request a speech eval at his 18 month check up, as he is not verbalizing much at all and becoming very frustrated when we don't understand. Good luck!

 

[lisadr]

I am not sure about this, but if he is having a problem with his Ys, then it might be a slight speech thing. IF if is, the worst thing she can do is try to force him to say it.

My DD had an incredible vocabulary when she hit preschool (used word like "calibrate" and "apparently" and "dominant hand"???) but she had such a voc. burst that she developed a slight stutter. I watched it closely because I didn't want to leave it unaddressed if it persisted and she needed speech therapy. But in doing research on it I found that drawing attention to it was not good-it frustrates the child and stressed them out.

He might just be having problems with certain letters which will probably correct itself-and he is being clever and improvising. I wouldn't make a big deal out of it and let your daycare person know to do the same.

BTY-my DD outgrew her stutter before kindergarden and now talks a mile a minute with a wide variety of words-lol. It seems her brain was working too fast for her little mouth .

Good Luck!

 

[ammeador2]

My DD is 3 and was an early talker...the problem here is my DS is 19 months younger than sis. So she does all of the talking for him!

But he can talk! He's been saying "I want this..." for months along with other things. Like Mickey, Stitch, sissie, me-maw, duck duck, laura, and Stop it!! Please, thank you etc

My problem with my son is that I will say..."Aidan, can you say yes.." and He will shake his head yes.."Aidan, can you say no.." He shakes his head NO!

 

[Dancermomof1]

My 16 month old does kind of the same thing. He is obsessed with trucks and cars however and when he tries to say truck sometimes people look at us a little strange because it comes out a little...different. I am sure it is all perfectly normal at this age, although I know exactly how you feel!!!