Speech delay in children

[Freyja]

Does anyone have a child who was a "late" speaker? My youngest DD, who will turn 2 in April, still has a vocabulary of only 6 words. She uses a lot of sounds (makes animal sounds, etc) and points at things so we understand her but she´s not really talking. This is slowly getting me worried.

Any words of advice or stories to share?

 

[jbmom]

My ds was a late speaker. I had his hearing tested and it was fine. I called the school and they had a program called early on. It is for kids with developmental delays before they enter the school system. He had a speech therapist that would come to the house and he went to a play group once a week. He started talking a lot at about 30 months old. His speech therapist thought he would take off and he did.

 

[Karel]

A subject near and dear to my heart. You have a bunch of kids, correct? That can lead to speech delays because she really doesn't have to speak!

The big thing is: does she follow directions? If you ask her a question, does she understand? Try to answer back - even if it's a sound.

It really is not that much of delay yet. I would push her a little, don't let her get away with just pointing. Talk to her all the time - give her the words.

 

[mommasita]

My DS11 did not talk at all until 2. Not one word. Ped assured us his hearing was fine, as well as other things. He is now talking up a storm. Pixie dust to you.

 

[Alyssa88]

My little sister was a late speaker due to a hearing a problem, she took speech therapy classes up until last year. She is a freshman in high schoo now and she is doing just fine

Also I am an intern at a research lab, under 2 researchers. The one's work is completely dedicated to language development. I don't know much about her research (the other researcher is my faculty sponser), but if you had any specific questions I could certanily find out, you can send me a PM if your interested.

 

[DawnCt1]

I would be sure that her hearing is absolutely at the level it should be. Sometimes children understand what is said and expected because of the verbal and non verbal cues but they sometimes do not hear the words well enough to articulate them. At almost two, I would expect a greater vocabulary. I would discuss this with the pediatrician AND request a speech pathologist to evaluate her. There is no harm in being proactive. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

 

[Beth76]

Yes, my 2.5you has that problem. He's very slowly getting better. He's always been quite the chatterbox, but it was mostly jibberish. Even now, as he's clearly getting a bigger vocabulary, his enunciation is terrible. For example, he calls his brother "brother" but it comes out "wahwal". Which is also the same word he uses for "waffle".

We see a Parents As Teachers educator every few months. It's a free program that's provided by our school district. Not sure if you have that kind of thing in Iceland. But basically she visits with us to make sure he's on target, developmentally speaking. She is getting worried about his speech and thinks he might need to start therapy in a few months. But I think this is something they don't do until age 3 (he'll be 3 in July).

Your daughter still isn't two yet, I wouldn't be too worried about it yet. I know this kind of thing is also common among younger children because often the older kids will speak for the younger ones.

 

[Freyja]

A subject near and dear to my heart. You have a bunch of kids, correct? That can lead to speech delays because she really doesn't have to speak!

The big thing is: does she follow directions? If you ask her a question, does she understand? Try to answer back - even if it's a sound.

It really is not that much of delay yet. I would push her a little, don't let her get away with just pointing. Talk to her all the time - give her the words.

She is the youngest of 4. And you are so right, she really doesn´t "have" to talk, because everyone understands her. That´s exactly what I told her kindergarten when they asked me whether I was worried about this.

She understands almost everything and follows directions very well. If I ask her to get her ball, doll, pacifier, blanket etc. I can also tell her to put something in the trash can, put her doll to sleep in the stroller, go and get a diaper and so on without problems. She points to things and bodyparts (eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hair, tongue, belly, fingers, toes and bum) when asked.

I keep reading that she should have a vocabulary of 50 words by the time she´s 24 months and that she should be talking in 2 word sentences by then. I only recall 1 of the other 3 children having been able to do that.

 

[Beth76]

Sometimes children understand what is said and expected because of the verbal and non verbal cues but they sometimes do not hear the words well enough to articulate them.

That's an interesting point, Dawn. We haven't had our son's hearing checked yet and they'll do that free through the school district. Bad mommy just needs to make an appt. We believe he does hear well because he follows directions and such. But I was wondering if perhaps there is *something* that prevents him from hearing clearly. I'm putting a reminder on my computer to call the school district first thing tomorrow.

 

[diz8297]

My ds (7) has been receiving speech services since he was 2. My sister was in grad school becoming a speech pathologist and felt that he needed an eval. His speech was delayed like your dd. Our state has an early intervention program which allowed him to receive speech therapy in the home. At age 3 he began receiving services at his pre school and at the local elementary school and still has the same speech pathologist today. (She has practically become a member of the family-she loves ds and he loves her). BTW, my son is now speaking amazingly well and is extremely bright-he is an excelerated reader. I would recommend you get her evaluated-to ease your mind or get her the help if she needs it!!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Definitely bring it up at her 2 year check-up if you're concerned. There's a big range of what's considered 'normal' speech development at this age, and even if she's a bit at the lower end of development, it often means nothing at all in the long run, so try not to worry.

My DS2 was still using two or three word sentences as of a month or so ago, so I was worried, too. I remembered his big brother being much more verbal at this age. Then all of a sudden he began speaking in full sentences: "Daddy, why you not seepeen?" It is really remarkable how quickly it changes!

ETA: I meant to add that my DS2 is nearly 3yo!

 

[belle&beast]

I am a speech therapist and have worked in early intervention. The first thing I would recommend, as many other have, is a hearing test. Next, I would have a speech and language evaluation. I am not sure how your system will work in Iceland, but here there is very little cost, if any, to families if they are evaluated through the state's early intervention program. Please feel free to send me a PM with any specific questions.

 

[JoyG]

I am a firm believer in Early Intervention and I wouldn't wait any longer to have your daughter tested and start services.

My twins had major speech problems when they were little. At two years old they had limited understanding of what I was saying to them. I could not give them directions and have them follow it.

I had them tested when they turned 2 and a month later they started at an Early Intervention program. They went 5 days a week for half days.

It made such a huge difference! One son was discharged from the program when he was 3, the other was discharged when he was 4. And today they are verbally and academically where they're supposed to be.

My youngest son had speech delays too. I noticed it and had him tested at 2 years old. At that time they said the delay wasn't bad enough to qualify for services. I had him retested right before he turned 3. He qualified for services and he's been in the 1/2 day program 5 days a week.

He's doing amazingly well, has made huge improvements and I expect him to be discharged this summer.

Just to give you an idea, at 18 months old children should have at least 10 words. So if your child is 2 and only has 6...I would see about getting her tested as soon as possible. Time is really of the essence with little kids. Early intervention makes a lot of difference.

 

[MareQ]

Definitely bring it up at her 2 year check-up if you're concerned. There's a big range of what's considered 'normal' speech development at this age, and even if she's a bit at the lower end of development, it often means nothing at all in the long run, so try not to worry.

I agree.

My oldest has Apraxia of Speech. At age 3 he said NOTHING! No words, no word approximations - absolutely NOTHING!

We started receiving ST for him at 2.5 through EI once a week in our home - he started at age 3 with the Pre-School Disabled Program and after that he slowly became more and more verbal.

He's almost 9 now and is PROBABLY on his last year of Speech Therapy.

There's a difference between being worried and KNOWING that something is wrong. He was my first and yet I still KNEW something was wrong. This is your 4th I think you said so you know what is typical and what is not. It's definitely something worth mentioning to her Doctor - but definitely not something to be overly concerned about at this point.

One of the very first things that should be done - as has been recommended - is a hearing test. Here in the US most Speech Therapists will not see a child until a hearing test has been done first

Good luck

 

[Alex2kMommy]

She is the youngest of 4. And you are so right, she really doesn´t "have" to talk, because everyone understands her. That´s exactly what I told her kindergarten when they asked me whether I was worried about this.

She understands almost everything and follows directions very well. If I ask her to get her ball, doll, pacifier, blanket etc. I can also tell her to put something in the trash can, put her doll to sleep in the stroller, go and get a diaper and so on without problems. She points to things and bodyparts (eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hair, tongue, belly, fingers, toes and bum) when asked.

I keep reading that she should have a vocabulary of 50 words by the time she´s 24 months and that she should be talking in 2 word sentences by then. I only recall 1 of the other 3 children having been able to do that.

Freyja, I don't know how many languages your children speak or are exposed to, but I've read that multi-lingual children tend to have a bit of a delay in speech development. Of course, they are learning 2 or more languages at once, and processing and storing this information. They eventually catch up with their peers in speech, but have learned more than one language in the same time period, so they in actuality are far ahead.

 

[DawnCt1]

That's an interesting point, Dawn. We haven't had our son's hearing checked yet and they'll do that free through the school district. Bad mommy just needs to make an appt. We believe he does hear well because he follows directions and such. But I was wondering if perhaps there is *something* that prevents him from hearing clearly. I'm putting a reminder on my computer to call the school district first thing tomorrow.

Speech issues are dear to my heart. DS#4 was born with a cleft palate which effects the musculature of the throat and causes ear infections at an early age. He had his first hearing test at birth, pe tubes at 5 months. Fortunately because of constant attention to his hearing, his speech delays were due to mechanical difficulties. We started speech with him at 17 months, after his palate surgery healed.

 

[Freyja]

I discussed this with her pediatrician at her 18 month check-up and they didn´t feel there was a need to worry since she obviously understood a lot.
Her hearing was checked when she was newborn and there didn´t seem to be any problems. She has her 2 year check-up coming up and I´ll discuss it with them again then.

Thanks everyone for your input.

 

[VirtuallyMe]

My son is just past 2 1/2 and his speech is delayed a bit and his pronunciation is off for things it shouldn't be off on...

Before his second birthday I began to be concerned- he did have multiple ear infections as an infant and got tubes in his ears at 9 months...
When I spoke to the day care director she did say that he was a bit delayed but pointed out it was still a little early to start getting too concerned.

I spoke to his pediatrician around the same time- and he asked about his ability to follow commands- which he could do quite well- he was actually well above average on that- so he wasn't extremely concerned about his hearing at all- and pointed out the fact that my ds was also the youngest of 4 and had attended his day care since infancy so they understood his sign language he would use often too... (at one time he used so many signs instead of words I thought they were teaching them it in his infant class)

Around Christmas he had a verbal explosion- (he turned 2 in July) he is still difficult to understand for somethings but says sooooo much more that I know he is capable- but I do think he will need some speech therapy to help it along the way.

I have him on the list for a program they do here at the schools for preschool kids- and we adamantly prohibit baby talk around him- and correct his own- for some reason he has begun to add the ee sound to the end of words "cuppy" for cup, helpy for help, etc... And we encourage him to talk (no more sign language)- we also will repeat what he says to us and correct him for anything he says wrong...

 

[diznygirl]

My DD was a late talker. There was nothing wrong with her. She just liked playing imaginary games by herself and real words and proper pronunciation weren't necessary. My doc - ever a realist - suggested that in her case speech therapy would just be filling time until she would be talking on her own anyway. Since there were no other concerns we waited and she's talking normally now. This might be the same in your case.

If there were other issues like hearing or not understanding we would have definitely gone with the early intervention.

 

[laurajetter]

She understands almost everything and follows directions very well. If I ask her to get her ball, doll, pacifier, blanket etc. I can also tell her to put something in the trash can, put her doll to sleep in the stroller, go and get a diaper and so on without problems. She points to things and bodyparts (eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hair, tongue, belly, fingers, toes and bum) when asked.

I keep reading that she should have a vocabulary of 50 words by the time she´s 24 months and that she should be talking in 2 word sentences by then. I only recall 1 of the other 3 children having been able to do that.

My son is in exactly the same boat. Right now he is 18 months and barely says 3 words but comprehends tons of words and can follow simple directions. While reading to him, he can point out different objects when I ask him to.

He's a really bright little guy, so I've been hesitant to get worried about his speech but at the same time I can help but always have that as a concern on the forefront of my mind. I started a thread a while back regarding the same thing you're worried about and I got a ton of great advice.

What I decided to do was to contact my state's early intervention program which will give a free evaluation by a speech pathologist to see if he just a late talker and still on track or whether there is a cause for concern. If they deem him a certain percentage behind where he should be, they will send someone to my house on a regular basis to work with him. So far I've had an initial consultation for them to gather more information from me and we have the speech evaluation scheduled for next month.

The majority of advice I got was that having him evaluated is a win-win situation. If there is nothing wrong, that's great! But if they determine a delay, then they can intervene at an early age, which is crucial to them benefitting from the help. At this age, their brain's are like sponges and it really is the best time to get help if they need it.

Maybe you can look into a similar program where you live. Good luck!