Can't talk or won't talk? - Page 2

[Tjej]

If you know he is a perfectionist and think that might be what is going on, you could model making mistakes in front of him and keeping on trying and not being embarassed. I don't know if that is helpful at all, but maybe.

HUGS. Your baby isn't broken. IF there is a problem you'll keep looking and figuring and he'll keep growing and you'll figure some stuff out. If there isn't, he'll just grow out of this phase into something else to worry about.

Tjej

[Rani]

AGreed on all counts. My cousin's daughter would not talk until almost 3.5 or 4..then spoke in complete sentences. She just didn't have anything to say.

[pedi08]

bluejanute, if there is a motor planning problem, the EI SLP person playing with him and narrating/labeling isn't going to help him unless in the play specific sound practice is being worked in eventually. Like when he goes up, say "up, up, up" any time you go up in a routine. If you are playing with a ball toy, each time you hit the ball say "ball" Playing Cars, "beep, beep" It's hard to explain but kids with motor planning need specific practice to create pathways to learn those simple sounds/words.
Also, I'm in the same boat. Wondering if my little guy is a late talker, or having a problem with motor planning. He will not imitate and when he does with my persistance, its so inexact and each time its different. I am trying to get his approximation for simple words and build on that. Simple to complex. So if he says mamamam for open, I do try and shape it to a more similar sounding word, and after we worked on it for a bit, his approximation is "ah-puh" which is fine by me. I'm still struggling between is this motor planning or is he a late talker so I don't want to bombard him with motor planning techniques if its simply late talking. It's very hard to be still and wait.
I also would like to add, for your piece of mind, apraxia is VERY overdiagnosed by well meaning SLPs who just don't know. Its actually a very very RARE occurrence.

[spmamma]

I know it's hard OP, but try to ignore what your friends' kids are doing. Every child develops at his/her own pace.

My DD was very much like your DS at that age. She had about 25 words and couldn't put two words together in short sentences when she turned 2. I know she could understand everything we said, but she didn't try to say new things *at all*. And if we tried to get her to mimic? No way. She'd simply clamp her mouth shut and stare at us.

A few months later she started saying more and by 2.5 she was saying complete sentences. She is just now (at 2.75) starting to talk about her emotions - "I'm disappointed." "I'm sad." that kind of thing. And she'll mimic what we say.

It was hard because everyone I knew had kids who could say waaaay more than DD at a far earlier age. But she did catch up. I'm sure yours will too. It will happen quickly, though, and then you'll have a chatterbox on your hands!