[oceanbaby]

I was just wondering what is happening with the other toddlers here that aren't talking yet, based on an older thread that had been going. (I have a hurt thumb, making it hard to type, so please excuse typos and bluntness.)

Ds will be 2.5 in 5 weeks. That is the age we said we would wait for before beginning any speech therapy, so I'm starting to get a bit anxious. We did have an evaluation done a few months ago, and they said to check back in a bit, as they couldn't determine if he wasn't talking due to a delay or due to a unique learning style. Also, I didn't talk until 2.5, and apparently this can be hereditary.

However, I am getting worried. Still not a single word (other than no, uh oh, wow, etc.) He says "ta ta" for yes. He's created a lot of new guestures to comunicate what he wants. He has started imitating animal sounds, but he says "boo" for "moo", which worries me a bit.

We have a hearing test scheduled in a few weeks. There are no obvious signs of hearing loss, but I just want to be able to rule it out.

So, what is going on with everyone else? Any progress?

 

[The Lucky One]

Just found this thread. I just replied to your 'freaking out' thread in TAO.

I'm so glad to hear you are having your ds's hearing tested. Really. The speech therapist we see said that even a 20 decible difference (really small) can make a difference when it comes to speech development. The hearing test we had went really fast and ds did just fine with it.

As for us, we've been in therapy for almost 3 months. One problem we did identify was that ds's frenulum was too tight. We ended up letting him have the surgery to release it and the dr said it was one of the tighter one's he had seen. I do think that was part of ds's problem and would explain why he can easily say some words and sounds and never make others. He still has trouble moving his tounge. He can stick it out, but cannot make it go from side to side or lick his upper lip. We're starting to work on exercises to get his tongue going. I'm not convinced that the tongue is the total problem. It's almost like he's missing a connection somewhere when it comes to speech. For instance, he's very into learning his alphabet. He can point to any letter you ask him and can say several of them. I had been trying to get him to say 'D'-dee. He would try and something weird would come out. One day though, he was playing by himself and I hearding him saying 'dee' 'dee' 'dee'. He wasn't looking at the letter 'D', but was merely making the noise. I ran and grabbed the letter from our alphabet puzzle and showed him all the while repeating what he was just saying. It clicked right then and there and he's been able to look at the letter 'D' and say it ever since. But what a weird way to learn, don't you think? I don't think that's typical. Most kids his age have no trouble repeating with fairly good accuracy what they hear, esp sounds.

Also, the words he can say confuse me. He can say 'na-na' easily for banana and loves to yell 'Ohhhh' when he sees the letter 'O', but he can't say 'no-no.' Also, he can say words like scissors, 'zhizhrs', and oval, 'Oh-hal', but cannot say easier words like 'baby' or 'bye-bye'.

I don't know. He confuses me and I still worry about him. And it does hurt a bit when my friends ds who is 4 months older than ds is talking up a storm and I don't think that kid has ever been read to a day in his life. I try to keep my chin up. He is finally saying 'ma-ma' and 'da-da' specific to us and that is like a treasure. And he and I are so in tune that I don't think he needs to talk for me to be able to know what he needs and what he is thinking, but yet I long to hear his little voice and even more I can't wait till his speech is up to par with the rest of him. He's so darned smart. Sharp as a tack this kid is and such a great personality, I just hope the language comes before HE realizes he has a problem.

Sorry this has gotten so long. I could talk about my ds forever and this has been such a worry for me that it's always great to hear from and about others.

Take care, Oceanbaby, and keep us updated.

lisa

 

[The Lucky One]

Bump.

C'mon, I know there are others.

lisa

 

[racermom]

i just entered the words speech therapy and yor posts came up. My daughter is 2.3 yrs old and I'm worried about her speech development. I'm raising her bilingual and at first I assumed that the two languages might be confusing for her. However, we've met so many bi and trilingual families where kids her age seem to be already fluent in two languages. DD has trouble pronouncing some letters so that most of the words that come out of her mouth are hardly understandable for others who are not around her all the time. The othere day she wanted her "tatle" and after remebering that we played with a castle a couple of days ago I realized right away what she wanted. She is such a smart little girl and I also think her hearing works well. When I wisper the word ice-cream she responds... I stopped comparing her with other kids her age. I just don't want her to be frustrated because nobody understands her. I mentioned it to my pediatrian and she suggested to wait. Let's see how she'll be doing next year. She'll be 2 1/2 in January and if it's still so bad I have her evaluated.

 

[Shenjall]

When my ds was 2 1/2 he spoke the same amount as your son. His dr was freaked and wanted him in speech therapy pronto so we made the appt. At home we decided just to wait it out a little longer as he was already going to so many follow up appts and hated each and every one. (he was 10 weeks preemie). I am happy to announce that his speech has increased sooo much in a year! His vocabulary is quite large and understands alot. I guess I just wanted you to know that there are many late talkers out there and that they do come around!
Good Luck!

 

[Potty Diva]

We're BACK!!!!!

:LOL

This morning we had a doctors appointment with our family doctor. I wanted a referral to a speach therapist for an evaluation for Kailey. I just want to know either way if there is a delay. Kailey is 32 months as of 10/20/2003. She said she thought she was fine, but gave me the referral just so I would feel comfortable. I don't think I could stop kicking myself if I didn't go with myy instincts and have her speach evaluated. If there isn't a problem then we know, but if we don't go, and there is, I would hate myself for not getting intervention early.

Kailey is very bright when it comes to comprehension, and learning new tasks. In fact I think in most cognitive areas she excells. It's just her speaking that lacks.

She will say:
ah for banana
lurlur for lizard
yo-yor for yogurt
ah for apple

and others I can't think of now. She also says the beginning of words and not the end, but then she says some large words really easily. I can't seem to find the common denominator in her speaking though. Like having trouble with a certain sound.

I am perplexed.

The nurse called this afternoon and we have an appointment scheduled for Nov 4th at 3 pm, so I'll post back here after that.

 

[indiegirl]

At 2.7 my dd Violet could say about 25 words or approximations. She knew about 20-25 signs. Things around our house were pretty terrible; she was tantruming and the communication issue was a BIG deal.

Took her in for a speech eval--she was assesed at a19mo old level.

Took her in for a hearing eval about two weeks later.

She has a moderate hearing loss! She hears at 55 dbs. Just outside of human speech.

She got hearing aids on July 1 and our world is forever changed. Her vocab is well over 200 words now and she was recently assessed at about 2.3 years as far as speech is concerned. She is in heavy-duty speech therapy and its still a struggle sometimes, but we're getting there.

PM me if you want to talk.

 

[Potty Diva]

Indie~

Could Kailey's speach delay be related to hearing loss?

 

[indiegirl]

What sounds does she say well?

Does she respond to sounds when you are behind her and she doesn't know you are there?

Do you find yourself gesturing a lot when you are trying to explain stuff?

 

[indiegirl]

BTW, our family doc completely missed V's hearing loss.

A slight loss can have monumental impact on speech development. It's amazing.

 

[Potty Diva]

Wow! I had no idea.

Sounds she says well...

She says the sounds she *does* say pretty well, none more than others.

She can repeat all words that we ask her to, and in most cases just doesn't say the end of the word, and then I gave examples of words above.

She says baby, but not banana. She says soup, but says susu for cereal.

It's pretty spardic to me. I am hoping the seach therapist will be able to help.

She responds to sounds either spoken normally or whispered from behind her when she doesn't know we are there.

I don't use a lot of gesturing, but I do like to be clear on what I am asking of her, or what I am explaining(so it's on her level).

 

[racermom]

Teresa,

Moira seems to have a very similar problem. She swallos the end of the a lot of words, yet she's able to repeat difficult words such as umbrella. Just this morning we had a playdate with a girl slightly older. The difference between the two of them struck me big time. I'm just so scared to expose her to all that testing and evalutaing. However, it wouod be great if you posted the outcome of the evaluation. I also would like to know how speech therapists work with kids as young as ours.

Susanne

 

[indiegirl]

Endings to words are pretty hit and miss at this age. V's ST isn't as concerned with that as she is with sound development at this point. I think not putting endings on words is fairly age-appropriate at this point.

Getting a hearing test certainly doesn't hurt; V would repeat any word we asked her to, but she was not incorporating it into speech on her own. That went on for ages...

ST is definitly going to help things, regardless of her hearing ability. Good luck to you.

Jesse

 

[momofgentleboy]

I have a late talking son who at 21 months says only a few words routinely, and will say, every once and a while, a new word, that I will rarely hear again.

He has said some pretty tough things like bluhberee, for blueberry and read it, but will only regularly say mama, dada, I uve oo, for I love you, and huhsh for hush, which we say before bedtime.

I have him in an early intervention program for speech and occupational therapy. I'm adding our experience because his speech delay seems linked to something the OT calls sensory integration. The muscles in his mouth and tounge thrive on a very high amount of sensory input, otherwise, they don't feel awake. He literally cannot feel these muscles well. It's like hypotonia or poor muscle tone in the mouth and with him, it is an issue with the muscles in his mouth. It effects his feeding too. He prefers to drink his food, and eats soft food and really crunchy foods because crunchy foods give him the sensory input he needs.

I don't know if this rings true for any of you, but, it is worthwhile to seek an evaluation. At this age, it just feels like extra attention and is not stigmatizing. All his services are at home.

My son is also very bright and is very motor coordinated in every other way. I'd like to think that because I held him so much and gave him so much physical attention that I helped him achieve the central nervous system control he has. It could have been worse I guess.

So, now I do mouth massages with him, and experiment with sensory games to help him coordinate his mouth better. Who knew that this could be a learning issue for some children? but I guess it isn't unusual from what his OT says. Hope this helps you think about other possibilities. Often doctors know little about this too, by the way, and if you are curious you may want to check into a book called the "out of sync child" which talks about the importance of sensory integration in learning language, among other things.

 

[patchouligirl]

Hey momofgentleboy,

Your post really hit home with me. i have a 21 month old DS who also speaks very little. The only words he says are mama, dada and vroom vroom. He says those really well though.

He also signs eat, more, all done and please. He seems very bright. He understand directions and can point to anything you name. i don't think he has any hearing loss, he hears airplanes going over head before i do.
i've been trying not to worry about it, my MIL told me my DH didn't speak until he was 2. i talked to my Dr. and she wanted to wait until he was 2 before doing any tests.
However, what you wrote about eating is very true with my DS. He doesn't like most solid food, and lately only wants to drink liquids all day or eat ice chunks.
i've been really working with him, trying to get him to say some simple words. He will try to mouth the word back, but he doesn't make the correct sounds or mouth movements. So it just comes out kind of an open mouthed groan.
How much do you think this delay affects later learning? Do you think this is something a child could outgrow, or do you think therapy is necassary?
i'm curious because whenever i voice concerns about my DS not speaking yet, i hear story after story of children who didn't speak a word until they were 3. Seems more common with boys, just from my own observation.
Any thoughts? i'm going to look into that book. My ds never took a pacifier, and never sucked him thumb, never chewed up his board books...he never really put things in him mouth like most children. i'm wondering if there is a connection somewhere? Just a thought.

 

[Potty Diva]

What it comes down to mamas is trusting your instincts. I want to find out if we need early intervention, instead of waiting until she is 8 or 9 and finding something wrong.

Go with what your gut tells you

 

[stirringleaf]

my son doesnt say alot of words "intellegably" either, at 20 mos, and i have not once considered him to be a late talker. he says alot of words, i dont know how many, but usually i am the only one who can follow his pronounciations. he has some that he can say perfectly. i know there are kids his age that talk more, but i am not worried.

so i am a little shocked at how young of toddlers some of you are worried about....21 mos??? what age are they supposed to talk perfectly anyway???

my experience in childcare has lead me to thin that it is such a wide range between like 16 mos and 3 , that i wouldnt even worry till 3 i guess.... am i off? anyone have links to good websites about it?

i am not discounting your worries at all since mama knows best, and i think your instincts are proably leading you all to good things, seeing how many of you were right that somethign was wrong and were fortuantaly able to address hearing loss issues at such young ages, thats really good!

but now i am second guessing my self since i have no idea when i should get worried...

 

[momofgentleboy]

Stirringleaf,

No need to be sensitive about this if you have no concerns. I do think, however, you should read my and Patchouli's post more carefully though as you did not fully understand our concerns and were generalizing it to your child's situation.

While it isn't unusual for a child to speak unintelligebly to other's except for a parent, that is not what I or Patchouli were saying was our child's situation. It is worrisome to a parent when their almost two year old child does not speak at all or rarely attempts to speak. That, in combination with texture sensitivities to food usually always indicates some sort of oral motor problem, just like a child can have flaccid muscles in the legs or chest and be unable to walk or bend over well. Wouldn't you worry if your child didn't walk at 21 months and didn't even try to?

Most of the time, I hear from people that I shouldn't be concerned and he'll outgrow it. You can, if you choose, take that route with your child as you know best what your child needs. But, if I was educated about this earlier, I would have gotten him help when I first noticed his inability to eat table food at 12/13 months.

Patchouli, I do think it can't hurt to have your child evaluated. It helps me when I think about my son's sensory learning style and it can only help over the coming years when we approach anything he will learn. Information allows us to be the best advocates, right? And the exercises that the OT teaches him strengthen his musculature in his mouth which helps him to eat and to speak. It's a win/win situation as far as i'm concerned.

 

[squeakermansmom]

remember me, oceanbaby? i posted on your last thread about late talkers. i've been wondering how your son is doing. anyway, my ds is 19 months old now....and i think i'm still kinda where i was before. some days i'm not worried at all and other days i'm calling for a speech eval. of course when we went for our 15 month well child visit the pediatrician (she's very holistic and a great ped.) thought i was nuts for even thinking he was behind in his speech. but, she thought this mainly b/c he signs so much. needless to say, she didn't give me a referral for a speech eval and i haven't felt the need to pursue it....yet. what amazes me is that i have it in the back of my head almost all the time while dh never thinks about it. i worry and blame myself constantly thinking..."if i only talked to him more", "if only i worked with him more", "if only i read to him more" "or talked to him differently".....you get my drift. i am constantly worrying and wondering what i have done or not done to cause this. its not like he sits in front of the TV for hours on end, yet i see friend's kids who do watch tv ALOT and are speaking circles around my ds.

here's what he's saying and you all can give me your opinion..... he clearly says Mama and Dada. He says boo for book. "Ba" for ball. "Da" for dog. "Poo" for pool. "Poo Poo" for poop in his diaper. "Pee Pee" for pee in his diaper. He has no down pat. and he regulary does "bee daa" for big truck which only me and dh would understand. he says all of these consistently and frequently. my concern stems from the fact that most of what he says is very unintelligible to the outsider, even me sometimes. he does babble regularly - like he's speaking in full sentences, but i have no idea what he's saying. my other concern is that at 18 months i think they're supposed to be putting two and three words together which he really isn't doing except for the big truck. on a positive note, our communication is good since he probably does over 30 signs. interestingly though the terms he has signs for he hasn't even attempted to try and verbalize.

i try to "work" with him - showing him colors and trying to get him to verbalize them back (in fun ways) but he doesn't show any real interest in learning them at this point. same with numbers. i know he's young, its just hard not to compare him when you see little susie at playgroup reciting the alphabet and counting to 5.

sorry to drone on forever - its a huge issue for me. we have another well child visit tom, so i'll let you know how it goes.

 

[oceanbaby]

Jodi - I wanted to let you know that my ped says she won't worry about speech or refer to therapy until the kid is at least 2. Ds is 2.5, and we are supposed to reevaluate at our next appt. in mid November.

He 'talks' constantly, but very little of it is understandable, even by me. He doesn't say mama or dada. And he tends to be very physical with his communication, making up little gestures and movements to convey what he wants. And I have to say, he is actually pretty good at getting his message across. It's just starting to make me nervous.

He has just recently started counting, in his own way of course. He won't say "one", but he says "doo, twee, pour, pve, ix" usually in the right order, but not always. I was shocked when he did that. Of course the neighbor boy, who is 6 months younger, has been clearly counting to 10 for months now.