20 m.o. Still Not Talking...

My son is now 2 1/2 and speaking volumes. But he didn't really take off talking until he was almost two. I wouldn't worry. With my son, it seemed like it just clicked and then there was no stopping him!

Hi J. give early intervention a call I did and I am so happy that I did. My 2yr old has only been getting speech for 3 months now but wow what a difference they are awesome! The evaluation is free and they will give you advice on how to help even if he doesn't qualify. My son's pediatrician was never concerned about his speech especially because he has an older brother that tends to talk for him but when my oldest was at a sick appt w/ a different doc she suggested it and gave me a number to call. I can't say enough about them they have been so helpful and made such a huge difference w/ Evan. He is going to be having a sensory evaluation done by them in May so hopefully they will have lots of good ideas to help him out in that area too. Early intervention only goes to age 3 so all I can say is don't hesitate to call them some babies get it from birth on for various reasons.

EDITED: I just wanted to add that anyone can refer someone to Early intervention a parent, neighbor, daycare provider, grandparent, etc it doesn't ahve to come from a doctor so make the call I still cannot say enough about them they have been wonderful. :)

I know a mom who was in the same boat as you. What ended up happening is that he was allergic to their cat. Within 2 weeks of getting rid of the cat, her son was chatting away. Also, her little boy had many ear infections which ultimately was the result of the cat allergy. Just a thought.

Hi J.,

I have four children ages 30, 23, 9 and 7. None of them really started to talk before age 2. Their late start had nothing to do with their intellect or degree of thier ability to articulate.

I think there really is a varied degree at which all children develop. If your son is engaging, interacts and communicates his needs to you puposefully through gestures or sounds he is probably developing normally.

I really don't think EI is necessary at this time based on your lettr. Admittedly, I am no professional. I just think we as a society are quick to see normal delays as disabilities. If you ask a EI specialist they will likely find some service that any child would benefit from. I tend to believe we should let children develop naturally. Play is their school. As is forming a primary trusting relationship with you and interacting with other children.

Your son is a unique individual. Unless he has overt signs of intellectual/emotional or physical disability, I would say you could easily wait until your son is about 24 months before intervening without having significant time lost.

If you start EI now and your son is speaking much better in three to four months you will believe the EI is the reason when in fact his development probably would have occurred without the intervention. Relax and enjoy your toddler. A loving mom is his best teacher.

I would bring your concerns up to your pediatrician and get his/her opinion just to reassure yourself.

J. L.

Do not listen to your pediatrician. A mother's intuition is what matters. If you feel something is wrong seek outside help. My son, now 11, is still having minor speach theraphy.

My son began Early Intervention at 16 months. I would have him evaluated just to make sure.

Good luck.

Hi,

For your own peace of mind why don't you have your son evaluated by your local Early Invention? My younger son was speech delayed and within six months of weekly speech therapist visits and a free (incredibly fantastic!!!) sign language playgroup has gone from a 12 month level of speech to a 34 month level of speech. He's 33 months old and doing incredibly well!

You can always go to your doctor to get a referral for EI if you are worried. EI will evaluate him to see if he qualifies for services. Good luck.

Hi J.,
Trust your intuition! Call a referral in yourself for early intervention with a speech pathologist. Call a local VNA on how to do this. Read to your son every day, listen to kid songs, duck.duck. goose, twinkle..., and sing them together. Make it fun and do it every day. Ask for a hearing test. Good luck L. P.

J.,

My daughter was born July 20, 2007, so she is only a few weeks older than your son. LAST WEEK, out of the blue, she started clearly repeating words - and now she's going to town. Every day, two to three new words. We crack up because the first one she clearly repeated was an accident. We were driving home from work and I got passed by an unmarked police officer. I said, out loud, "oh, I thought you were a po po" (we think the term is funny) and then my DD, from the back seat, says "PO PO". We laughed so hard! Ever since, it has been word after word. Memere (the French word for Grandma), Kiki (one of our cats), milk, juice, pop, ball... all flowing out and pretty clearly. I was worried too... and then out of nowhere, BOOM! Hang on, he's coming up to this breakthrough soon!

has he had his hearing checked by a specialist, yet? There is nothing wrong with seeking early intervention. It is always better to check everything and everything come out normal, then to wait until he is 3 or 4 and realize that something could have been done sooner. Good luck and best wishes.

I agree w/ the previous posters who recommended an early intervention evaluation.As a nurse,I've observed many pediatricians who take a wait and see approach when parents express a concern regarding developmental issues which is unfortunate because the key is evaluation and therapy early. My daughter was also born in August of 2007 and is quite a chatterbox- the past 2 weeks alone she's acquired new words daily.We joke that there's a new "word of the day" everyday.I think getting an evaluation by EI will ease your mind ,knowing he's been screened by experts and receive speech therapy if needed and that alone is priceless.Best of luck.Remember,you know your child best and you are his best advocate.

I agree with what most of the mothers have written about contacting early intervention. I was an early childhood special educator for 10 years and it is so crucial to get your child evaluated to determine if services are needed. Basically, he will either qualify or he won't. I am not sure if he will qualify, but you have legitimate concerns, especially in regards to the quality of his speech and vocabulary. If he does qualify he will receive the services he needs. If he doesn't, you will have a baseline of where he is right now which may be useful if concerns remain down the line, and they will provide suggestions for you on how to support his language at home. Often times it takes some time to get the evaluation done and begin services, so I think it is best to contact them as soon as possible. Early intervention is an important service that should be utilized when concerns are present. As you have read by others who responded, it is very beneficial to children who need it. I hope you get some answers soon.

50 words by age 2 is the average. however, each child is unique!! i would suggest to keep talking with him, also try music. singing songs together. sometimes this sparks more of an interest. good luck

It never hurts to have early intervention give him an evaluation. At 22 months, he would only be eligible for another 14 months of early intervention if he needed it. It certainly won't hurt him to have someone work on his talking. Ask at his 2 year check up, and don't let the doctor put you aside as a "paranoid or nervous" momma. I did and regret that I didn't push harder for some kind of speech help. Good luck and I am sure one of these days you'll be wishing for him to be quiet :)

Please call EI today - they'll either reassure you or begin to provide easy, play-filled activities that will stimulate more language. There's no need to wait for your son to begin talking more on his own!

Do not worry...the same happened with my daughter and within a couple of months she was chatting away. It will happen soon! If he was not talking at all it would be different, but he is verbalizing, so he is on his way. My mom told me I did not talk until I was 3, and I am fine!

Hi J.,

I would recommend having his hearing tested. My son had problems when he was little with constant fluid in his ears. He mumbled a lot and had a hard time talking in general. Come to find out, the fluid in his ears was preventing him from hearing properly- which translated into not being able to talk properly/clearly. He used to say dada, mama, bubba, but usually pointed and grunted if he wanted something. Once his hearing issues were taken care of, he skipped single words and started talking in full sentences. He just needed to hear better. We did have him in speech therapy for awhile to clear up some of the words that he had learned wrong, but now he is doing fine. I am not sure where you live, but here in NH, they have early childhood screening clinics that you can bring your child to if you suspect there is something wrong with them developmentally. The Children's Hospital at Darmouth in Lebanon, NH runs these clinics, and so does the Head start programs. I think it would be worth a call to someone just for your peace of mind.

Not really advice, but my nephew and two children in my playgroups were very late to talk. Very few words at the same age. My nephew turned a corner around 23 months and is using several words now. I would give it a few more months. Boys are often times slower to develop. (I've got three :)

hi J.,
one of my 3 older children had speech delay and i am a firm believer in early intervention. having said that, i think it is still way too early to be worrying and seeking an evaluation. your son has some speech and from the words you listed, can articulate vowels and several consonants, and is putting them together too. my recommendation would be to give him a little more time- at least until the end of the summer. like so many of the moms said here- he may and very likely will have alot more to say by then, and you don't want to feel like it is attributed to something other than his own personal development. good luck, have fun, and read to him every day. also point to things and say what they are, then ask him to say it to you. have him look at you and see how you move your lips and mouth when saying things. this has helped my 17 month old alot with saying some new words.

Hi,

I had two early talkers and my last baby, my son, was also late. I was concerned about him also but at 25 months he started talking and hasn't stopped since! I'm amzaed at how much he adds to his vocabulary in one day.
If it seems as though his hearing and responses to you and your requests are OK, I wouldn't worry. If you think something is off, contact EI or talk to your peditrician again.

Hi my name is S. and i have a toddler name Joseph.,with the same issue as you have and i recently got Early Intervention involved. They actually come out to your home, and evaluate the child. They let you know on the spot if he has a speech delay or any other issues you may not be aware of. Early Intervention is a wonderful agency and they work well with the family and the kids of course, the staff are very well educated and well staffed. They specialize in all areas with kids from birth to three years old and if need be thay make referals as well i hope that this has been helpful...Any more questions or if you would like to talk just call me at ###-###-#### S.
One more thing, I have to tell you i was very suprised that my son had a speech delay when my other three kids were all doing everything early!!! take care and good luck...

Hi J.,
I have a daughter who is now almost 2 1/2 who is also a late talker. At her 18 month check up is when her ped. referred us to Child Development Services. She has been going to speech therapy once a week for an hour since then. When we went back for her 2 year check up, the ped said that it was definitely a good thing that we had started her in therapy. The earlier you start, the better. And it's not going to do any harm. She, however, is still not really "talking," although she has many more words and also learned how to sign some common things in order to make life easier. I would say to talk to your ped. and let him know your concerns and see if s/he is willing to refer you- at least to get an evaluation done by a speech therapist. If you guys don't see eye to eye, maybe switch peds. if it's worth it. And s/he should not make you feel like you're being a paranoid mother either, make sure s/he takes your feelings to heart and is empathetic. In the long run, all children develop at their own pace and I am sure your son will catch up soon and be fine. Good luck!

J., he is STILL only a little over a year and a half! Give yourself (and Joshua) a break. He is nowhere near two yet. This is April, his birthday is August. Do you know the leaps and bounds he will grow in 4-5 months?? Don't compare him to any other kids either. I used to do that with my son all the time when he was little and it never got me anywhere. I finally stopped after a while because I said to myself, "Well, I don't want my son to be like that other kid anyway because I wouldn't want that other child. I love and want MY son." So relax, his talking will come soon and, above everything, don't let ANYONE ELSE worry you by saying, "Oh, he's not talking yet???!" Just say: "Yes, he IS talking, his vocabulary is just not that sizeable as yet."

Hi J.,

I had the same exact situation with my now almost 5 year old son. I had him evaluated by EI at 23 months and he was definitely speech delayed. After a lot of hard work with them and finally being referred to a ENT, my son needed ear tubes. After getting the ear tubes and working with EI, he improved greatly.

Good luck! If you are in the Metrowest area of MA, I recommend Dr. Oyer in Worcester as a great ENT.

Sometimes us Mom's have to go with our instincts as the pediatricians see so many kids, they sometimes don't flag things they should.

J.

Both of my sons were late talkers (I understand that it's more common for boys to talk later). Both were evaluated by EI (just to be safe) and both were fine. To qualify for EI your child must be at least 8 months behind schedule developmentally. I would give him a little more time. Especially if his gross motor skills are on track, he is likely to just be a bit of a late talker (the EI people told me this). If you are still concerned in a few months, ask about EI...I figured I had nothing to lose!

Good luck,

C.

If you are really concerned then you can call early intervention. Doctors only get a little snippet of what your child can do at a certain age. They don't look at the whole picture. Specialists with early intervention will come out and look at the whole picture. Medical history (ear infections, if he was premature, etc), family history, what he says, how he says it, and all of his other development. Now all children are of course different and they have a very broad range of when a child should be talking/walking/etc. So anyways, it can't hurt to have him tested. It's free, you don't have to wait for the doctor to say it's okay, and it can only help. They'll come to your house with a team of two and ask you all sorts of questions and play with your son to see how he performs, and they'll tell you if he qualifies or not. If not they could give you some ideas of how to promote the talking and if he does then they'll start giving you services in your home until he's 3 or has caught up. It's a great program. Until then some ideas to get him talking are teach him sign language. Encourage him to talk by not anticipating his every need. When he wants juice and you know he wants juice ask him do you want juice and really emphasize juice say juice. Just repeat words over and over again with him and eventually he'll get it and you'll wonder why you were ever worried. Or why you ever taught him to talk to begin with ;).

M.

I'm in the same boat with my daughter. She will be two in May. And to make matters worse my older son was a talker -- he had about 100 words by 1 year old -- so I really feel the difference. I'm using two as my cut off because I know being the second child with such a talkative older brother it is normal for her to be delayed. I also know that right around 2 years most kids have a "language explosion."

I can see with my daughter that much of it is stubbornness. If I ask her to say something she just shakes her head no at me. Her doctor also was not concerned at her 18 month but if she is still like this at her two year I am pushing for speech. My son goes to speech for an articulation issue -- gets it at school but i will be going to a private facility for the summer -- so I plan to get a referral for her when I call to set up his summer services if she is still so quiet.

Having said that -- trust your gut. I have been through this with my son and nephew. You will never forgive yourself if you don't do anything and later there turns out to be a problem. If you truly think there is an issue, pursue it sooner. It can't hurt and it will make you feel better.

Seems you have some great info and I would agree with the EI eval. My son was behind on his words, frustrated at times (even with knowing sign language basics).
I had the eval done at 2 as EI is only good until the shild is three.
We had a great year, made wonderful gains. We did qualify for speech in the school system and ourson is doing great. We have met our inital goals but sincehaving ear tubes put in, we have added more and will add more with another year of services we have been provided.
It has all made such a difference and I am glad to doit know as some of the items on my son's eval coudl have affected his reading skills....so I highly recommend the eval. They will go over a history of your child, want to know about ear infections, etc. as well as delivery info. It all is part of the process.
The info helped me realize a few things too. My poor son was hearing things like he was under water from all the ear infections and water that never cleared....no wonder he was not getting words from hearing them all!!!