Hearing Impairment/speaking Incorrectly?

My nephew who lived with us at that age range was much the same. At a year and a half he said very few words, most not complete or sort of backwards. A bike was a "ki" is one in particular I remember. By the time he hit two, he was talking a blue streak, and hasn't shut up since, in 20 years!!!

Very bright young man, who did well in school and is now in college!

She's only 17 mos old. Give her time. Many kids don't speak until after two, so she's doing great! If, after two, she's struggling & not really talking, then you can bring it up to her dr for a referral to a specialist. But she's fine right now...totally normal!

Hey J.,
I'm a speech therapist up in Jax! Your dtr is omitting final consonants which is okay at her age. If she is still doing it in a year, then I would have her evaluated by a speech therapist. You can do this through child find at no cost. does she seem to understand you? follow simple commands? aware of common household noises? If not, maybe have her hearing tested. Hope this helps. M.

If you are worried that something may be wrong, have the child's hearing tested. I would suggest a professional ENT doctor, and not the school system (Early Steps) because they will only test what they categorize as educationally necessary, which normally does not get to the root of the problem. What they feels a child needs to be in public school, is different than what a child needs to live their life. Most insurance companies will pay for a hearing test and ENT appointment.

I say this because the school system (yes, early steps is the school system) passed my son in a hearing test, just for us to find out a year later that he had a major hearing problem that required surgery after going to an ENT. My son stopped talking at age 1 and did not talk again until after surgery. He just could not hear properly.

My advice, and only my advice.

MY son has delays in speech as well, he actually made up his own language.

have him tested With ECI (early child Intervention). He now has speech classes and I have to tell him to 'use your words" for me to understand him.

But he is now doing well.

sounds normal to me.
neither one of mine said anything you could understand until they were 2 yrs old and now I can't get either to shut up. They seriously talk so much now I have to ask them to be quiet long enough for me to beable to think.

If there is any doubt, have her hearing check by an audiologist. If she passes then have her evaluated by a Speech Pathologist. She is still young so she just need more time to develop. But I feel it is always good to get your child evaluated in case there is something going on. It is always better to get your child started early with intervention.

She is probably fine. Maybe be aware of her stage of verbalizing, and when you are talking be careful to fully enunciate your own words. Here in the south we tend to draw out certain vowels and cut off certain consonant sounds... be sure to fully enunciate the way you want her to emulate you. Whoever she spends the most time with and talks the most to her is what she will sound the most like. :) Speak clearly, fully, and not too fast, and she will learn to speak properly just like you.
:)

It very well could be a hearing imparement!! It may not be a permanent imparement - i.e., it could just be fluid that has remained in the ear for a long time, but hasn't caused infection. I would take her to an ENT that has a full audiology lab (meaning a pure sound proof testing room). Dr. Wade Cressman is GREAT!! I have a hearing impared child (high frequency hearing loss in his right ear only), but it has not affected his talking. I also have a child that has speech delay with non-permanent hearing issues (like the fluid that I mentioned earlier).

In addition, the state of Florida offers a program called Fiddlers. They will asses your daughter and her abilities to see if there is an issue. However, the will not do this until you have had her hearing checked out. If there is a delay in her speech, they will provide you (free of charge) a therapist that will assist her in speech. If you daughter goes to a daycare, the therapist will go to the daycare and do therapy during the day and communicate with you as to her progress and things to do at home. The number to call is ###-###-####.

My recommendation is to schedule a visit with the ENT for an over view and hearing test and call to get on the schedule for the Fiddlers program. Unfortunately, it can take a few months to get things rolling with that program - obviosly because it is state funded.

One more note - just because this is state funded, don't think that you aren't getting the best therapists. These are therapists that have their own practices and have also been contracted with the state to run the program. They are all educated and experienced - not students.

Good luck and don't let this stand by! Trying to correct speech is more difficult the older they get. And if there is a hearing problem, it will affect her learning ability and safety!

Sam

I believe all children are different with their language development and that their language development isn't necessarily reflective of their hearing.
Does she hear you when you talk to her? Can she follow your commands?
She will need to see her doctor for an 18 month check up at which time you should ask about your concerns, but hopefully this is just her way of learning to talk.
Good luck.

my son is 3.5yo and i still can't understand what he says all the time. i can whisper to him and most times he can hear me. my ped said at his 3yr check up that if he didn't start to improve on his speaking then he would have to see a speech therapist. the ped did tell me (which i was already doing) to repeat the word back to him and then have him say it again correctly. what i have noticed with my son is that he is what i call a lazy speaker. for instance if he wants to say "that's for you" he'll say something like "ah a you" but when i make him say it again he'll say it perfectly. he drops a lot of his f's or make them sound like d's. and he's just getting the hang of his blending sounds. some letters kids don't pick up until a little later. i happened to be with my nephew (who had some probs at birth so he has a speech therapist) and the therapist said that my son was right on track to where he should be. kids develop at different paces. i wouldn't worry if she is at least trying to communicate with you.

OMG, relax. My first son was talking in compelte sentences by the time he was 20 months old. My second son (who is almost 4), I still can't understand him 50% of the time because he does not enunciate...AT ALL. I ask him to slow down and repeat what he is saying, but I think his brain is going to fast, everything runs together. My daughter is 23 months and is putting together 4-5 word sentences...but this just started happening THIS past month.

Does she hear you when you call her name? Does she respond to noises? Whisper to her, when she sees a cat and ask her what that is. She's probably fine.

I've heard repeatedly that you shouldn't be concerned if your child isn't talking much until they reach about two. My son only said a few words here and there and at 18 mo. it was like this light went on and now he says everything and anything. Think about it, she probably excels at other things. I think it all balances out in the end. My son was past a lot of his peers in physical growth and motor skills, but behind in linguistic skills in comparison. Now they are all about 2 1/2 and seem to be at about the same level.

My daughter is 21 months and she just started talking about a month ago...now we can't get her to be quiet!

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At 17 months, it is completely normal! You're lucky she is even attempting words. My son still wasn't finishing words at 24 months. "cah" for cat, "Tabah" for Thomas, "waah" for water. I think all toddlers start out that way. If she is still doing it at 2 or 2 1/2, then I would get an evaluation. But even some 3-5 year olds may have trouble with certain sounds ...like saying "one" instead of "run" or "dem" instead of "them".
If she has had lots of ear infections or has had tubes at all, they can do a follow-up hearing test just to be sure. It's hard to be patient because you want your child to develop fast and to be able to tell you everything and to have conversations with you, but she is not even a year and a half yet and can't be expected to perform like a 2.5 or 3 year old. I wouldn't even emphasize the word endings to her to try to encourage her yet, because if she's just not ready for it, she could end up clamming up because she knows she isn't saying it like Mommy does.

She's only 17 months so no she won't be saying complete words yet , my 4 yr old still can't say yellow properly. If you call her does she look round? If she hears a noise from the other side of the room does she look for it? If yes then probably no hearing problem , she's just how a 17 month old should be.

kinda normal but see if the school system offers speech therapy. make her look at you when you say the word correctly that is what they do in speech say it slowly and correctly she will start copying you.on cat your going to emphasis the t catttt or dog emphisis the g dogg its hard to describe it by internet but i can do it. I wouldnt actually worry about speech unless she doesnt outgrow it in 6-9 months

Hi, J.. My 21 month old does the same thing. He seems to pronounce the beginning of a word, but does not carry out the entire word. He probably uses about 20 or so words, but some are not entirely understood by others. In fact, a few words he even drops the beginning of the word. For example, when he says "again", he says "gain" and drops the "a". I always repeat the word back to him clearly, but he just says the same thing! He just started using two words together, like "bye bye, Dadda", but I literally only heard him say that a few times.

We may contact out local early intervention program to seek speech services, but we are not entirely decided at this point. My 3 yr. old needs speech therapy so we are highly considering it...(he wasn't saying ANYTHING except "mama" and "dada" at his brothers age)

Good luck, you're not alone!