Is Your 2 Year Old Speaking Clearly (Articulation)?

My 2 1/2 year old son still mostly speaks his language. He can say words. But its not like he is speaking full sentences.

My son 2 year old has a speech therapist, because he didn't have many words earlier on. He's progressed a lot - he has a LOT of words now. But, most people can't understand him. I usually can, and so can his dad and brother, although even we have trouble sometimes.

When I brought this up to the speech therapist, she said that this is not something to worry about until after age 3, at the earliest. She said that as long as he is making the association of words with things, that is all we want to look at right now. She said we should do exactly what you are doing (model correct pronunciation), but do not worry about it beyond that.

Good heavens! He is just 2.5 yrs. old! It's rare for a child that age to speak clearly all of the time. Maybe you need a different therapist (?) Just because a child has such & such difficulty in one area it doesn't mean said child should be labeled in another area. I have had children who spoke nearly as an adult @ age 2 and another, more recent child who didn't speak clearly or rather, basically at ALL until age 3, now we can't keep him quiet! Give him time, mama...Best!

Don't read anything into what she said. I have 4 kids and two of them didn't even start talking until 2 at which time, not a soul could understand a word they said. Today those two are over the top smart (one is 6 and can do a majority of his bother's 6th grade math).

I remember at the time I had asked the Pediatrician about it because my first child could speak full, clear sentences by the time he was 1. The doc said my kids were perfectly fine and they do not start worrying about speech issues until at least 3.

I bet your L. guy does not have a problem at all, it is probably that the therapist just isn't around him to understand him well. Maybe you could ask her if her difficulty understanding him is interfering with the therapy. As a professional, she should be able to give you a clear answer and you can make a plan. Maybe you need a new therapist.

Good luck!

Stop worrying. 2.5 year olds are impossible to understand! 4 year olds are nearly impossible to understand (what's up with that!? it's like my clear daughter all of a sudden has stopped being able to articulate!)

My son is 2 1/2 and he does speak very clearly. I would talk to your ped if you are really concerned, because every child- even in the same family- starts speaking on a different schedule.
My son's speech really exploded last summer when we did the Library's summer reading program.
Same deal this year; his speech and pronunciation/articulation and vocabulary are just exploding in the past 2 weeks!

When my son was 2, he did not have clear articulation. I could understand almost everything he said, so it didn't occur to me that there was a problem until he started going to mother's day out at age 3. The teachers there suggested that I have him evaluated. They thought he might be acting out because he was frustrated that no one could understand him. The tests found that he had no problems with hearing and understanding, and had a great vocabulary. It was just certain sounds he could not say, and substituted other sounds for them inconsistently. At age 4, they helped him work on sounds like s, f, sh, ch, st, r, tr. There were enough kids his age in the school district that needed similar help that they combined them all into a sort of pre-k class (which didn't work for him, but that's another story).

There are plenty of charts online that will tell you which sounds are normal for which age. It seems like most of the charts say b,p,m,w,h,n are normal for age 3, and next is k,d,g,t, and ng.

I have twin boys they just turn 25 month today...They still speak in their own language they said some full words that I understand but most of the time I don't understand anything at all...Lol...the pediatrician said is normal boys are slower than girls...but is good to talk to them with full correct words, so they learn the right way.

My son is 2.5 and speaks very clearly. He uses appropriate inflection and complete sentences and has a good vocabulary. He has been exposed to words all his life. We always spoke clearly to him and we read a lot. Even though I could understand him, when he was first learning words, I always restated what he wanted clearly so he could learn how to say it correctly.

That said, I think there is a very wide range of "normal" here and I wouldn't be too quick to worry. I have a friend whose daughter didn't speak until she was almost 3. They had her in therapy and the diagnoses were always inconclusive. Around 3 years of age, she just started talking - in complete sentences, etc. She was just ready.

Is the OT through Early Intervention? If so, there is no harm in getting a speech evaluation. If it really is just articulation, 2 1/2 is really young still to worry.

I had two children who were understandable at that age and one who barely talked at athat age! All kids are different!

"By 36 months, cannot be understood by others at least 50% of the time"
Read more at Suite101: Speech Delay Warning Signs: When to Seek Help for a Toddler who is not Talking | Suite101.com http://suite101.com/article/speech-delay-warning-signs-a1...

My 5 year old: our pediatrician actually told us we should have ECI (early childhood intervention, who helps with speech until a child's 3rd birthday) come and work with my son when he was 2, because he wasn't talking much. Just a handful of clear words. My husband said that was ridiculous and said NO. When we had to go back to the pediatrician for an ear infection, she was mad that I hadn't done what she said, so I did get in touch with them. When my family friend, who is a professional speech therapist for the school district, found out that Joseph was in ECI she was surprised and said he didn't need that, but we did it anyway because I felt "pressured" and wanted his pediatrician to know I will do EVERYTHING to help my kids. ECI gave me a L. advice/ideas on playing with him, but they stop at his 3rd birthday and he wasn't really talking all that much (clearly) but he was very engaging and laughed at jokes, so they didn't think he was behind in a way that warranted special therapy. There's nothing wrong with him, during the kindergarten assessment a couple weeks ago she said he was ahead of every other student she's had so far this year and was very excited to work with him come fall. BUT it took him until a L. after 3 to really start talking where people outside the family could understand. That was just his thing.

Now, that child will not shut up. EVER. So instead, when it came around to his L. brother, we joked that we will NEVER call ECI to "kickstart" him. He actually talks much more than my eldest did at his age, and I can understand him just fine, but I know that his articulation needs work. Sometimes strangers understand him, sometimes they don't. I've started trying to talk slower, or sing songs slowly, to help him along. He's a very smart L. guy though: this morning he saw me gathering the laundry bags in the kids' rooms and he went to my bedroom and sorted all the clothes (pants in one stack, daddy's work shirts in another stack, a stack of whites, and a stack of colors), all neatly piled, when I wasn't even in the room. Then he went to our bathroom to pull our towels off the rack and put them in the white stack. He knows some shapes, 10 colors, 1/2 the alphabet by sight, and can count to 5. There's nothing wrong with him, even if he does need some time with his speech.
I say PLAY games with your children a lot. Basically all ECI really did with my eldest was pull out his books or toys, sit on the floor with him, talk to him clearly and slowly, have him point at things and tell her what they do or whatever, and they played trains and whatever he wanted to play, but just talked A LOT while they played. "The train goes UP the bridge! Oh, the train goes DOWN the hill"...that kind of stuff. If there's no other things that concern you, I would say don't worry, just spend time with him and have fun. He'll blossom in his time. A pediatrician, on your son's next visit, will be able to tell you what he/she thinks.
One more thing: my speech therapist friend says that it is very common for boys to speak a bit later than girls.

My 4 1/2 yr old has a phonologic disorder that impacts articulation. For a stranger, she's about 60% understandable depending on context. At 2 1/2 she sounded like every other 2 1/2 year old. By 3 1/2 her vocabulary and conversation began to extend to context beyond what was immediately around us, and it was extremely frustrating to her when I could no longer understand her. For example, she told me she wanted to hear the Lemonade Mouth CD, and I thought she was talking about wanting her Mickey Mouse toy. Lemonade Mouth --> Mickey Mouse....they sounded very similar when she prounounced them. In hindsight, I think her frustration had been building for about 6 months, but the biggest wound to her was when her own mom didn't know what she was saying. She has been in speech therapy almost a year, and her SLP is in an office that also does OT. Since the OT has broached the subject, I'd ask if she thinks your son needs a speech evaluation or just needs to be monitored right now? She isn't an SLP, but she probably knows when it's a good idea to have an evaluation. The earlier speech issues are addressed the better, as it impacts how a child learns to read and write (I didn't know that until we were in therapy) and also impacts their social skills.

My daughter has come leaps and bounds in the past year in terms of her speech errors and in her articulation. Although she is very outgoing and an extrovert, she still tries not to talk much when playing with kids she doesn't know (at the park, etc). Kids that do not know her will often tell her "I don't know what you are saying." She tries to get me to answer their questions, such as saying her name, etc. so that they will understand her. I feel sad for her when that happens, and it also diminishes her self-confidence. I wish I'd known she was having some speech issues sooner and had started the therapy earlier. Ask the OT what her thoughts are on whether your son should be evaluated at this time.

One of my sons spoke very clearly at two, the other did not. He went to speech therapy for a couple of years, and by kindergarten his speech was fine. I look after a lot of two year olds, and I can not understand most of them, most of the time, although I'm sure that their parents understand them.

My L. guy is almost 3 (in August) and there are many times when I can't understand him. (especially when he's angry and frustrated.... or tired...) I consider it to be perfectly normal...

There's a wonderful book by comedian, Jay Mohr, and he has a whole section on how he misses his son's weird Bostonian accent from when he was L.. It's a funny book, but there are many heartfelt moments in there as well. It's called "No Wonder my Parents Drank: Tales from a Standup Dad." I reread it often when I have a bad day...