Speech for 2 & 1/2 Year Old

As long as you are not saying it in judgment but rather condern. If she is evaluated before age 3, Early Childhood Intervention can really help.

tell your friend that it is FREE up to age 3 to have her evaluated.
Give her the child find/0-3 information and leave it at that.

I understand your concern for both the child and talking with your friend. I wish I could advise, unfortunately this is one of those situations that you need to do what you feel is best between friends.

I am posting because I have experience with a 2 year old that isn't talking. My daughter was just evaluated throught the Early Intervention program (free from 0 - 3). She turned 2 in December and isn't talking much. She says mama dada, etc. She has lots of word approximations and a few signs. She is very hard to understand out of context. While many people said oh, shes fine, you are worried about nothing, I decided to have her evaluated and guess what?! She qualifies for Speech and Language therapy. A child has to have a 30% delay to receive services and hers is 35%. The evaluator said that her speech is equivalent to that of a 16 month old. She does not have any cognitive delays, just speech.

Given that, I would say that your friend's daughter would benifit from at least an evaluation - it surly won't hurt and in the long run could be of great help to her. The quicker these things are "caught" the quicker they can be resolved.

That's tough. Maybe ask her about her doctor visits and how the doctor said how the child is doing. Most doctors who are not real familiar with this type of situation don't notice until the age of 3. The first thing they do is do a hearing test to rule out that as a cause. Then see a speech therapist or school psychologist to evaluate for any therapies. The younger you catch it the better so therapy can be started. Just be very supportive. It is hard when you find out your child is "not perfect". I think all us parents expect everything to be perfect. I don't know if you have some kind of background that would make it easier to broach this subject with her. Good luck.

Hi T.,
I had a Speech Therapist explain to me once that 2 yr olds should be using (minimum) 2-word sentences; (3 yo's 3-word sentences, etc). It sounds like your friend's child is far behind.

The trouble is, bringing it up with your friend. If you are close, you should be able to voice your concern; but once you have said your peace, if your friend does not want to acknowledge the problem (denial, fear, anger, etc) you will need to butt out unless others in the family are already concerned (which, by now, someone should be).

Tread lightly, and carry a big heart!
T

Do you see this child often? If not, maybe she was just shy around you and didn't speak. My 3 year old has an amazing vocabulary, but around people he doesn't see often, he becomes shy and won't speak or answer their questions.

I'm sure if this is truly an issue the mother is aware of it. I would stay out of it and mind your own business unless you are prepared for the mother to be irritated at you for pointing it out. Nothing brings out the "Mama Bear" in a woman like someone telling them something is wrong with their child.

In my opinion, she sounds fine. My daughter is 2 and she can not say her own name? She does not have a huge vocabulary...Mom, dad, juicy, no, why, Matthew, and that's about it really. She tries to say more stuff but most is still unrecognizable. There is nothing wrong with her. I would just make sure you say whatever you decide you need to say, nicely. If you haven't been around her all that much, you might want to reserve your judgment for a couple more months..she is still pretty young and I've heard of tons of kids who were late talkers.

Unless this woman is a very close friend of yours and you are truly worried and feel in your heart of hearts that their might be a development issue, I wouldn't bring it up. I am sure her mother can take care of her just fine.

My son had that issue as well. You might gently suggest that they talk to a WIC nurse or their doctor about early intervention services for speech and language. It's hard to admit that there might be something wrong with your child, but it's so hurtful to them when parents don't admit there is a problem. The child will suffer in school, especially. We got Jimmy into the program and it's done wonders. His speech has improved by leaps and bounds. He's still getting lessons while at PreK, but the improvement is amazing. His behavior has improved as well.
Just ask your friend if they have talked to anyone about her language skills and most important, just be gentle and loving about it, not confrontational or judgemental.

My 2.5 year old can say several hundred words very clearly and strangers can understand her the vast majority of the time. My oldest had a large vocabulary, too, when he was 2.5 but was understood less than 10% of the time so he was in speech for a few years. My other child was more average with around 100-200 words at 2.5 and understood about half the time.

All kids are different. The "average" varies greatly but most 2 year olds should be able to say 3-5 word sentences and have a spoken vocabulary of 100-200 words and a receptive vocabulary much larger than that.

When in doubt, just call First Steps for a free in-house evaluation. You can mention it to the parents but don't press the issue if they refuse or don't think anything is wrong. If they are first time parents and don't have their child in preschool or around many other children they may have no clue what 'average' is.

I think by 2 or so a toddler should be able to say about 50 words and start putting 2 words together. I'm not sure how to go about bringing it up with the parents though. Did they mention it at all? My daughter is in speech therapy through First Steps and has been for 6 months. Although her issue with speech may be some hearing loss.

I'd suggest First Steps, but by the time they evaluate and go through paperwork, she'll age out. Does she take her daughter to regular well-visits? A good pediatrician will have her filling out a long survey that will bring up any development issues.

It's not uncommon for a 2-1/2 year old to only be able to say 2 words and not be able to ennunciate her name. Some children talk earlier than others. The only time I am really concerned about a 2-1/2 year old not talking that much is when they are displaying any pre-linguistic skills like pointing at objects or pictures to show them to some one, looking at an object that a person is pointing out to them, or not responding by turning their head to look when their name is called out. If she seems to be doing all these things, chances are that she will start talking when the time is right.

You may also want to check with how well she is feeding herself. If she has difficulty chewing and swallowing her food, this may be an indicator that she may have some oral motor planning issues that should be evaluated by a speech therapist. Oral motor planning issues will effect how well a child can talk and how willing a child will be to try to talk.

Hi T. - yes, I think you are right on target and you should voice your concern to your friend. By 2 1/2 kids should have a vocab. of over 100 words and be able to put together 2-3 word sentences to communicate at least wants and needs. I brought up a concern I had to my sister-in-law about her 2yr old daughter not speaking and in fact, I brought it up several times but each time she said her doctor suggested waiting until 3 to have her checked.

She waited until 3 and voila! she was shown to have a speech delay and was put in a small group speech class with the school district.

Later, when I expressed a concern with my son's speech at 15 months and then again at 18 months and again at 20 months, each time my doc said that he would come around and that there are different levels of "normal". My son was smart, interactive and resourceful but he had a very hard time expressing himself with words and understanding what we were telling him. I called my s-i-l about who to call for help with speech problems and she told me about Child Find in Colorado. They did a complete speech, behavioral and developmental assessment on my son at no cost and also performed a complete audiology exam. He qualified and received weekly in-home speech therapy until he turned 3. He is now attending preschool through Childfind to help him prepare for kindergarten. We also have him in private speech therapy - the 2 combined is working wonders. My only regret is that I didnt investigate sooner. He could have received speech therapy 6 months earlier and been all that farther alone.

Every state has a version of "Child Find Part C" It helps kids from birth to 3 yrs old with speech and other developmental delays and provides testing and therapies at little or no cost.

"The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires all states to have a comprehensive Child Find system to ensure that all children who are in need of early intervention or special education services are located, identified, and referred" (From the Child Find website)

Please share this information and my post with your friend. She is welcome to contact me if she has any questions.

my 2-1/2 yr old cant say her name either and I have never even thought twice about having her tested! We spoiled her and never made her REALLY have to ask for stuff, which is our fault...but there is nothing wrong with her and she is very smart. She tries to say a few words for stuff she is really interested in, but thats all. My niece is staying on the same property here and is 1-1/2 and saying and repeating every word she hears. I will say its different for me to hear a baby talking because MINE don't. She is her own individual and I know all kinds of 2-1/2 yr olds that don't say much. It doesn't sound like a problem for YOU to worry about! Your friend should know and worry about her own child!