I am almost scared to post this. Question for anyone have/had similar problem. I have a 23 1/2 mo old son (3rd child to two older sistes) My son was tongue tied until about 5 months and didn't seem to hit his speech goals at that time, no rasberries etc. we then had the tie corrected and he seemed to start doing more with his tongue. problem now is he is nearly two and has no two word phrases, does not refer to himself as I or me, but will say mine, he does say somethings on his own without being prompted, about thirty words by himself, but I can get probably another 20 words if I ask him to say drink, cup, down etc. He is very independent and today had a visit with a developmental therapist that said he did well but scored about like a 15 1/2 month old because he doesn't talk much. he did all of her puzzles and pointed to pictures and fed the baby doll and built the blocks but just wasn't chatty, although he never is. He has an appointment with a speech therapist on Friday, and I am just devistated, I don't know if he really has a huge problem or just is stubborn and has older sisters doing everything for him? I asked the therapist if she thought he might be autistic and she said no she could tell he was fine by the way he looked, whatever that means, if you look at him you can tell he is smart, he follows directions, actually better than my 3 yr old, he pays attention, likes to immitate, will answer yes or no, is very athletic ie jumps kicks a ball throws etc. but just no talking, my heart is hurting for him, any suggestions???

thanks

Hi there. I just read your post about your son being a late talker. I'm a teacher at a daycare center and I work with the same age group that your son is. The children move into the 2 year old's class when they turn two. Most of the children that have been in my classroom say a few words, but it is after they turn 2 when they really begin talking, and saying more words in a sentence. Most of the children I have had can speak one word at a time, like cat, puppy, drink, eat, and words like that. Hope that helps you get an idea.

Annie

If your son is talking a little...saying words that can be understood than i wouldn't worry. Not all children talk at your son's age. I know my daughter was more behind at that age than your son is and she caught up pretty quickly. At 2 she barely said anything, mommy, bye those kinds of things that most babies are saying by 18 months, she was barely saying by 2. The good news is once she hit day care she really picked up alot of words. I think that some kids just don't talk alot. I know my 23 month old talks quite a bit, she'll use 2-3 word sentences, uses words properly, but around other people your lucky to get one word out of her much less something understandable. So every child is different. I would worry too much about how many words he says etc, if he's talking a little, and seems to have the ability to learn new words than i wouldn't worry too much. Is he in any kind of play group? if you can get him into either a playgroup or daycare than he may start copying the other children like my daughter did.
Your son doesn't sound like he has any major problems with speech to me, he sounds as if he's within the normal limits. Some kids just aren't talkers. The speech therapist will be able to give you more of an idea, but your son sounds like he is fine.

HI,
My sister's son sounds exactly like your child. My daughter who is 6 months younger talks more than my nephew. We started teaching him sign language b/c he was just unbarable behavior wise. So he signs and uses words to communicate. But not enough to really say he can talk. But a lot of the time he just gets mad and screams or growls. My sister is very upset that my daughter far exceeds her sons speaking abilities. I think you are taking the right steps by consulting doctors and therapists. If you find out anything, please post it. My nephew has seen doctors etc... and nobody seems to know what is going on with him. He was born with a clubbed foot and has had many surgeries. He is all fixed now, but I often wonder if being put to sleep several times before he was one has anything to do with it. He mostly just wonders around and does not really "play" with other kids. I have 4 kids and they try to play with him, but get frustrated since he cannot talk. Good luck, God bless!!

One more thing... go with you gut. If you think he is slow or something pursue it. Moms' know best. you never know, it might be nothing but I would hate to risk it. My sister has not done much for my poor nephew. Thank God my mother is involved and has committed to teaching him and my kids sign language so at least he can ask for things when he wants them.

I agree with the last posters comment about moms know best. My son was a late talker and family and friends all told me it was because he was a boy and not to worry about it. I chose to go on my own feelings and get him in for testing and they started him on speech therapy. He was about 2 at the time and when he turned 3 he was started in a special preschool program run by our county that puts him in a normal class that also has kids with speech delays in it so that they get the experience around the other kids who talk more normally but are not the only ones who don't and was taken with the other kids for part of the day to have speech therapy that was designed around his needs. This helped him alot he loved it and didn't know it was any different from the what the other kids did. Also when he started kindergarted they already had all of his progress reports and knew his abilities so we didn't have to do all the special ed testing when he was in school. He is now 9 and going in to the fourth grade in the fall he is a little behind on his reading because phonics is not easy on a kid who didn't learn words early but his doing great and loves school and nobody knows anything different. If you have any questions just ask. By the way did he have frequent ear infections or anything when he was a baby? As this can cause speech delays also. That is part of my sons problem. :wave:

My sister was the same she used too say ugg,and i would know wat she wanted,i wa 18mths older.she was like that til about 2 and then she just started talking,and now she never stops........

thanks everyone!! We are meeting with slp today so I will let you know what happened.

cathy

thanks everyone!! We are meeting with slp today so I will let you know what happened.

cathy :p