Toddler Talking - Normal Development??

[Wrongmoreoftenthannot]

My DS is 2.6, he is very chatty but the majority of the time its all babble. The babble does have inflections and a type of pattern to it, so you can tell if hes babbling a question for example, just not what he's actually asking! He has always done this from an early age and so we were bombarded with "oh he'll be talking early" etc etc

He tends to say words once or twice then not again, and doesn't every really say Mummy or Daddy. He does say dog, car, cat and probably a few more words quite often.

He will also point to animals in a book and say the animal name and a noise that are almost correct but then the next time he says it it will sound slightly different. He will not repeat words back at you if you try to encourage him.

It hasn't really bothered me until now as MIL and FIL and my DParents have made a few comments about him not talking properly and maybe he needs some help.

He goes to a nursery at an Independent school and they don't seem concerned and have not mentioned anything to me.

Should I be worried and look to get him some help with a therapist?

[muddyprints]

has he had his 2 year check? does he understand questions,instructions and follow what you say?
They are all different but I would see a hv just in case he needs speck therapy.

[Wrongmoreoftenthannot]

Yes had his check in Jan and they were happy, he understands what you ask and tries very hard to communicate in gibberish. He answers yes and No (mainly no) when asked questions.

He's quite normal apart from not speaking in real words

[Wrongmoreoftenthannot]

bump

[Amiee]

Hello i work as a speech and language therapist. I would encourage you to register for an assessment for SALT. Even if the assessment says he doesn't need therapy they can rule out anything serious and give you some great tips for encouraging his language development. All kids are different but for a boy that is 2 and a half i would expect short sentences (2-3 words) with a wide range of expressive vocabulary, including verbs (jump, play,eat etc) nouns (cup, ball, cow etc) and pronous (me, you) and some grammar (possessive s, ing etc). Its great that is understanding is good that is the first thing the therapist will check.
With SALT input most children will make progress very quickly so do it now rather than wait so he has the best chance of starting school with good language skills.
-While your waiting for an appointment get his hearing checked just incase.
-Next time your playing with him have a think about what types of sounds he make so you can tell the therapist. Is there lots of back sounds like g any k or does he use manly front sounds like p and t.
-Think about his other skills, social, play, motor, and feeding. The therapist will ask and sometimes it's hard to remember on the spot.

Best of luck

[Wrongmoreoftenthannot]

Thanks Aimee.

Its hard to know if we should hang on - it feels so close to being there. For example he sat down at dinner the other night and said "MMM I like this one" and it was really clear. But he seems to struggle with other words eg OWL is Owie and words like Biscuit he struggles with Kiket...

He says "thats mine", "whats that" and more seems to be coming but he still sort of relies on babble and pointing.

The g & k sounds come out a lot and we try to encourage the ppppp's and bbbbb's with him by making silly noises and when saying new words.

[blueberryupsidedown]

I am a childminder and recenty attended a training course from Every Child a Talker (Ecat). We discussed this and were shown a presentation with the different stages of speech development. Most (if not all) babies/toddlers start with babbling sounds that don't sound like a language in terms of intonation and pitch (a baby born in a family that speaks Mandarin will produce similar babbling sounds as a baby born to an English-speaking family) but progressively, the babbling will sound more like the language spoken at home. If a child speaks a little bit later than the norm, then the 'melody' and sounds of the babbles will be very close to the actual language. The next step is to produce single words, then two words together, then when there's enough words 'in the bank' they start to form simple sentences. THis is obviously a general pattern and many children develop differently. The idea would be for you now to speak in short sentences and emphasise on one word, and repeat the same word very often for many days in a row (for example, more). Use the word over and over again, it's an easy word to use throughout the day, and encourage your son when he tries to say anything - even if it's not the correct word or the right pronounciation. This is a good page - //www.surreycc.gov.uk/people-and-community/family-information-service/education-and-learning-advice-for-families/early-learning/how-parents-can-help-with-communication

[FoxyRevenger]

Amiee I am curious about my 3 year old's pronunciation of some sounds and was going to ask HV to assess.

Wrong I don't want to hijack your thread. Amiee would you mind if I PM you?

[awwwwmannnn]

hi,
i went through a very similar thing with my daughter who is now 2.6 - she to is only babbling with the odd very clear word thrown in for good measure. she to also says "this is mine" or "that's mine" or point to an object and say "name" recognising that it is hers....now 3 months ago she couldn't even say mum, dad, ball or anything, so to come from that to having more words than we can count, and starting to put together very small sentences, this is a massive leap for her own personal development.

i did speak to the GP and her HV, who done a full assessment on her, and on everything apart from speech she was 6-8 months ahead. THe HV not only looked at her speech but her understanding and her capabilities with gross and motor skills, all of which were very good. what she say was that DD appears to be a "thinker" and likes to get her head round things before actually doing them! for instance she asked DD to pick up the brush and brush dolly's hair then pass the brush to daddy - she looked at the brush, then at dolly and then at daddy and then promptly done what she was asked.

she also said that she would speak to the SALT and would get back to me - she rung me a month later to say the therapist didn't see any need for therapy and to continue as we were.

we were advised to use positive reinforcement, for instance if we could tell she was trying to say biscuit but it was coming out wrong, we woudld say "yes that's right, biscuit".

it is a worrying time, and honestly if you could have seen me 3 months ago, i was crying with worry over her speech, and i never ever thought we would get to where we are today.

babble is still a form of words, even though you can't udnerstand it, like your little one and mine, the babble has the structure and tone of a sentence, just not many words...but those will come i'm sure of it.

speak to your HV and see what he/she says, i bet she'll help alleviate your worries.

HTH xx

[gourd]

Sounds v similar to our LO OP - she was just the same and everyone told us it would just sort itself out and not to worry, but at the 2 and half year check I insisted on referral to SALT as I knew something was not right. After a five month wait with no word on it we went private and glad we did as she is making steady (if slow) progress. Nearly 3 now and still few words but puts two words together almost as soon as she has learnt the words so that is a good sign - it is acquiring the words in the first place that she struggles with. She needs to hear a word literally 100s of 1000s of times I think before she can say anything even approaching it, and even then it is quite unclear despite everything else being normal (good hearing, and her role-playing and language comprehension assessed as being about 2-3 years ahead of kids her own age, and she?s already reading aloud phonically letters and recognising written numbers etc.).

I strongly suggest you ask for referral to SALT but fully expect a 6 month wait before treatment starts. We have now started the NHS speech sessions alongside the Private ones (private SALT worked for NHS for 20 years previously but went private due to frustrations of the service she was able to provide ? and the money of course!!). To be honest the private sessions are way, way above the NHS ones. NHS seems to be a tick list they just go through with you and not individually tailored to the child in any way and so the techniques have not so far at least been helpful at all. The private sessions at home have been absolutely wonderful though and have really helped us to help our child to acquire language, using activities and objects she is interested in and tailoring the techniques to the exact level she needs. If you can afford to (even if it means no holidays for a few years) I would seriously consider paying for SALT as the difference is staggering.

Your child needs to be able to communicate, especially if, like ours, they are in childcare and need to communicate/join in activities with other kids. It was really holding her back and making attending playgroups with the child-minder very hard for her ? she wasn?t enjoying them as she could not join in and would only stand watching others looking sad, and not joining in. She is much more confident now and able to join in with a few of the words when they sing, so it has made a difference to her already.

[Amiee]

Hello again.
As others have said it can take a long time to get therapy but the decision is yours. As longs as your not worried you be wasting people time because you won't be. Getting input now may prevent more being needed in the future and we are definitely a profession interested in early intervention. The two words you described do not alam me. Many Children dont develop the l sound till a much later stage. Biscuit being said kikit is probably a simplification. Using two back sounds rather than switching from front to back is easier. So saying gog for dog is usually considered typical for an early talker but saying Gish for fish would generally not be typical. This is why only proper assessment can establish if he is developing typically or he needs extra help. There will be many stories of children just like yours who go on to speak in full sentences clearly within weeks of worried parents signing them up for SALT. Your son is probably one of them. However there is also many children who need it to get to the next stage.
For now here are some tips-
-Talk in simple short slow sentences.
-Don't ask too many questions, comment instead. (Especially things like 'what colour is that?' If they know there not learning anything and if they don't then it sets them up to fail. Say oh that's a lovely red bus instead)
-Play lots. (Don't direct play let them take the lead)
-repeat repeat repeat (you want juice, oh here's some juice, mmm yummy juice.... Etc)
-Don't just do everything for them. Give them the playdoh with the lid on for example. If they want if off they'll have to communicate it.

• Say what you think they mean. If they point at the fridge say 'you want a drink!'
  

Good luck what ever you decide to do.

• I'm happy to be PMed.

[Wrongmoreoftenthannot]

Thanks for the replies. Ironically since I posted DS has suddenly started saying at least 10 new words and combining quite well. That's my teddy... Get down (to our dog)

I am going to speak to the HV and get referred so thank you for the advice as there are some issues I'm concerned about. The word 'cake' will seem to stick in his throat when he tries to say it and although I understand and reinforce (would you like cake??) I would like to make sure we give him the best start possible.