Getting myself in a state about 2yo speech delay

It really is possible to have fluid in the middle ear and still have hearing "satisfactory for speech". Hearing levels do fluctuate with glue ear but ENT will be very reluctant to do grommets on a child who has hearing within normal limits. It is not risk-free. It's a GA and cutting into the ear drum risks infection and scarring.

If there is a suggestion that hearing is being affected, ask whether audiology would consider a bone conduction hearing device. This is a hearing aid which bypasses the glue, transmitting sound through the temporal bone direct to the cochlea. It works whatever the level of glue and there is no down side to them - except getting the child to keep it on. Not all hospitals are as proactive in providing them - especially as there is no clinical evidence of hearing loss in your case - but they might respond positively to a direct request.

My eldest was soooooooo slow to speak. Like at all. Barely made noises that sounded like words and wasn’t even much of a babbler when little. But could follow instructions so you knew they understood you. Honestly they were nearly 3 by the time they did much talking at all.

they are now an incredible chatty, articulate and funny child. We get comments on how good their vocabulary is all the time. It was very slow and then like something just clicked all of a sudden and fell into place. (And no, no evidence of ASD)

I always wondered if was because of being quite quick to walk… they never needed to learn to ask for things because they just got it themself!

to add my son didn't say anything until he was 2 years 8 months but was very switched on and always understood everything you said within weeks he was speaking in full sentences

I would add understanding is more important than speech that's what we were told so if they can understand simple instructions like bring me your shoes etc then no worries and speech will come
someone with verbal dysplasia will have week mouth muscles this gives them something called delayed sound where they say the wrong sound at the beginning of words so for example for ages my daughter would say yem for them or at for that etc etc I could understand every word at the time when I look back at old videos now I can't understand a word!!

I have twins and dtd2 didn’t speak until over 2 years although she walked before dtd1, who was chatty. We went to see the health visitor and as we walked in the door dtd2 started speaking in sentences and hv thought I’d muddled the identities twins as dtd1 said nothing. Good to check him out but I wouldn’t stress yet.

My son babbled nonsense until he was 3 and then started nursery and it all started coming together from there.

My son got grommets at 13 months old. The watch and wait period is 3 months - he had fluctuating tests for 6 months - some passed/some failed. I was so scared I was putting him under GA and they would find nothing there. But I had to rule out it was a hearing problem. Following the surgery the surgeon said we 100% made the right decision, his glue ear was so thick and there was so much of it, it would never have cleared by itself. It was a huge risk we took as nobody wants to put their child through surgery but without doing that, I couldn't be sure if it was a hearing issue or something else. Winter time it is likely to be much worse which sounds like you already know. I joined NDCS and had some calls with an audiologist who was so helpful and explained the tests so I knew what they all meant before any consultant appointments. My son also had a temporary hearing aid prior to the surgery and we did see improvement with it which added to my thoughts that it was his ears.

Get a second ENT opinion. You are within your rights to have another one. You know him best and if you feel something isn't right keep asking the professionals the questions. Children will vary though and my nephew didn't really say much till he was 3.5yrs old. Now nearly 6 and chats alot.

I've been in your shoes. My daughter was pretty much the same at 2 years old and was still under SALT up until the end of key stage 1. By the time she got to year 3, she caught up in all areas and now is in set 1 for every lesson in high school. I vividly remember crying on many occasion because all I wanted to hear was mummy. That came when she was 4 years old.

My son was very similar except our specialist was adamant the glue ear was a problem. She said the prime cause of a speech delay was a hearing problem. He got grommets and had some minor speech therapy. He is a medical student now.

Glue ear fluctuates - it can wax and wane. Sometimes a child can hear well enough to hear somewhat but not well enough to form their own sounds. My son was treated very quickly because we went privately - within abot 10 days of comprehensively failing the audiology test - but in the meantime I was told to get down to his level and have him face me when I was talking.

I did a little experiment and standing behind him so he couldnt see my lips offered him a chocolate bar. He loved chocolate and very rarely got. There was absolutely no response and we realised he had been largely lipreading.

Hi OP.
Lots of wise advice on this thread.
I will add some anecdotal reassurance: my youngest was completely unable to make recognisable words at 5 yrs old. No one could explain why. It was when she went to school and suddenly developed an urgent need to communicate with people outside her immediate family that it all fell into place. By 6 yrs old we had absolutely no worries. She's now a tweenage chatterbox.

Hi OP, please push for the grommets. I was just referred on Thursday for my nearly 3 year old to get grommets. Dr at ENT said they cut a hole in the eardrum to get the fluid out and this is the most important part. She said the fluid can make the hearing all distorted. I'm so shocked they aren't even considering it. My son had glue ear and kept saying his ear wasn't working and couldn't hear. I know its an operation but this will help him so much I promise. Also glue ear for more than 3 months can do damage to the ears. Thinking of you

Ds1 didn't put two words together until well after he was three, he went from single words, to conversations in a week.

He never crawled, he went from nothing to walking in a weekend when he was almost 2.

You're doing the right thing getting things checked, but some children just do things differently.

He's due to take his GCSE's this time and is predicted all 8/9's, he has no additional needs.

DS2 hit all his milestones on the early side, he's equally bright, with a diagnosis of ADHD.

It's completely natural to worry, as a mum. Children develop at different rates and it may well be possible that your son is having hearing difficulties. Equally, he may just be taking a bit longer - my eldest didn't start talking properly until he was 3 and you couldn't stop him after that! He's now a happy, confident adult. Another of my boys had a tracheostomy for his first 2.5 years, and didn't say anything. Once the trach was out though, literally within months he was speaking in coherent sentences. Keep on with audiology and see how you go. The most important thing is that your son is loved and happy - and it sounds like he has a super supportive mum to fight his corner. Hope all goes well. X

My son was behind in speech, but now at four he's caught up. I know that's just an anecdote, but thought I'd mention it fwiw. Speech therapy will probably help him, and sometimes kids show a sudden burst of improvement mixed in with plateaus.

Definitely keep going with the speech therapy. As much as you can. My child was speaking by 4 but very poorly. Ended up in a Speech and language unit which was the best place for them. Now back in mainstream and no speech issues but is diagnosed ASC. Very academic . Chats away happily. They always understood everything but struggled to make the correct sounds. Try not to worry - a good speech therapist will really make the difference.

Miss Rachel helped.

Also I can't find the link or evidence for this but I once came across pomegranate helping speech. I'm not sure how but the acidic sour taste helped the tongue. I've tried to find proof again and again but cannot find it. But yeah as soon as we give my child pomegranate seeds she started improving with words etc

Hi

Firstly this resonated SO hard for me.

DC2 had a speech delay. I got all the usual "lines" - DC1 talks for him, lazy boys etc. But I knew this was not that. He also passed all his hearing screens but got a few ear infections in a short space of time despite having no risk factors (BF, non smoking household etc) and we got referred to ENT when he was 2.5, they kept telling us it was glue ear, he'd grow out of it or they would do grommets when he got to 8+.

I learned some basic sign language which eased the frustration for him - he was signing about 100 words and speaking 30 or so within 6 weeks. And I kept going to ENT, showing up like a bad penny every 6 months until we turned up one day when he was 5, not a drop of fluid in his ears and same result on hearing screen. They fitted him with hearing aids 5 weeks later and he was a different child.

He's now 13, and he wears his deafness like a badge of honour. Don't panic, don't get yourself in a state, your DC is doing just fine, you just have to be THAT parent and keep banging down doors for a little while.

I worked in a preschool for many years. I saw quite a lot of children who were barely talking at 2and a1/2. In later years more were being referred to SALT and quite a few no longer had a problem by the time they got to the top of the waiting list.
Does your son understand what you say to him? Can he follow simple instructions such as put the teddy on the table. If so it is likely he will get there at his own pace.
Asking him to copy words can be counterproductive you can model correct pronunciation by repeating words he says but don't get him to copy.
Songs and rhymes are really helpful.
Most children develop language really quickly between 3 and 4 but they find their own pace.