speech would you be concerned?

[ohdeaeyme]

dd is 2.5 tomorrow and can say

herro (hello)
aye (bye)
ine (mine)
share
no
og (dog)
choochoo (train)
cheese
shus (shoes)
mama (mummy)
two
yuck
mac/ma (max)
ow
juju (for a drink whether its milk/juice/water)

she can do animal sounds
oooo for moo
aaaa for baa
monkey noise
lion noise

she has been referred for SALT but no one will really tell me how behind she is or how much i should be worried or if i should even be worried at all. HV also said she makes an unusual 'ck' sound all the time but didnt expand on this either. have 18 weeks of worry ahead :(

I think I'd pay for a private salt appointment (if you can afford it) while you wait the 18 weeks. They can give you some strategies and potentially reassure you or give you advice. Most children put two words together by 2, according to my son's paediatrician and speech therapist (he has asd but didn't have a speech delay... Does speech therapy now in primary school for other reasons) and I was told that if they weren't doing that then it was worth exploring why. Most of the time all is fine. Obviously you've both been through a lot and that may be a factor, combined with the fact you yourself didn't speak without help. But it's worth exploring as early intervention makes a massive difference if there is an issue. It's definitely not too early to take action.

DS is 2.5 and has been seen by SALT, he does have a few more words than your DD, but not massively so. He wasn't saying anything at 2, I spoke to the HV who referred him. He had an hearing test in January which came back clear, and then had his first appointment 2 months ago. During the appointment I discussed his speech with one therapist, whilst another played with him. In short, they're not worried about him, they said he had the foundations for speech (he could follow orders and had good concentration), he is just a bit later talking. We do have a follow up in a couple of months.

There only advice was to spend a bit of time playing each day but to keep my phrases quite short to encourage him to copy. So, he can say 'car', and if we're sat playing with him it's better to say 'red car' or 'big car', rather than 'look at this red car, it's going up the ramp', but then talk normally with him at other times.

She sounds like a lovely little girl, OP, and from what you've said I can't imagine there is any serious problem. But her speech does seem behind to me (my son is 2 and 2 months and was talking like this at about 18 months, and he seems very average). But I do think that children of this age can make leaps and bounds very fast. I started keeping a list of his words when he was about 20 months and it was gratifying to see how quickly it exploded -- from 20-50 words to hundreds by the time he was 2.

There is supposed to be a relationship between total vocabulary items and early syntax / word combination, and I definitely noticed that. It wasn't till he was saying well over 100 words that he made any effort to combine them into two-word phrases (maybe partly because all the early words were nouns). I think if you focus on lots and lots of talking and repetition, and go to the library and get her really interested in some early books, then her vocabulary will start improving very quickly. Given the difficult circumstances, I would focus more on this than trying to get an immediate appointment -- she will speak much better than this soon, and I think it's just a matter of creating a language-rich environment and having fun with her.

I will add that my son has also learned a lot of words from watching some TV programs -- Postman Pat, especially! I think it helps if you watch with them and then talk about what happened afterwards.

well i just asked her to get her happyland stuff out and she did, she has put all the figures into the cars and then lined them up or put the table with the chairs but doesnt play with them as such. With her dolls if i tell her to feed baby/put baby to bed/cuddle baby she does but she doesnt really do it unprompted unless im doing the same with her 7m old brother at the tme and she then copies. she does make me cups of tea all day long!

she cant differentiate colours zo wouldnt be able to pick a red ball vs a blue ball but if i tell her to put her shoes on she can go get them and put them on or if i ask her to help mummy find her keys she can.

she can asking some yes/no questions depending on how they are phrased like she can say yes if you ask her if she wants food but wouldnt answer if you ask her if she is hungry. or yesterday she fell off a wall and banged her head and when i asked her if it was sore or hurt she couldnt answer.

if she hurts her brother and you say 'you made him sad' she laughs, she doesnt seem to get the different emotions

everyone also comments that he is very flighty and very very active she wont ever really concentrate. even to read a story she has to have something to fiddle with to actually get her to sit still, she wont sit still to watch tv and goes from multiple activities within seconds. she even runs around in circles for mintes on end

in the end we are all oy mums here and non of us has seen her. but as a mum of a child with SN, I probably would want her seen by a developmental paed. I have been there. it is hard. esp when you have niggles but you are in the not knowing space

My topper most tip with speech therapy is pay and go private. It will be money well spent. Dd3 had severe problems and a stammer. We wasted so much time waiting for the first appt. Then she was seen a handful of times, then the therapist went off sick and wasnt replaced. We paid, i think 100 for an assessment then each session was 40. But we spaced those out. And record your child because sometimes the change is gradual.

I am a nursery practitioner and if a child in my care was saying what your daughter says at her age I would be referring to salt. I wouldn't be major concerned but it's better to get in the system as early as possible.

In 18 weeks she could be a little chatter box and you would have the initial assessment and be discharged. But it's better to get her on the list for salt than to wait another few months to see if she comes on ,and then if not refer. By that time you are getting past 3 yrs.

In the next 18 weeks you can help her by talking slower to her use short sentences. Do a running commentary whilst she plays ie if she pretends to feed her doll. You say her name is feeding the doll yum yum.
Lots of stories naming picture in the book.

Try not to worry op you sound like you have had a hard time, things are looking up. I wish you and your daughter all the best

DS now 3 was exactly the same, he couldn't say many words and the Ines he did say were mispronounced. A lot of people couldn't understand him, most of his nursery teachers had said to take him to speech therapy, except one who said once he starts nursery properly I'll notice a difference. A healthy visitor who did his 2 year check said he needed speech therapy so I took him. They said he was fine and they didn't start getting concerned until children are 4.
He's recently started going to nursery 5 mornings a week and has come on leaps and bounds with his speech.

I just read teachmetotalk.com/2008/10/23/red-flags-that-warrant-a-referral-for-early-intervention-or-preschool-therapy-services/ and now im worried

You don't need to be worried though op. You just need to get the help/early intervention.

Mini

you know that just help and early intervention doesn't really exist on the NHS. you spend years on waiting lists and gets course of box ticking sessions later on which are too little too late

except one who said once he starts nursery properly I'll notice a difference. A healthy visitor who did his 2 year check said he needed speech therapy so I took him. They said he was fine and they didn't start getting concerned until children are 4.

It is not really a nursery workers call to say a child doesn't need speech therapy. At my preschool we have children younger than 4 getting regular speech and language input, and my son saw a SALT from the age of 1.

None if us can say whether the op's dd has speech or developmental issues, but it is good that she has a referral to SALT and for a hearing test. The SALT often acts as a gateway service if they feel there are other developmental concerns, but you could go to your gp, if you feel she needs to see a developmental paediatrician.

It is horrible when you have concerns about your child's development, and lots of people tell comforting stories of their later speaking child, an uncle who didn't talk until they were 5 and is now an Oxford don and Einstein. Of course some children catch up, but some children need help and support to move forward, and as a parent it is a very difficult and fearful time. As time goes on you start to celebrate every inchstone your child achieves, whilst working towards those milestones.

It is good to get help and support early if it is needed, ask about Portage (a home based therapy service - google your local area and the word portage, as you can often self refer). Ask about the possibility of help and funding at preschool. Watch programmes like Something Special and look into Makaton - speech supported signing has been shown to be beneficial to speech development and understanding.

Op - I couldn't link to the video, but just wondered whether your dd had ever had any issues with feeding or drinking from a cup?

no issues feeding or drinking once we found a cup she likes.

i know lining thigs up is a normal schema but does that include the fact she has to have them the right way round? she screamed when i put one back to front

At the age of 3 my son chattered a lot but only we could understand him. The health professionals began to suspect he might have hearing problems and simply couldn't hear properly what he was trying to copy.

He is now 34 and a University professor. It all came right as he grew and matured. I hope your dd will be the same.

he is now 34 and a University professor. It all came right as he grew and matured. I hope your dd will be the same.

how does that help the OP???

OP, my DC with autism did it. my NT child never but I don't know how much of an issue this is.

Have you Google M-Chat? it is not an diagnosis tool but a well known screening kit for Asd. Check it out and if it flags her up as high risk, definitely mention is to the HV/GP and push for referral.

My ADD had a bad start and was also speech (and other) delayed.

Try to get hold of Baby Talk by Dr Sally Ward it was a really readable book which talked about how to encourage speech development, what toys to have and other skills development too. I found it really helpful.

www.m-chat.org/mchat.php

it came up as her being at risk for autism

bugger

Hi op, my 2 year old had a slight delay and doesn't speak as clearly as her peers.

We went to chat and rhyme sessions at our local sure start center but before that they did a little assessment on her - watched her play with animals and things and sent us for two hearing tests. We did some of those - and she is 4 now and rapidly improving all the time.

Another thing which can get missed is something swollen in back of mouth...does she snore loudly? Only like strong tasting foods...sorry i cant remember name of condition but spoke to lady recently whose DD was a bit behind, poor pronunciation and he had to fight to get to expert who immediately could tell she had this condition.

A other PP said always try and plus one word to whatever she say - elephant, Big Elephant, etc, water - wet...sky blue, speak slowly and uber expression....line her toy up and take one away and ask her which one was taken away , try and get her to then remeber whats missing without seeing it taken away and other simple ones - show her first then give her instructions, put barbie on the chair, Put pig under the chair....etc on the table, under the table.

They said he was fine and they didn't start getting concerned until children are 4.

^ I got mine seen way before 4 to get wheels rolling the earlier the intervention the better.

Op it depend on the car, many time toddlers like things their way!

Can you ask her to group cars in colours, then say put yellow cars in the box, on the sofa etc..big car little car etc.

OP, you are clearly concerned (otherwise you would not have posted).

make a list of your concerns,take the M-Chat with you. See your GP and get referred. From personal experience, I would sideline the HV as they usually don't have a good understanding of atypical child development.

Coffeemachine - I was simply trying to reassure the OP that children develop at different rates and that in time her dd's speech may well flourish.

At the risk of causing you to roll your eyes still further, would it help to add that our next son was saying very little at all at 2.5 years and we were starting to be concerned about him too. Within a short time afterwards he suddenly started speaking and completely missed out the baby words stage. It's called Individual differences.

thank you.

i was asking her to show me a red car or or a blue car or a yellow car etc and she couldnt. we practiced quite a bit and the occasion she got it right was bu chance rather than actually knowing as i could see her guessing. she was getting really frustrated by this point so i didnt try anything else.

will speak to the hv on weds when she is here for son's check up.