To worry about DDs speech

[Houseonahill]

My daughter is 2 and 2 months. She didn't speak at all until about 18 months and then it was only about 5 words till about 20 months, her speech is slowly coming on, she says lots of words now but never more than 2 together and she is very difficult to understand, I can understand her but other people really struggle.

Her speech is improving, she is learning more words all the time but her pronunciation is improving really slowly. I don't know if it's relevant but she had terrible trouble with ear infections from about 6-12 months old (tmi warning but she basically had pus coming out of her ears for 6 months despite numerous courses of antibiotics, GP visits and an ENT referral) but she hasn't had an ear infection since about 12 months old.

Should I worry? Who do i get in touch with if I should GP or HV? Or do you think because it is Improving she'll be fine?

I would speak to the hv if you are worried. Some speech and language you can self refer to and they will assess if the child needs help.

You need to get in touch with GP as well and ask for a hearing test referral. She could well have glue ear

My DS was referred by health visitor for speech therapy and at his first session S&LT knew it was hearing issue. They referred him. He had 2 lots of grommets amd adenoids out and they continued speech therapy until all caught up.

Your DS history pretty much mirrored his.

how is her understanding?

I would definitely request a hearing test for a start. if her understanding is fine, I would not worry too much.

Sorry your DD

Oh exactly the same problem and exactly the same age here so will be sticking around to hear what people advise.
Ours pronunciation is pretty bad and can't say more than one word in a row

My DD speech isn't great, we met up with her HV who went through a series of questions, spoke to DD and she understood everything and did what she was asking her to.

HV said she wasn't worried, child was not mute and obviously had a good understanding, and her hearing was good. She will make progress at her own rate.

She encouraged us to put her in nursery more, so come September she will be in 30hrs

I would worry. It's probably not a problem, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

A friend's DS passed all the HV hearing "tests", but was found at 4 by the GP to have a quite severe hearing loss, which she surmised to have originated in an infection when he was about 12 months old. He could neither hear nor say consonants. Speech therapy meant his speech was more or less normal by adulthood, but his speech impediment led to bullying and social exclusion at school, which deprived him of the opportunity to learn social skills, which in turn has adversely affected his ability to work - he is in a job which does not make use of his intelligence, and unlikely to progress.

How does her understanding seem?

When I raised similar concerns with my HV (similar age DC), she said that at this age how well they’re understanding speech is more important, and that she would review DC’s expressive speech again after 2.5 yrs before making any referral to SALT.

Although given your DD’s history of ear problems, it might be worth asking your GP to refer her for a hearing test. If she’s not hearing things properly that would affect her speech.

In my area the HV holds the referrals to SALT, which includes a hearing test. DS is 2yrs8m and has a handful of words he will use if prompted, but very poor pronunciation with no sentences except 'thank you' and 'bye bye'. We are waiting now for the SALT appointment to come through.

If you’d not mentioned ear problems I’d have said just keep an eye on her and she will probably catch up at her own rate. With a history of ear problems though I agree definitely see the GP and get a hearing test arranged ASAP.

I had my ears syringed for the first time last month and was surprised when the nurse asked if I’d had a lot of ear infections growing up. I said I did and she said she could see faint scarring . I’m 58. I remember finding it hard to hear at school and still struggle in crowded places. Nothing was ever done about mine. Definitely the earlier intervention the better if DD needs anything sorting with either her ears or speech therapy.

I would speak to the HV. Ds is now 4, has had one block of S&L, one inconclusive hearing test and still has loads of issues.

I brought it up at around the age your dd is now and was fobbed off repeatedly, told that it would improve. It didn't and it's impacted his confidence, his willingness to engage with his peers, his attitude towards toilet training (for example yesterday was his first day at preschool in pants despite having been toilet trained around us for a long time as he has been terrified he would ask for the toilet and not be understood) plus it's also likely responsible for him being referred for an eye test as he told her he couldn't see the ones he wasn't confident about saying.

Although even if you do get a referral, not sure what use it is. The emphasis seems to be massively on you teaching them but given that we've been trying that since we first noticed he had an issue...

Thank you for all the replies, I will make a GP appointment and see if I can get a hearing test, hearing was my main worry as it does seem to be consonants she struggles with, everything is very vowely if that makes sense but her understanding is brilliant. She had a hearing test at about 10 months and they said there was basically no movement of the ear drum but then ENT discharged us so I presumed it they thought it would sort itself out 🤦‍♀️

Its great that her understanding is really good. Her her hearing could well be a bit off which wouldn’t be surprising after lots of bad infections. Hope your GP/HV gets things moving re hearing test and ENT/SLT referral if necessary

If you get no where with GP, your HV can arrange hearing tests too

My Ds is 7 and has been in and out of speech therapy for the last 5 years for disfluencey anf proninciation issues. Try and get to see a slt - if you can pay for a private assessment. The sooner it’s tackled the better

In my area you can self refer for a hearing test, I would maybe Google your area and see if they do the same.

We had similar ear problems with DC1 and were only discharged after a normal hearing test result. What you describe speech wise doesn't sound terribly behind to me (experience limited to mum of 2 and their peers so not an expert!). Those who I have known to have delayed speech have been at similar levels to what you describe at 3 years. I would speak to your gp again, was anything flagged at the 2 year check?