No Comprehension skills 18 months?

[Landladymews]

Hi

I’m feeling quite concerned about my 18 month old who shows limited signs of comprehension when we are talking to him, doesn’t point/wave and probably as a result has no words. He won’t for example stack blocks despite my showing him how (he just likes re arranging them). I ask him if he wants milk or yum yum and he looks at me blankly. He won’t imitate words that I say. I ask him to bring me a particular toy and he ignores me.

He is sociable in the sense that he loves meeting people and babbling away (has a lot to say in his own language), makes eye contact, smiles, has lots of funny expressions etc. He will hand me toys of his own volition so I think this is an example of what’s called ‘joint attention’. He loves peekaboo. He has clapped a couple of times when asked but now refuses to do that too.

My husband thinks he’s too young for investigations and that we should wait another 2-3 months before seeing the GP.

Has anyone else had a child who didn’t seem to be developing comprehension skills at this stage? Is there anything I can do to help his comprehension? Should I push my husband to have him seen now?

This is the reason there isn't a check up for another 12 months. I wouldn't be worried

Kids vary a lot at that age, but I might have his hearing looked at. If there is a problem it's worth addressing now.

My son is like this at 21 months. I'm organising a hearing test just to rule that out. I know on paper he is delayed and I have chatted with him and spent so much focused time since the day he was born.

I keep trying to tell myself they all develop differently and the milestone development are just guidelines. If your son is happy and content try not to worry (tell myself that too)

I'd phone the HVs and ask for advice. My 10mo is starting to understand commands like clap or book (he crawls to get a book).

They do develop differently and it might be nothing, but worth getting obvious causes like hearing ruled out.

I’d start the process of having this looked at. Hopefully by the time you get an appointment he will have progressed

Hearing comes up a lot. I’ve not been concerned about his hearing because if I make soft noises like I’m eating he will come from across the room to see what I have (he’s a massive foodie) so I think he must have very good hearing. I suppose I could have the test done anyway to be certain .

Incidentally I called HV and she couldn't have been more useless. Sent me to the BBC website. We are going to see a private paediatric consultant (realise not everyone can do this)

Whilst you are waiting for a hearing test, try starting sign language when repeating the word over and over. Tons of support for baby signing on youtube. Also assists when kids hit that frustration point and cannot find a word.

Hiya, SLT here - Do contact your health visitor for advice as they might want to send you for a hearing test or come see you. If your local SLT dept has an informal helpline give them a call to talk it through, even if they end up having no concerns you'll get some helpful advice, hopefully.

HVs vary so much by their individual character and how much freedom they're allowed, and how much they can refer etc.

They're generally decent where I am however if they're not good in your area, see a GP.

@doadeer what are you concerned about with your son if you don’t mind sharing? my HV was pretty useless too in the early days so I haven’t contacted her since. I have private medical cover but not sure if they would cover seeing a paediatrician for this. I guess I should find out.

I would definitely get the ball rolling on some investigations. It can take a while to get into the system and any support is always better sooner rather than later.
As a priority I would get his hearing and sight checked.

Not pointing by 18 months is usually a warning sign, I'd speak to your HV and mention that particularly.

@Abitlikeabiscuit Do you see kids as young as 18 months? If so I need to tell me husband!

@Landladymews
My son only says mama and dada, he won't point at objects if I say where is the cat for example, doesn't respond to his name. He understands when I tell him not to climb on table or eat soil for example but if I say get your shoes he would never respond. He has quite a few autism markers and I want to get advice on hearing test and speech development specialist. My GP recommended seeing a paediatrician.

I think you should go to the gp now and ask for a referral to a consultant in paediatric development. That alone will take months to come through and, if everything falls into place before then, no problem- just cancel.

My daughter has been under and SLT since 16 months, so I'd definitely get the ball rolling. There's no harm in getting some help/advice at this stage and the earlier you do it the better (IMO anyway!)

It took a good couple of months for the referral to go through, we noticed she was behind on her milestones and a few other things, different to other babies and our son. At 18months now she does point and nod or shake her head for yes/no. I feel her understanding is good but verbally she's behind.

It's a long history but th developmental paediatrician we saw a week ago said that she thinks my daughter has Autism, but they will reassess when she's 2.

We are doing Makaton signs with her which is helping us communicate.

No harm in getting him checked x

The paeds service is technically 0-18 years although at 18 months it's less likely they would see you straight away as there's so much that would be within the typical range, but they'd be able yo talk through your concerns and advise on specific things to try which you might not have tried yet.

Get a hearing test. I know you say you have no concerns but neither did I. My son would hear Peppa Pig theme tune from another room and come running. But turns out he has quite a significant hearing loss that is contributing to slow speech/language development.

No words isn't a worry at 18 months, but I would expect him to be able to fetch named objects or follow one word instructions (get your shoes).

I would definitely start doing makaton/baby signing alongside words and speak to the HV.

@Elmo311 my son has also his his milestones late. Only started crawling at 10 months and still just cruising but I think he should walk any day now. If you don’t mind sharing what other signs did you notice that made you concerned?
My husbands niece had autism and we both picked up on it before her parents did as she always seemed to be in her own world, never made eye contact or took an interest in people only objects. If I compare my son to her he’s nothing like that. He’s much more sociable and interested in people but I guess even with autism every person can be different

@Mylittlepony374 That’s useful to know. I will get the hearing test booked.

Milestones can be late and it's nothing, so I wouldn't worry too much OP. My son who is now 10 was very late with all of them, I thought he would never talk and then it was difficult to understand him long enough that he went to a speech path. He didn't even begin to be ready to read till he was 7. In the end he was just late though, all along, until he turned about 8, at which point he started to move a lot more quickly and largely caught up with other kids his age.

Hearing tests explore all of the different frequencies of sounds - if your da has trouble with a particular frequency then he won't be hearing full words, but may not struggle with other sounds such as a particular piece of music or food wrapper.

We had a Hearing Assessor for Education do a workshop for us (years ago when I cm) One trick I remember - get a ping pong ball go behind dc when they are sitting & rub the inside of your hand on the surface (works best if you have dry hands -which most mum's do especially lately!) fairly close to the back of their head on one side. Unless they are distracted they should turn to the noise. You can use other quiet things like rustling paper a bit further away for similar effect.
Sometimes dc may have glue ear which can cause a bit of temporary/fixable hearing loss.
Can opticians who have hearing tests available check babies??