Feeling lost about non verbal 2 year old

[QuietBatperson15]

My son is 27 months now and doesn’t say any words. He has been referred for audiology to check his hearing (referred in April and still no appointment). His hearing seems absolutely fine to me but I know it’s not as simple as that. We are waiting for his SLT to start.

His understanding is great and he’s very interactive in other ways, but I watched a video of my older child around the same age and the difference is huge (talking away, naming colours).

Has anyone else had a child who seems fine in every other way but no speech whatsoever at this age? I can’t imagine him ever talking 😞

I had similar with my youngest DS.

Can I ask what the age gap is between your children? My eldest DS is still terrible at butting in and talking over others (he is being assessed for ADHD before anyone pipes up). That was partially blamed for youngest reluctance to talk, because eldest did it all for him.

My youngest had speech issues on and off until he was 5. He was late to speak, then developed a stutter, then talking stopped completely and then the stutter was bad again when he went to school. I would recommend asking to be referred to SALT and getting help sooner rather than later. Honestly, we haven't had loads of involvement from SALT because of delays in getting him seen. By the time he had regular appointments with the speech therapist in school, he was improving anyway and then covid hit. But I'm glad we at least at some help and support with it.

My uncle didn't speak until he was around 4, but when he started talking his vocabulary was vast.

My best friend didn't talk much at all until she was around 3, and I remember growing up with her and her going to speech therapy as she was missing lots of consonants etc. I was the only person who could understand her, which is quite sweet actually. Anyway, she was absolutely fine and stopped the speech therapy in primary school, I think. She had a baby a couple of years ago and he is now 2,5 years old and he barely says mama, dada and door. She's not particularly concerned as she was such a late talker, but I think the toddler is having his hearing checked as well. He was quite an early walker and generally physically active and it would kind of make sense that he's just not that interested in talking at this point.

My dd don't say much until 2 then started to come out with complete sentences.

My ds had speech therapy from 4-6 as he had glue ear, and it affected his speech. I recommend Sally Ward's book, Baby Talk - really helpful with some great ideas.

My DS didn't start talking until he was 5..! We were convinced he'd never talk. It was such a worry for us. We did everything we could...

And then slowly, just after his 5th birthday he picked up a few words at school. It felt like a key turned in and unblocked something in him.

And yes, he is on the ASD spectrum but doing really well and talking LOADS. The questions never end :-) (He's just turned 8) Try not to worry, as hard as it is, and keep engaging with him xx

I have a 2.5 year old who only said a couple of words when she turned 2 - now she won’t stop talking. It’ll happen, sometimes can just take more time.

My friends DS didn’t talk and they kept fobbing her off though she knew something was wrong when she was about 1.5. It turned out he couldn’t hear he had grommets at 3.5 and started talking straight away after that but was still behind when he went to school.

My DD has a language delay. She's 40 months and speech is around 24 months. Some good things I got recommended on MN are:

'It Takes Two To Talk' book
Teach Me To Talk DVD (it's on YouTube)

We're waiting for SALT but I understand the waiting listing is around a year, she's making constant progress though.

Op don't wait for slt Google and read, u tube little technique to help.
Our slt had a little farm with animals and simply got dc to play, in and out the farm, field.. Animal sounds, on over etc

The understanding is an excellent sign, as it means it is a speech problem not a language one. Perhaps your DS will suddenly start talking as other posters experienced with their DC or maybe he may need some further help.

My DS had no words at 2 and we weren’t sure he understood. He was investigated for autism but that was not the issue. Still no words by 4 but it was clear by then he understood everything.

It turned out that his issue was/is that he has severe speech dyspraxia, ie the bit of his brain that should control the muscles in the mouth and tongue to make speech sounds doesn’t work - he was literally unable to form speech sounds however hard he tried (though had no problem with other oral skills like eating, swallowing or licking - the difficulty is only the speech control area). He has had to be taught explicitly how to make each sound and then blend it with other sounds and has to concentrate very hard when talking. Said his first word aged 5 after lots of speech therapy. He now age 7 chatters away and is mainly intelligible.

Your DS will be too young to know whether this is an issue at this stage but I mention it as something to bear in mind if he doesn’t have a natural explosion of speech. Possible early signs in my DS were that he was incapable of copying any noise or sound and although he babbled it was only vowels and very limited early consonants

I really appreciate these replies, thank you all so much. I’d love for him to have a language explosion one day. Right now I’d be delighted with one word! He might very well have autism, which doesn’t bother me as long as life isn’t too hard on him.

Thank you for the suggestions and tips, I’ll try them all.

@PJday41

I had similar with my youngest DS.

Can I ask what the age gap is between your children? My eldest DS is still terrible at butting in and talking over others (he is being assessed for ADHD before anyone pipes up). That was partially blamed for youngest reluctance to talk, because eldest did it all for him.

My youngest had speech issues on and off until he was 5. He was late to speak, then developed a stutter, then talking stopped completely and then the stutter was bad again when he went to school. I would recommend asking to be referred to SALT and getting help sooner rather than later. Honestly, we haven't had loads of involvement from SALT because of delays in getting him seen. By the time he had regular appointments with the speech therapist in school, he was improving anyway and then covid hit. But I'm glad we at least at some help and support with it.

I have an older son who is 6, so there’s a bit of an age gap. It may well be a factor, he follows and copies his big brother and maybe let’s him (and us) do all the talking for him.

That’s a shame that covid has interrupted your sons SALT, although that’s good he was improving by himself. Are they planning to restart now? We had our introductory call with SALT a few weeks ago so he’s on the list, which I know is quite long. I self referred him at 23 months as there was no sign of words coming.

@BiscuitLess

The understanding is an excellent sign, as it means it is a speech problem not a language one. Perhaps your DS will suddenly start talking as other posters experienced with their DC or maybe he may need some further help.

My DS had no words at 2 and we weren’t sure he understood. He was investigated for autism but that was not the issue. Still no words by 4 but it was clear by then he understood everything.

It turned out that his issue was/is that he has severe speech dyspraxia, ie the bit of his brain that should control the muscles in the mouth and tongue to make speech sounds doesn’t work - he was literally unable to form speech sounds however hard he tried (though had no problem with other oral skills like eating, swallowing or licking - the difficulty is only the speech control area). He has had to be taught explicitly how to make each sound and then blend it with other sounds and has to concentrate very hard when talking. Said his first word aged 5 after lots of speech therapy. He now age 7 chatters away and is mainly intelligible.

Your DS will be too young to know whether this is an issue at this stage but I mention it as something to bear in mind if he doesn’t have a natural explosion of speech. Possible early signs in my DS were that he was incapable of copying any noise or sound and although he babbled it was only vowels and very limited early consonants

Thank you for sharing this. It’s definitely crossed my mind that it might be a form of dyspraxia. He maybe can’t get the words to form with his mouth. That’s another reason I don’t want to put any pressure on him. That’s really positive about your son and the progress he’s made. He must have worked really hard.

@Calmestofallthechickens ‘ underwhelmed with this dinner’ 🤪

OP, honestly it sounds like you thinking about this the right way. Good luck.

My son said very little until 2.5 years. Nursery seemed unconcerned but I was starting to worry. When he started talking he quickly started forming full sentences. It was as if a light had been switched on.

My DS is 3 next month and can only say maybe 5-6 words. We are currently in touch with a speech therapist but also have a paediatrician appointment coming up as his HV and play school suspect autism or delayed development.

DP didn’t talk until he was 4 so it could just be in his genes!

Mine didnt start making sounds until about 5 as he was mute. He had his own language and could finally be understood by other people at 10, I thought he would never ever be able to speak and grunt his way through life. Now he's 14 and speaks perfectly. It was like miracle.

My son had a severe speech sound delay called Apraxia , like dyspraxia but verbally. He also has autism

I'd love to know how it turns out for you OP. I found our SALT session so positive and I'm excited fo the next one!

My DD has speech dyspraxia/apraxia. She had great understanding and was a good communicator but she had no language. She had intensive speech therapy from 2 1/2 and when she started preschool at 3 1/2 she had 15 recognisable words. She’s 8 now & still stumbles over words and sometimes has issues getting the correct words out but she’s meeting all other milestones & expectations at school. Is sociable and wonderful. Early intervention absolutely was the key so do keep pushing the GP/HV.

He might need grommets.

Lots of DC it turns out can't hear properly even if it seems like they can and aren't diagnosed properly for years.

Hopefully it's a simple solution for him

Severe apraxia of speech is quite common in children with autism. They are literally unable to form words beyond the first letter. So they would say 'buh' for book, ball, brother, bear etc.

My DS1 was similar although I think he was saying mummy by that age but like you I was concerned, he had a hearing test and all was fine. We were referred to SLT and had one appointment where they said his understanding was very good and the rest will come, but then we moved out of the area and so they discharged us. By then he was 2.5 - 30 months - and his language just exploded so we didn’t seek a new referral. DS2 was born just after DS1 turned 3 and when the HV came to do his 6 week check, she commented on how good DS1’s speech was for his age

By contrast, DS2 has been saying words since he was 18 months but now he is 3, his speech is nowhere near as good as DS1’s was at the same age!

My son didn't speak until nearly 3. We had speech therapy which didn't help. Going to nursery really helped x

This book is brilliant.
www.amazon.co.uk/Takes-Two-Talk-Practical-Children-ebook/dp/B08BJ9ZW8W/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&crid=T8QYDBWR5M4R&keywords=it+takes+two+to+talk&sprefix=It+takes+two+to+%2Caps%2C150&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1628717462&sr=8-1
It's expensive now, so maybe try the library first.
Obviously you need to set wheels in motion in case there are deeper issues, but please don't let any worries taint time with your son. The more fun you have together the better.