17month no understanding limited speech

[Mizzymiz]

Hi
my 17month old ds does not respond to his name. He also doesn’t respond to any commands. Eg get your shoes or any questions. Eg where’s the ball? - ball could well be in front his very own eyes. Does anyone have any similar stories of their own child like this ?
thank you.

I think it is unusual for a child of that age not to respond to their name.

I would not expect a child of that age necessarily to respond to questions of the kind you're mentioning.

I'm slightly confused why you call these 'commands'? Might it be your tone of voice is bothering him? Usually, little children like games, so a big grin and 'where's the ball! Is it here? Is it by your ... foot!' is great fun, but a command 'where's the ball! Find it!' might be a bit frightening.

I wouldn't expect a 17 month old to get their shoes on command, TBH. Not that they couldn't understand the phrase or see their shoes, but IME at that age they are often still working out the idea that mummy is a whole separate person. I'd probably go with something like 'can you see your shoes?! You can! Can you bring them here?' and break it down.

Does depend on the child, but I think the name response thing would be my big worry. Are there perhaps hearing issues?

I would be wondering if he had hearing issues.

My son was a late talker but understood questions like “where’s your socks?” much earlier.

It does sound like he has some delays in reaching his milestones, the lack of speech isn't unusual at 17 months but I would be concerned about the lack of understanding or response to his name. Speak to your Health Visitor or GP, he will need an assessment, a hearing test and possibly referral to SALT.

Try not to get wrapped up in ‘my child should be saying X words by this age’ as all children are so so different. Even my three as siblings are so so different to one another. I’ve known children not say a word until 2.5 and wake up speaking in full sentences overnight and children talking fluently at 14months.

My dd did not respond to her name at all. She didn’t babble, didn’t respond to me singing to her, nothing at all. She said the word ‘nose’ a couple of times at 13 months and that was it. I flagged my concerns at her health visitor review and she was referred for a hearing test which she then passed so was then referred to SALT. That’s where I would start in your position.

Happy to answer any questions you may have