Late talker

[Seabright]

Reassure me with stories of your late talking child, preferably telling me how the went on to win a Nobel Prize or similar!

My best friends nephew hardly said any words until he wAs 4 and half- his speech is slightly better but not great - but he's on the gifted and talented list at school for maths! My dd2 is a late talker but I think they all have their own skills x

DD is 3 and not talking a lot. has been diagnosed with a speech and language delay (her understanding is also behind). there are also concerns about her with regards to ASD...
I can't tell you how often I heard the every-child-is-different and she-will-grow-out-of-it stuff - though it wasn't the case with DD.

but I also have a friend whose son wasn't saying much at all until 2.5 and then came out almost over night with proper sentences...

you didn't say how old DC is and if there are any other issues but if you are worried I would talk to GP or HV...

Hi, I am guessing Seabright, that you, like me, are worring yourself sick about a late talking child. I don't have anything reassuring to tell you, just to sympathise as I am in the same situation. My DS is 21 months and not talking. He babbles plenty and can quite clearly understand a lot of what you say to him, but no actual words come from him. He also is not pointing, and doesn't really seem to get the point of pointing, although I have been trying to get him to for weeks now, pointing things out in books continually etc.

I took him to a paediatrician, who didn't really think there was anything wrong, but agreed to refer him to a (private) SALT, because I insisted. I saw her this week and he behaved like manaic at her office, running around manically and trying to destroy everything. (He can be like that at home but not always and not to that extent). She formed the impression that he may have an attention problem which is interfering with his ability to learn words, and wants me to take him to a occupational/play therapist.

All this has ben immensely stressful, and I am just so worried about him. Is he autistic? Has he got ADHD? Will he go through life never learning to talk? It's all going round and round in my head. My DH and I had a big fight this week because he insists there is nothing wrong, I am making a mountain out of a molehill and trying to label our lovely DS as having something wrong with him.

So I don't have any answers but am in the same boat.

She's 2.5, babbles a bit, but has always been quiet. She understands perfectly (except when she doesn't want to - normal child!) and can follow complex instructions.

It just seems like she doesn't want to talk and doesn't see the need (nursery staff are of the same opinion).

She has regular hearing tests, due to a family hearing problem and the audiologist says they don't even start considering there might be a problem until they are more than 2.5, so I'll see what's happening by the time her next hearing test appointment arrives.

She was a very late walker too, so am wondering if she'll just be late with everything.

Seabright, I have three extremely late talkers. My youngest is 3.5, and still does not really use consonants - just talks using the vowels. My two older daughters were the same, and now at school have no problems (yes, they are on G&T lists, though this is pretty meaningless - they're bright, but are certainly not exceptional).

However, it is worrying when your child doesn't talk. I remember bursting into tears after reading some government health official commenting that a large number of children were delayed due to poor parenting. My DH pointed out sensibly that she wasn't actually talking to me.

And other parents are only too willing to tell you that their little dear was so advanced at talking, but of course they talk to them all the time. As opposed to me who obviously locked them into the cupboard under the stairs a la Harry Potter, I suppose?

seabright have you seen a SALT yet? I would talk to HV or GP to get a referral. you can also self-refer for SALT.
I think it is very encouraging that your DD can understand complex instructions! but if she isn't really saying anything by 2.5 it should be looked into.

seabright have you seen a SALT yet? I would talk to HV or GP to get a referral. you can also self-refer for SALT.
I think it is very encouraging that your DD can understand complex instructions! but if she isn't really saying anything by 2.5 it should be looked into.

my kids were later, especially in their understanding. And now they are both doing absolutely great.

One of my kids grew out of it all by his sweet self. But the other needed loads and loads of help from me. And you just don't know which of those applies to her. So I would be heartened by all those examples people give of other thriving late-talking children but I wouldn't equate that with not needing to do anything IYSWIM.

The best and most totally non-frightening jargon free book is "More than Words", published by Hanen. available from Winslow for about £32. It will train you up to use good techniques but won't stop you just enjoying her as a normal little girl. DH and I both enjoyed working through it. It doesn't mention scary words.

It won't help though if it should turn out that her problem is forming the words with her mouth muscles. So I would agree with Cheapflower.

good luck!

Ah! so sorry! I gave you the wrong book title! cancel that! It's not More than Words you need, it's "It Takes Two to Talk" - same publisher.

so sorry -

my boy was/is a late speaker. Nothing much at all (maybe 20 words) before 2.5, went to a SALT and they were unconcerned as he could follow complex instructions fine. He's now 3.1 and just this second told me "mummy I can't find my sunglasses anywhere!" so has come on loads in the last few months in terms of sentence structure and vocab. However, he is still much more indistinct than his peers though - only me and DH can make him out without context (he uses the 'mub' and 'd' sound - has just told me 'i wad unummer dake beese' (i want another cake please)' so we're keeping an eye on it.

My son was late to coo and babble, he eventually did at 7 months, he then went on to say his first word at 9 months and I thought he was fine, however even though he developed a normal vocabulary his speech was never clear. Ie dad is gag. Everyone told me he was fine and to stop comparing him to dd so I did nothing about it. When he went to nursery school they confirmed my fears that his speech want right. Luckily for us they referred him to salt and for the last year he has had speech therapy to develop his pronunciation of sounds. This has improved although we still have a long way to go. His school have now identified he has problems with sequencing so today he had a assessment on language development.

All I would say is trust your instincts. You know if its normal or not.

ds2 is 2.2 and has 'Mama' 'Dedi' 'Yah' 'Mo' and 'Bee Bee'.

he's under SALT and Paeds and is most likely orally dyspraxic which is being compounded by a tongue tie.

He simply can't move his mouth properly (massive feeding issues as a baby) so can't make the sounds despite his comprehension and language skills being above average.

He's cuddly and full of beans and clever as hell though and is learning sign language now so we can communicate a bit better.

I wouldn't change him for the world.... it upset and frustrated me for ages as both my elder two talked from a ridiculously early age so I had naively assumed he'd do the same but we've gotten used to a different way of communicating now.

DD 2.5 didn't speak more than a couple of words until she was about 2.0. She understood, loves books and now, 6 months later she speaks in full sentences - it just suddenly came on. I think around 2 is quite normal for children to start talking. DS 6 started at 12 months but at age 2.5 they both had similar language skills.

Thanks everyone! I think she's due another hearing test quite soon, so I'll discuss it with the audiologist then.

@Seabright probably a long shot just wondering if you are still on this how is your daughter now? My son just turned 2 and really only took off walking this weekend. He was a bum shuffler. He’s not talking at all and I’m of the same opinion of you that he just takes his time at everything so I was just wondering how your little girl turned out ? Thanks x

Hello @FinnsMammy. She talks now (well, grunts - nearly 13), so all good!

@ChampagneCommunist thank you 🙏🙂

If her understanding is fine (sounds like it is). Then that's all you have to worry about at this point, I'd say.