Possible speech delay - any tips?

[Mmmmcheese]

DS is 20 months actual, 18 months corrected and while he makes loads of different sounds (e.g. he can make most animal noises) and uses different intonation he only has 2-3 actual words.

He had a SALT assessment 3 months ago and they didn't think there was anything wrong but nothing seems to have changed since then. I saw his paediatrician yesterday who said that there's no point referring back to SALT as they saw him so recently. His hearing is fine.

So, does anyone have any tips on how to encourage him to say words? I talk to him alot, he points out the pictures of things in books that I say, and give him lots of choices e.g. "do you want cheese or grapes" but he only ever points in reply.

I must the the only mother on here with an 18 month old who is not worried about his lack of speech! I'm firmly convinced it is normal not to have much speech at this age. I don't believe it can be considered a delay at this age yet.

What makes you think something is wrong?

It doesn't sound like your son is that unusual.
Only speaking a couple of words by his age is completely within normal expected levels of ability.
You are worrying about this rather prematurely.
Most experts say that a child should have 20 words of vocabulary by their 2nd birthday. It is still more than likely that your DS will achieve that goal.
Try to hold off on your worrying for a while longer.
In the meantime, be sure to read and talk to him a lot and encourage him in whatever words and other communication he makes.

Hi my dd is 2 and sees a salt. She says that when dd gives us an object I.e a toy car you have to hold it up to near your face wait until dd is looking then say 'car'. Do this with everything from toys to food. Then you can hold object up and say first letter of object 'c' and wait and see if child responds then say full word. Salt also said if they try to say anything even just making a noise to give lots of praise. We are using pecs as well which has helped her speech immensely

Did the assessments so far confirm that everything else is fine - shared attention, communication, comprehension ? If so then probably the speech is still late end of normal range. The pointing is a good sign anyway.

Thanks everyone, that's really reassuring. I guess most of the worry comes from comparing him to my friends' children who definitely say more words than he does.

Chundle, that's really helpful. What is pecs?