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Behaviour/development

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My daughter is turning 23 months old and she does speak any words.

5 replies

BabyGirlsDaddy · 31/01/2012 10:20

She makes baby noises time to time, but not to often. She hardly responds to her name on the first three tries. She only pays attention if we say what she know for "snack" or her favorite kid's cartoon. She hardly makes eye contact with us as well. She points to what she wants and knows that she has to wash her hands before meals and do all the normal things, except for talking. What should we do?

OP posts:
BabyGirlsDaddy · 31/01/2012 10:21

type: she does not speak and words

OP posts:
lingle · 31/01/2012 10:33

You may get some replies saying "mine was the same and talked briliantly a month later, don't worry". And you will get other replies saying "mine was the same and I wish so much I had got help sooner as it turned out that she had real problems". That can be confusing.

It's great that she points to what she wants! That is really encouraging.

I think you should ring your GP's surgery or health visitor, and ask if you can self-refer to speech therapy. Speech and Language therapists are the best people to help you here.

If you can't, and you have to go to your GP, and your gut feeling is that something isn't quite right, and you want to see a paediatrician, make sure you start the conversation by mentioning the eye contact and lack of response to her name, and that her baby noises aren't common. Hundreds of thousands of children are not talking at this age so if you just say "she's not talking" you may be fobbed off. It is the other things you mention that a speech and language therapist would want to look at a bit more closely.

Book a hearing test and don't be fobbed off for that either.

And a totally safe thing to do is buy the book "It Takes Two to Talk", it is available from Winslow publications for £32, published by Hanen, buy it if you possibly can or order it from your library. It will train you to use good techniques that encourage her language.

mousymouseprice · 31/01/2012 10:37

agree, let her be seen by the gp.
some children are late talkers but as it isn't only the talking that is the issue further investigating is wise.
it could be all sorts of issues, the easiest to diagnose and help with are hearing issues.

BabyGirlsDaddy · 31/01/2012 10:37

Thanks for the reply. We are between family doctors because we just moved from Germany to South Korea. Which of the providers would I start with?

OP posts:
mousymouseprice · 31/01/2012 10:39

if you can have direct access to a paediatrician would be best, I think. they should be able to point you in the right direction from then on. but I have no idea about the korean health system.

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