2 yo boy not talking, doesn't know yes (nod) or no ( shakes head)

[getstuffed]

Another one of those hysterical posts I'm afraid. Ds doesn't speak, he has said ta a few times, he babbles, won't nod or shake his head for yes and no, not sure he knows what it means. He tries to quack like a duck occasionally, if he sees a duck and his general comprehension is there, he knows bath time, put your shoes on etc. can feed himself and walked at ten months. He smiles and laughs when you'd expect, can wave bye bye, watches tv and plays with his toys. I am becoming increasingly concerned, anyone had anything similar and can advise on the next step? Thank you.

I got milk and water last night and asked which one he wanted and he pointed to the milk, grapes or blueberries again this morning and he pointed to blueberries. Does he actually have to point with a finger or can he just indicate? He does both. I did use about 10 words when giving him the choice though. I held out until he cried for a 'word' after he had indicated as well. I guess neither of us where overly happy with the encounter.

His eye contact is ok I think, he will look into your eyes if you don't move the block or turn and look at you to see why you aren't going to the high chair. Just pointed to a cat in his book and said cat to him, he looked directly at me and made his raspy crackly noise, as if trying to repeat. He does this noise quite a bit, comes from his throat and I can only describe it as the noise welsh people make when pronouncing certain welsh words!

I will absolutely order that book, thank you for the recommendation.

He has a little car mat and he runs the cars along it and makes a few noises. Looking at his toys now he hasnt really got much that he could actually do symbolic play with, I feel terrible now!

I'm not sure where you are but in London quite a few boroughs run SALT drop in sessions. I'd imagine these are a fast track way to get seen by a Therapist and possibly bumped up the referral list. Do you have a local Children's Centre? Down here they run a lot of SALT type play sessions. The SALT therapist who supports children in the Nursery I work at always advocates giving choices and will use picture cards too. It sounds like you are doing the right things. I'd also say keep talking to your ds, as although he hasn't got the words to communicate with you yet this doesn't necessarily mean he can't understand you. Good luck.

"I held out until he cried".

OK, the book will guide you on alternatives to this - but essentially you need to take a step back rather than expecting one big giant leap.

We're actually in the North East of England at the moment, hoping waiting lists will be ok here. I haven't heard of any drop in's I must admit.

Lingle - thank you, you've obviously got a lot of knowledge on this, I am wondering if you could help me understand from what I have said if this is just speech and language or if ds may have any other issues? I'd appreciate your opinion on this?

i would also get a referral
in our borough the children's centres have SALT drop-in sessions, from which you can referred for formal assessment. if your borough does it this is much the quickest route in IME.

we are currently waiting for SALT to start with 21mo dd2 in a fortnight. in the meantime we have been advised to push her to attempt words with modelling and repetition e.g.

me - "what would you like dd2?"
dd2 "shriek!"
me "a drink?"

dd2 "shriek!"

me "a drink?"
dd2 "beeeeeee!"
Me "Drink!" "Here it is, well done"

so any attempt at a word is rewarded.

I have expertise only on two children with delayed language (my own).

I was an obsessive user of this board for three years and because of that I have a lot of knowledge of the patterns of behaviour that we parents show!

The key to sanity for me was working out just how far behind my kids were and then getting very very busy working with them at that level. Not easy, but the It Takes Two book is a good first step, and the job of the professionals is to help you on that path.

He may just have blocked ears - hearing test here you come!

Thanks lingle, book on order.

I have just been through a S&L course with DS and some of the things they stressed were to accept all forms of communication, so you offer a choice, juice or water and your son points/jesters to the juice, that's communication at his level and you can then just repeat juice to him. Try to think of it as communication and not speech as such because there are a lot of good things that your DS is doing. I know it's really hard but try to make your communication as natural as possible don't say "say" as it puts too much pressure on the child and try to accept his jesters as his part of the conversation just as if he was using sign language.

Good luck and I hope you get a referral shortly

Hi. Can anyone help? My dd is now over 21 months and has NO words at all. sick with worry. We have a hearing test appointment next week that we have been waiting 3 months for. I actually thought by the time it came around that she would've started speaking. She doesn't seem at all frustrated at not being able to talk - she's actually quite a happy child! She can copy clapping and stuff but unsure she understands anything i say......Also, she cannot walk yet - she can take a few steps between 2 people by that's it. She didn't start crawling till 13 months. I don't know if she's just a "late bloomer" or whether there's something seriously wrong with her. We are attending a pediatrian and physio but no-one wants to "do" anything until she's 2. Any thoughts anyone??

For all you worrying, my son is 6 and he is driving me in-frigging-sane with his constant whinging, moaning and whining. Ahhhhhggghhh.

My point being he didnt even say mummy until he was 2y9m.

I do understand why you may have concerns if they arent saying words but i am sure for most they will come.

I am also pretty sure that is why there can be such a long wait for appts!!!

Hi there , I know this post is from a while ago but I’m just stumbled upon it searching for answers for my little boy . Every word you have written is exactly what we’re going through at the moment . Would love if you could let me know how things have turned out ?