2yr2m old doesn't repeat words after me

[lottytheladybird]

Hello! My DS is now 2yr2m old and still isn't talking. We are bringing him up bilingually (Chinese & English) and he can say just a few Chinese words. We are always pointing things out to him, but he doesn't repeat words after us. Is this something you've experienced with your DC? I'd be really interested to hear what your experience of encouraging your DC to talk was.

Hi. My ds1 didn't copy words or babble and said no words at all really at two. Then he just started talking and within a week was trying everything and talking in sentences. What eventually got him started was one day he wanted another biscuit and made a sound very vaguely like "more". I immediately gave him a biscuit and then he did it again so I gave him another. After eating his own body weight in biscuits he realised the point of talking and tried to say everything from then on. I think bi lingual children do start talking later than others.

ktef - That's really reassuring to hear. Thank you for sharing your experience. I love your biscuit story!

Children being brought up bilingually can be up to 6 months slower than their peers initially developing language but they soon catch up. I would still get your son's hearing checked though just in case. Can he follow instructions in both languages without any difficulties? If you are still concerned in a few months I would ask your gp or health visitor to refer him to a speech and language therapist.

There has been a lot of reasearch into bringing up children bilingually and it has shown that it does NOT delay speech development.

How is your son's understanding? Can he follow instructions? How does he communicate? Does he point for example?

Any concerns about his hearing?

I would discuss it with gp or hv and ask for a salt assessment. The system is so slow (We waited a year) and you can always cancel if you DS's speech is coming on.

kaz1119 - My DS has fairly good understanding and can follow most instructions. He communicates by taking our hand to what he wants and doesn't point. We are now really concerned that he is autistic, so we went to our GP last week, who has referred us to a paediatrician. What is a salt assessment?

Just commented on your other post. SALT is a speech and language assessment. If you have been referred to a paed they will probably then refer you on to all the required people. Autism assessments vary depending where you are in the country, but especially at a young age are multi-disciplinary.