Speech development tricks?

[lepetitchoufleur]

Hello, I'm here asking for advice again! DS is 18 months and his childminder commented today that he should really be using more words. I've been thinking the same. We might get an occasional cat or car or dog once we even had light but that is it and it is occasional. So what did you do to encourage your DCs to talk / learn new words? Do you have any good games you played? We talk to him a lot and point things out trying to encourage him to repeat the names we give things, read books with him etc. etc. and otherwise his development is very good. Any ideas?

Do not worry! Yr ds speech will develop when he's ready. So long as you're talking to him, communicating well and interacting then he will talk in his own time. My 4dc all talked 'well' at different times. Tbh I think your child minder is a bit irresponsible for her comment. 18 months is still very young to be worrying about speech...

Does he have a dummy? Maybe restrict the hours that he has it.

Other than that, he will talk when hes ready. Aslong as you are chatting away to him thats all you can do!

My brother didnt talk until he was three. Not a single word. And then he was coming out with whole sentences.

OP, does your DS have a good understanding? Can he follow simple instructions? Does he communicate well ( e.g. pointing)? If so, i would not worry at 18 months... maybe get his hearing checked to be on the safe side?

frazzled, i found your So long as you're talking to him, communicating well and interacting then he will talk in his own time. pretty arrogant and ill informed. My DC1 for example is severey autistic and therefore cannot ( and never will). His lack of language is nit caused by my failure to tslk and interact with him

I dont think it was meant to cause offence.

Fact is, some childrens speech is delayed through lack of interaction. Every reference to it isnt aimed at people whose children have reasons for the delay.

My comment was not aimed at you kaz... it was aimed at op who said her dc is saying a few words...at 18 months, these few words would be considered within the realms of normal/expected for age. Your comment was just stupid really as I have not commented on your ds. I'm also not the only poster to comment re talking to child etc so I can't understand why you single me out either ..

I just pointed out that your "just talk to your child and it will talk" is not always the case. Very rude to call me stupid for that...

oh and thank you wanna

very rude to say you're offended by a comment that was not about you or your circumstances ..
"just talk to your child and it will talk" not what I said .. you call a child it.. that's not offensive?..

Kaz, do you read every thread looking to see if a poster has offended your autistic son?

Because it feels like you must if you took offence at that.

Im sympathetic to the struggles you face. But your posts here have been a bit ridiculous.

I don't know why you're having a go at Kaz. Her advice is perfectly reasonable - some children simply do not start talking without help or ever. Since early intervention can help many of these children, it is unwise to tell people with concerns that their child just needs interaction. It's likely that they will start speaking soon, but not guaranteed. Kaz's post was very sensible.

Only a few words at 18 months is within normal range.
A few tips: try to encourage him to make animal noises, copy car noises, just express himself and praise sounds that he makes even if it's gobldygoog.
Also, repeat the sounds that he makes, if he says bababa say bababa back to him with expression. It's silly but it makes babies think that you understand their language and it encourages them to talk more!
Use a lot of simple expressions such as 'mmmmm' when he eats. Repeat key words and keep sentences short. For example, say 'Billy Wants Milk? Milk?' instead of 'would you like a cup of milk' kind of thing. It is also quite silly but it's easier to decode and imitate than a long sentence.

My DS has a severe speech disorder and you wouldn't believe the inconsiderate comments people have made over the last few years, such as he must have been watching too much tv or something like 'well I spoke to my DD all the time so she was an early talker'. I think misinformed people assume that if you speak all the time your child will automatically speak well and that children with speech disorders have not been spoken to enough. That's just plain wrong. There are so many children who just speak later, or who have speech problems even if they are well cared for and spoken to all the time.

Also, dummies (I know this is an eternal debate) might cause some speech delays or pronounciation problems, but most long term speech issues are not caused by using a dummy, especially if it's only used at sleep time. With DS, not a single professional (speech therapist, GPs, health visitors, ed psychologists, paediatrician (except at DS's very first assessment with speech therapist she said that if he had a dummy, it would be better to give it up) ever asked me directly if he had a dummy. He didn't, as it was.

OP I hope the tips help!

Lots of language development is about hearing others speak rather than practising it yourself so don't worry that not speaking means he is slow to develop. I have heard of and known personally quite a few children who spoke very little at your DS's age and then suddenly start speaking in whole sentences.

It is really important that those around your son are using clear language to communicate lots with him and that anything he does say is repeated back to him correctly in a positive tone of voice but don't ask him to repeat it back to you.

It sounds like you're already doing all the right things so, as long as you're sure his hearing and comprehension are right, I wouldn't worry.

My DD2 had really no speech until 2 1/2 and I was very concerned. Due to other ongoing health issues (nothing that would affect speech but involving hospital visits etc.) dr advised holding off on speech therapy as at this age ST would only advise what was already being done - lots of talking, reading stories together and going to nursery, as seeing other children talk and have lots of ongoing chat will stimulate. Sounds as if your DC is within normal boundaries for his age. Maybe some playdates with slightly older/more vocal children will help stimulate him and asking him to 'say' please (or ta) when you hand things over - start with just you saying it to him to establish ideas of words being used and hopefully you'll eventually get him babbling back. And lots of very smiley faces from you and huge excitement when he does manage any noise which could be thought of as a word/vocal response.

Does he have older sibs - I found that DD2 was less motivated to talk as DD1 simply interpreted every gesture and grunt for her! Otherwise I'd try to just be patient and not worry as the speech will come eventually - within 6 weeks my DD2 went from no speech (literally 6 single words at 2.5) to four word sentences and repeating everything said to her etc.

If you want to work that little bit extra to help with language, you need to use good techniques. Getting the child to repeat words isn't generally advised. The best and "safest" book is "It Takes Two to Talk" published by Hanen, available from Winslow. Spend the £32! It will be infinitely better value than any pair of shoes you ever buy for the same price. the only thing it doesn't cover is helping children who have a problem forming the words with their mouth muscles.

re worrying - it's not really spoken words you are looking for at this stage - more an ability to show you what he wants in quite some detail. Here's a quote for you:

"By 18 months a child should be warmly engaged and capable of initiative and two-way communication. She should also be able to use complex gestures to communicate what she wants - taking her mother's hand and leading her to the door or toy chest, or pointing, for example. Without the use of words, she should be communicating with her parents, clearly understanding much of what they say to her, and communicating many of her own wishes back. If by 18 months the child can do these things, her gestural communication is developing on track and the building blocks of symbolic expression and language are present. .......The child who has a circumscribed language problem that will take care of itself will be mastering these preverbal gestural communication patterns."

"The Child with Special Needs", Stanley Greenspan, page 386"

good luck.

I saw a great tip on YouTube once as i looked for tips with my DS : when he points to something (frog toy for instance) get the toy and hold it to your cheek just next to your mouth and say something like "oh you want the frog, here you go, here's the frog" and seeing your mouth form the word helps.

My DS had the same amount of words at that age and only 4 months later he had well over 100. I was worried for nothing (as my friend pointed out at the time) but that doesn't stop you worrying. I also second a hearing test to put your mind at ease :)

I should add that the vid on YouTube was from a US speech therapist. She had other tips but I forget them!

peppa pig!! my son had a severe speech delay, he wasn't speaking at 3 and 6 months. he turned out to have autism. I was going on the Hanon course, using Lámh, PECs you name it. Peppa pig taught him to talk.

Oh my gosh most neglectful op ever award goes tooooo..... ME! Sorry all you lovely people posting that I didn't post back to say thanks for all the helpful words of wisdom! I hope you guys see this now! As it happens, he's just had his 2 year check and speech is still not great but it's not worryingly poor, we've got more tips to work with but I have noticed it seems to be coming on leaps and bounds ATM anyway so fingers crossed all will be good!