31 months old and still not said a single word

[cherylhav]

My little boy still hasnt said a single word, not even mammy, hiya or a toddlers favourite word, no. He has had a hearing test and it came back fine but i'm not sure if i should be concerned now or not, i wouldnt be worried if he'd said something but all he can say is the letters o,e,b and g. Has anyone got any advice on what i could be looking at here, if he's just a bit delayed or if i shouldn't be worried at all. I cant find anyone else whose child had this delayed speech, I'm just confused on what to do now

I would take him to see your GP and ask for a referral to a speech and language therapist.

I agree. Does he babble? Does he seem to understand you e.g. if you ask him to get something?

He's been to see one about three months ago and they referred him to a consultant which he sees next month, I think I just thought there was nothing to worry about but I didn't realise how behind he was. Just starting to freak out a bit I think, lol. I thought it might of been his hearing but am lost now

Yes he understands everything i say to him, he does babble a bit but just the same sounds all the time, he tries to copy your mouth but just cant seem to do it

our DS5 would say 5 words at 27 months (mama,dada,baba,what & fat) so I know it's more than yours, but although HV was not impressed she wasn't concerned either and nor was I.
this was last August.

still as he couldn't say yes or no that others would understand (he had different grunts for each) I decided to not take him to nursery.
I was offered to have speech therapy and put on a waiting list, but by the time they got back to me in Nov he was talking all day, string words into sentences, learning 5-10 new words daily.
he is almost 3 and will not shut up.....

are you bilingual? that could delay speech development.

I can't think of anything else as the hearing test was my first thought, but that's not the reason here.

try to get speech therapy for him.

I'm sure you'll get better advice than mine, or talk to your gp, they might offer some other test or what to do.

Definitely get it checked out with a speech specialist. If it's not hearing related, perhaps there's something else physical at play - something in the voice box or the tongue? Does your DS seem to understand conversations? Is he able to make himself understood to you?

I was also a very late speaker - maybe 30 months? - but then one morning said, 'Grandad, pass the sausages, please,' out of nowhere. So obviously I'd just been clarifying things in my own head before doing it in public. That said, no one was madly worried because I so clearly understood everything that went on, joined in with laughter and jokes etc. I just didn't do words. So it might turn out to be nothing cos obviously I'm super smart now

I didn't speak until I was way past 3.

Everyone said there was an issue. My mum knew I was just being bone idle!

First words - I told my mum to 'Go to Hell' (as a retort to her telling her mum that I still wasn't speaking and I was being lazy) True story!

From there on in, I haven't shut up.

Seriously. He may have a problem. He may not. Personally, i was obviously just making sure in my mind how to speak first, rather than messing about with half arsed sentences (as Sparklyboots) . Now, that's clever.

I have experience of this - my dd didn't speak until she was almost 3. No recognisable word until then. No reason ever discovered.

By 31 months we had already been referred to a speech therapist (but dd didn't cooperate). We used some Makaton sign language so that we could get an idea of things she wanted, but to be fair she couldn't communicate with us very much using this.

In her case, hearing was fine (checked with formal tests). Understanding was fine - she could follow instructions of a number of steps (eg go into front room and bring the toy in the top drawer kind of thing). Interaction with other children and adults was fine, she used her body language very effectively and read theirs well.

She started speaking just before her third birthday. And then we found a speech therapist who suited her and the progress was very good - far better than with the other two therapists who did not really connect with her at all well (and one of whom did speech therapy in small groups which did not work).

Certainly you should ask for a referral to a speech and language therapist (and a referral can take some time to come through on the nhs, so best to start straightaway even if you think your ds might start talking - you can always cancel further on down the line). When they get to school and start learning to read, it is painful if they can't even pronounce the sounds of all the letters . . .

Thanks everyone, its good to know I'm not the only one, even though it feels like it at the time, lol. I'll push for the speech and language therapist again and hopefully I'll get some answers at the hospital next month, thanks again everyone

i don't really know much about this but i've been reading up on the internet around some other issues my DS may have (my DS is a good speaker so its not that) and some of the things i've read mentioned about late talking children that then talked in complete sentances straight away, apparently einstein didn't speak until he was over 3. So it may turn out that there is nothing wrong, although obviously you are doing the right thing getting things moving with SALT

There are two bits to language. Receptive, what you understand and expressive, which is the speaking part. If his receptive language is good (his understanding) then there may be something inhibiting his expressive language. There may be a physical reason which GP should investigate or if not, speech and language assessment and therapy will really help.

Your not alone . My dd is29 months old. She understands most things and babbles away but doesn't say more than two words together. She's not very clear either. She smiled and plays and understands instructions and games like hide and seek and pretends to feed stuffed toys or be a cat or dog. She interacts well with people. It's just her speech is very delayed.

Did the therapist give no indication whether s/he thought it was a problem getting the words out for physical reasons?

You are entitled to a copy of the letter the salt wrote the consultant you know. Just ask.