Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

20 month old's vocabulary increasing slowly but does not say/complete the full word - Is this normal?

73 replies

fimbles · 31/01/2004 14:59

Hi, my dd of nearly 20 months starting saying the odd word around 18 months. Now she is picking up words quickly, especially from books but won't say the word properly. Example is the following:-

Ball - baw

Bird - Bir

Book - Boo

Bag - Baa

Star - tar

Etc, etc, Hey I've just realised by writing them down, the majority of the words begin with "B". Can anyone please advise me whether this is ok. Her hearing is very good as she always hears dh in the kitchen opening his choc bar!! Thanks in advance.

OP posts:

Evita · 22/03/2004 20:23

Dd, nearly 18 months, has lots of similar things, 'caa' for car etc. She also has really weird ones like 'dice' for dog and 'bogbah' for grandma! The funny thing is, if I say to her 'look at the dice' she doesn't know what I mean. But if I say look at the dog' she repeats 'dice'!

Tommy · 22/03/2004 21:06

My DS1 (2y2m) tends to just say the first syllable of most words and the first few letters of one-syllabled words! He also calls people by their initial e.g Benjamin is B, Thomas is T and so on. His latest one is "Li dep" which translated means "little step" or a buggy board to you and me. I think it's really cute although I will be posting here again in a couple of years if he's still doing it

Tommy · 22/03/2004 21:07

Oh and he also calls bread "mar" for some reason - I cannot fathom it out. The other day I was saying "Bread b b b bread" and he said "B b b mar...."

charlieplus3 · 22/03/2004 21:10

Ds said Baby Doll as clear as day earlier so hopefully this will carry one. I was so pleased that i had to kiss her, much to her disgust as she was trying to play

popsycal · 22/03/2004 21:12

we have baked beans......baaaaaaaaaaaaay BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

like that!
no ends of words...

prufrock · 22/03/2004 21:31

dd is 22 months, and doesn't have the largest vocab, but is quite clear on most of the words she does say (although she does miss some of the endings) but the funniest thing she does is say some things the wrong way round, so chin is "neeeeeee", cream is "meeeeeee" and dh is no longer da-da, but nojjjjj (she's picked up on me calling for John)

kiwisbird · 22/03/2004 22:25

my son called water - hiya for ages, even when he could say war ter he was so used to saying hiya he just kept on saying it...

clary · 23/03/2004 10:58

Yeah, like everyone has said Fimbles, don't worrythat she's not saying the ends of words...been there...DS1 (4.5 plus) still can't say C or K so some of your under 2s are doing really well! Car is Tar, Corner is Torner etc. Book I think is still Boo, generally he tends to elide out the ends of a lot of words. Sometimes he can't say the sound, sometimes it's just habit I think. As everyone says, just say it right but don't make a big deal. I did teach both DS1 and DD (2.5 now) to say elephant as he used to say e-e-nant and I was certain there was nothing there he couldn't do, but I made it a joke one day in the car - by the end of the journey they were both shouting ellie-fant at the tops of their voices. DD by the way can manage "black" no problem (a very hard word for DS1), but even she had a phase where only I could understand her. As long as they are using sounds to mean things they are progressing. It can be frustrating tho, can;t it (for you but especially for them).

CountessDracula · 23/03/2004 11:17

My 18mo dd has all sorts of weird permutations of pronounciations! I do think it's normal at this age.

Her aunt gave her something on Sunday, I said to her "say thank you Auntie Su" and she said "Tank oo Arsey Noo"!!

Needless to say she will be known as Arsey Noo from now on!

JanZ · 23/03/2004 12:48

Ds (3.5) still doesn't always say "s" - for example, snowmen (aka small chocolate bunnies used as rewards for potty training!) are pronounced "'nomen". He also has difficulty pronouncing "K" - despite the fact that his frist word was a very clearly enunciated "Cat" at 12 months - but he "lost" it a few months later. He was late to talk (although he was babbling for a long time in serbo-croatian )- it's only really in the last few months that his speech has become intelligible and it's now accelerating on a daily basis.

One of his "words" is "chimmies" which are crisps. He started using this when he was about 18 months old - we don't have clue where it came from, but he is insistent that that is the word for crisps. We look forward to the day when he asks us why all the immediate family calls crisps "chimmies" - and we'll reply, "we don't know - we were hoping you would tell us!"

cori · 23/03/2004 13:48

I have to say i am not so sure about the Baby Talk book.
I bought it myself when i first became concerned about my sons speech development. ( when he was 18 months old) I followed some of the suggestions such as not trying to draw words and not correcting them ( i.e by repeating the correct pronuciation.). I am now taking my DS to a SALT and she says that i should be doing these things. I have seen some improvement since i started following her suggestions.

Fimbles, my DS is like yours but older 2.2.
he knows many words by recognition,can point to pictures etc but seems quite lazy in trying to say them. Says first letters of words but almost never whole words. The SALT said not to worry to much about the pronuciation at this stage but to concentrate on building up the volcabulary. To focus on linking words together such Bye-Daddy , or more-juice ( i think only after 2 though. When started Speech therapy three weeks ago , he never linked two words ( apparently 'whats dis' doesnt count) and now is showing some progress. and dont give in to pointing or at least encourage to tell you what they want ( especially if they know the word)before you hand what ever it is over.

Jimjams · 23/03/2004 14:03

cori- I take it this is private SALT? VERY curious if it isn't......

cori · 23/03/2004 14:16

yes is a private SALT.
whats curious?

fio2 · 23/03/2004 14:19

I know why!!!! my poor fgriends som has been waiting since june last year and had his first appointment monday and now the SALT is worried he has something "more' but even so, she doesnt want to see him for another 4 months, grrrrrrrrrrrrr

fio2 · 23/03/2004 14:20

i need to see a typing specialist!

cori · 23/03/2004 14:28

thats why i went private. I think buy the time he has his two year check and then wait for a refferal he will probably be 3. SALT as he is so young would see him a few times and give me exercises to do at home then will come back in a few months.
Am very glad was able to go private as otherwise would have been following Baby talk and getting no where.

Jimjams · 23/03/2004 14:31

oh so been there fio2. ds1 showing ALL the signs of autism put on a 3 month review to be seen in October. Rang in October to see what had happened to appointment to have a "October children? NO we're not seeing October children- we're seeing August children". The October children were seen in March. Eventually they must make the year up. At the time the conversation left me bemused, now they leave me bored. Can't even be arsed to chase up ds2's referral. Instead I'm going on a verbal dyspraxia course myself- the american expert I contacted about ds1 is holding a study day in April so I'm off to learn from her.

This thread reminded me to ring the LEA re maternity cover for ds1's SALT. "oh yes I can assure you that meetings are being held at thehighest level" "good are you going to pay for jis prvate SAT to go into school then?" "maybe". Anyway his statementing officer tells me she's coming to his review next week so I can harangue her then.

Your poor friend fio. Did SALT suggest what "more" she suspected? Can she be referred to a pead or something or does she have to have the 4 month appointment first? Crap if she does- that's why our dx was delayed for over a year.

Nothing sinsiter cori just curious as to where on earth you were accessing weekly SALT if it was on the NHS.

fio2 · 23/03/2004 14:40

well I have had my suspicions for ages but the SALT said dyspraxia/ADHD (i think autistic) my friend went on to say adhd doesnt exist the slt told her!! I said it does but I doubt they would say it adhd now anyway, he is only 3. I cant see he is dyspraxic either. He was slow to walk, but he is not that clumsy. He eats a dinner perfectly. Alot of his problems seem more behavioural. He is globally delayed (although they havent even said this yet!!) and I dont know what to say really. She rang me last night to ask my opinion and I had had a glass of wine and then felt guilty I may have upset her, I dont know it is so hard isnt it?

Jimjams · 23/03/2004 14:47

bloody impossible fio. SALTs aren't that good at recognising autism, but I'm never sure whether that's because they're not allowed to dx, or just becuase they're crap. Surely the SALT shouldn't be allowed to dx anything other than verbal dysraxa- certainly not ADHD or general dyspraxia? Sounds like she needs to see a paed. Could you suggest that "to put her mind at rest"?

fio2 · 23/03/2004 14:50

yes I will do. I sort of said last night he would need a full assessment for any dx and how long is that going to take??? Look at us, still no dx my dd is 4 seems a bit more straightforward with her little boy though. Our development paed is vile though, but he is retiring in june so she will most probably see someone else anyway!

cori · 23/03/2004 14:53

how often do you get to see SALTs on the NHS?

JimJams , you had me worried when i saw your your early reading thread the other day. DS can recognise letters and numbers , ( though not say them) and some words i think. he has no other AS signs though,

fio2 · 23/03/2004 14:54

cori in our area if your child is having severe problems you are lucky if you are seen every 3 months. realistically twice a year

cori · 23/03/2004 15:07

wow , i didnt know it was that bad.
A friend took her son to NHS SALT , i think he went on a six week programe. Once a week for 6 weeks. then a review months later.
I wonder what would happen if i wasnt taking DS to a SALT. Do you think he would just catch up eventually by himself? or would his speech always be behind throughout childhood?

fio2 · 23/03/2004 15:10

depends, but if you can afford private you may aswell get the input he needs

Jimjams · 23/03/2004 15:33

Cori- we were in the system in Bromley for a year and had 2 appointments. We have been in the system here for 2 years and have had 3 appointments (and 3 speech therapists although we never got as far as meeting one of them) and the SALT visits him about 4 times a term at school. Or should I say used to visit him as she's on maternity leave now and she's not being covered. DS1 does have SALT provision in his statement which means the LEA have a legal duty to provide it (which is why I am aking them to pay for his private SALT to go into school- we see her every Saturday morning).

DS1 is 4 and a half- understands a lot of nouns, some set phrases (eg "coat on" "sit on seat" and not much else. Speech is completely unintelligable.

I wouldn;t worry about the reading thing- that thread reassured me anyway. I suspect ds2 has verbal dyspraxia but he's definitely not autistic.

Things like being late to point and not using gestures are the clearest signs of autism in a young child.

If you can afford private SALT I wouldn't bother with the NHS. That's why I'm going on a verbal dyspraxia course myself. If ds2 does have it the NHS won't have the staff/resources to deal with it so I may as well learn to do it myself.

Flip

1 2 3