2 year old speech

[badgerinapreviouslife]

Hello, my son turned 2 in January, and his nursery have just expressed a concern about his speech. He's got quite a lot of words, he just doesn't pronounce them all that well, "ball" is "baw" , "cup" is "cu" etc however I understand what he's saying and his non verbal communication is really good. Should I be worrying? I talk to him all the time but is there anything else i can do to shove him along?

I wouldn't worry too much, I think the nurseries have to flag this up as part of the 2-year development check.

And the referrals for speech therapy take so long (in our area anyway) that it might be worth working through them for a referral - you can cancel if needed?

FWIW my DC2's check showed up speech concerns but within a couple of months the nursery said the issue had self-remedied.

I don't think you need to worry, my DS1 took ages to get talking, he had speech therapy for a while but I think he was an early walker and late talker, DS2 was the opposite. It might be worth mentioning to your HV tho'.

I'm sure more knowledgeable people will be along soon.

They likely have a list of things which might be a sign of needing additional help at certain ages

I think at two they should have 20 words?

I think he's got at least two more words than my ds had at 2. We took ds to get his hearing checked out at three he had so few words. Turns out he was just ignoring us and saving up his stock of words for later in life. Two is way too early to even think about worrying, unless there are other things concerning you.

My gut reaction is fighting with Yee olde maternal guilt on this one. On the one hand, I think it's like a few other things that resolved themselves, e.g. Not eating anything with lumps in until he was 1 then going to nursery and eating a sandwich, crawl at 8 month, stand at 9 and...walk at 16 months. In other words, "does exactly what he wants, when he wants to do it".

But I'd never forgive myself if I'd missed something

You could ask your GP or HV for a referral for a hearing test to rule out conditions such as glue ear - missing off the last letter of words such as saying 'cah' for 'cat' could be a sign of a hearing difficulty. If it is glue ear then it's easily treated. Depending on the results of that you could decide on your next step

Dd2 has glue ear (she's 18mo) and says lots of words but not clearly, we're waiting to see ENT to decide on our next move.

Thanks for the advice, I'll get his ears checked to be on the safe side. I'll report back...

My dd was 2 in dec and I was getting really worried about her talking she came home from the childminder today with her commenting her vocabulary has suddenly taken off. I noticed tonight when she wanted I drink she said her name then wants drink rather than shouting drink and pointing.

DH and I have just been conferring. Definitely going to the docs tomorrow - two colds since Christmas - coincides with the point when his word use went a bit static. Hmm...

Its completely normal for children of 2 to have unclear speech. They are still developing their sound system. Some 2 year olds speak clearly from the start others take a little longer to sort it out. At 2 there should be a vocab of around 50 words and they should be starting to link 2 words together eg mummy car, ball gone etc. As the language develops speech sound difficulties often resolve and you will find slt's will not work on speech until a lot later as children of this age are too young to understand the concept of sound therapy and they are still within the typical time for development to happen.

Definitely a good idea to get a hearing test done to rule loss out but from what you're describing your son sounds fine foe his age. (I'm a children's slt)

Please don't worry. My little boy was the same at 2. He said very few words and most of them were only understood by me and DH. He said "boo" for bus, ball and boo. And things like that. HV was worried and he had an appointment with a speech therapist.

Now he's 2.5 and NEVER stops talking.

Speech therapist told us the change between 2 and 2.5-3 in their development is so great that it's really nothing to worry about until after that, as long add they are making sounds and can be understood by their parents

A hearing test is the first thing your gp should suggest if you see them with concerns about speech.

Yes get a hearing test. Insist. Do not leave it, there is nothing to be gained from waiting, it's painless and an easy check. I had to fight to get one and my DD had almost no hearing in one ear (glue ear).

My DD could say about 5 words at 2, I remember wondering if I should say anything to anyone at the time because her little friend who is 9 weeks younger was putting words together to make sentences and DD pointed at stuff instead. She got going about 2.3 when I put her into nursery and now she's 2.7 I can't shut her up, her speech is clearer than her friend now and I am amazed by the new stuff she comes out with every day.

Don't waste a GP appointment. Ask health visitors or local children's centre if there are any drop ins in your area. HV can put request in for hearing test too. GPs don't tend to be very informed about speech development.

DS is actually at the children's centre for nursery so I'll give them a bell in the morning. I also think there are other bits of his development that have taken precedence lately. His fine motor skills are quite scary, steady handed enough to balance pencils and crayons on their ends. He got a round of applause for that one!!! This is bearing in mind that his parents are rather cack-handed (mother - terrible eyesight - and father - clumsy to the point where he possibly might be dyspraxic)

Painty early intervention is best when a child needs intervention. Not all children need intervention as there is a range of typical development and children can vary greatly and still be developing typically.

The op is indicating her child has a problem with clarity of speech (speech sounds) as opposed to language development (amount of words). I am also hanen trained and work indirectly with children where appropriate. The it takes two to talk book is for children with delayed language and communication development not for a speech sound problem. There is useful general things in there that everyone can use to help develop talking but at this age speech sounds and clarity is not something to worry about unless the parent is unable to understand their child the majority of the time which does not sound the case.

I was just trying to reassure the op from what was described in the post sounded typical for a child of that age.

Another thing that might be a factor.....The rest of the time outside of nursery is fairly hemmed in - both working full-time (DH on shifts) looked after by my MIL some of the time, my DM the rest of the time, and we live in a small upstairs flat. He goes to nursery and just explores/runs constantly for hours (generally giggling his butt off) and gets to play around other kids. Not talking because he's too busy enjoying himself.

You should see him when we pick him up, happy as a clam and the colour of a tomato

He does say oh no, oh dear, what's that so it's not like they are missing, but he had that before Christmas and the colds.

I agre that a earing check wouldn't hurt as something like glue arcan make it harder forchildren to hear certain sounds and then se them themselves.
I think it is too early yet at just 2 for a referal to SALT. This age some children make massive improvements in their speech in a very short time.
I would ask the nursery to review his progress in 3 months time.
Also ask them what they do to promote speaking and listening amongst 2 year olds.
In my nursery we have set times for small groups where we do letter and sounds phase 1, which is basically learning to listen and distinguish sounds. We also do lots of singing and physical activities like zumba and football where they have to follow instructions.