Delayed Speech

[Redhead04]

Our daughter of 2 1/2 years is not speaking more than 3 words. She understands everything that is said demonstrated by her response to names of her toys and other objects. We speak to her non stop. Her HV recommends speech therapy. Is there anyone else who has had similar problems? How was this overcome? How long before the child was speaking?

My ds2 was a very delayed speaker - he only put two words together after he was 3. He has had group therapy and also individual therapy at playgroup. He is now 4.10, will be starting school in September, and still has a long way to go. He says a lot now but is still very difficult to understand - even I struggle sometimes! If you have the option of speech therapy, take it! It certainly won't do any harm and it is fun and friendly.

when my child started playfgroup he's just turned three.he was only useing one words and wasnt putting sentences together at all, his attention was awful and general development delayed.hes now just turned four and although he's still delayed he has come on leaps and bounds.he went to group speech therapy and wouldnt interact, one on one and wouldnt interact either so they gave us activity packs to use at home and ideas and gave the playgroup action plans to use with him.he now talks in sentences although some is not completely clear but he is alot better and understandable.it will come with time.is your child in nursery? with all the other children talking alot and not so much one on one he had to talk to ask for what he wanted and he's done brilliantly and really enjoyed it.it will happen in time.dont let yourself worry too much.speech therapy isnt anything to worry about.its basically playing with toys and using speech.i hope this has set your mind at ease a little.

Hi RedHead, my DS didn't really say much until he was 3. He understood everything though too and had good non-verbal communication. We weren't really worried especially as my DH didn't speak A WORD until he was 4 (and was doing his headmisstresses accounts age 6 ). Everyone else was worried though so his nursery gave him 4 hours of 1:1 a week for a year but he didn't have speech therapy as it was not recommended. He is 4.6 now and starting school in September. This time last year the SENCo/Nursery thought he would need to be statemented and need 1:1 at school but now he's been "signed off" and should be ok. He seems quite bright and I think he just couldn't be bothered to speak until he was ready. He was a late walker too!
Like us, you know your child best so if you think there is a problem get some help for you DD or more than likely time will resolve it like it did for us.

My older son (now 9) also had delayed speech. By the age of 4 he was talking very well, although his reading was slightly behind. They do catch up though and he is now doing very well in school. However, a boy in his nursery who also had problems was recommended speech therapy and his mother discovered he had severe hearing problems, easily sorted by surgery. So, perhaps it is worth trying a hearing test? She is a wonderful mother, but she honestly did not realise that anything was wrong. Either way, try not to worry too much - developmental milestones are passed, but not always at the same pace.

My youngest son,he is 8 now,his speech was really bad,he used to say a lot, but it went up and down in pitches,he sounded like he was speaking chinesse.no one could understand him,his cousin the same age was even worse,he just use to point at thing and make like animal noises.My son went to speech therapy,once he started nursery at the school he came on,slowly,it was until he was about 6 that he was propley understood,he is fine now but chats so fast its hard to catch some words,and his cousin started school at 5 and still didnt speak then all of a sudden it came,so i wouldnt worry too much,have you had his ears tested,that was another thing we had done,he had to have 2 tests but they came back ok..

Redhead04, you have just made my evening!!! I have a 2 year old son and he too has delayed speech. I've been feeling so alone as everywhere i go i hear toddlers chatting away and i can't stop worrying why my son is'nt. Like your daughter he understands everything and we too speak to him constantly, but to date the only words he uses are dada, mummy to a degree and grandad. He very rarely comes out with new words, but if he does we rarely hear them again after 24 hours!! We have seen a speech therapist & she has confirmed he has delayed speech and is sending him for a hearing test, also he has to see a paediatrician as well as hopefully attending the group therapy. He becomes very frustrated and so do we, so it was wonderful to hear that we are not alone!!! I'm just wondering but does your daughter nod in response to a question rater than say yes, and does she point at the things she wants rather than having to use words???

I have 6 children, and both my boys were late speakers, preferring a sort of Scooby-doo type language instead! The first was referred to speech therapy but after a couple of appointments it became clear that they weren't really doing much with him that we didn't already do at home ie. just chatting. Instinctively I knew the problem would resolve itself and it did. By the time he was 5 he was fine. So when my second boy had the same problem, I didn't panic and again it sorted itself out with time ...

Funny but all of my girls were early speakers, so in our family at least, it seems to be a gender thing.

if there's speech therapy available, go for it

my dd had speech problems related to physical disability; her lip and tongue movements are slightly affected as is her breath control

speech therapy was fun for her and very helpful

Get referred, the wiating list may be up to a year long (which is partly why HV's refer so early). If she doesn't need it by the time the appointment comes through you can cancel.

If a 2.5 year old is understanding and communicating well not using speech I wouldn't worry much about them at all, but I;d get referred anyway because of the waiting lists.

My dd2 was just the same. Understood everything, said nothing. She was well over 2 before she said her first proper word. She is now 3 and can chat in her own way. We had speach therapy, the most patronising experience of my life! Anyway, does your child sleep well? Snore? My daughter didn't sleep through the night and when she was asleep snored like a trooper! My dd2 appears to have adenoid problems and large tonsils which esp in colder weather cause problems with her hearing. So over this summer her speach seems to have come on. She is having both offenders removed soon and the surgeon tells me that she wiil sleep and talk normally within months.

Thanks for all replies to our message. Our daughter attends afternoon nursery so is in contact with other kids, who I've seen chatting away to her. She communicates with them in her own way. She has been referred for speech therapy. We are waiting for the first appointment. We are hoping it won't be necessary judging from your kind replies. When we ask her 'When are you going to talk to us?' She vigoursly shakes her head and gets cross. Maybe she just can't be bothered yet!

both of my boys have this

my ds1 had 3 months of speech therapy and now age 5 is pretty much on track with everyone else.

My ds2 is 2.4 and will only say up to 3 words at a time. He understands everything i say/ask of him but just doesn't want to talk back to me.

He is on the waiting list for speech therapy.

If you have a good therapist, you should both enjoy going. The one my older son had was lovely and my son came on very quickly with his speech while he was seeing her.

Can she sing?