what is speech delay?

[kitbit]

ds is nearly 2 and communicates well in every way except the actual formation of words. He can copy when he wants to, and has about a dozen words that he does use, mostly nouns, but mostly he doesn't engage in the whole copying idea but prefers to point, pull you over and show you, or espress himself with signs and gestures. I googled speech delay this morning and all the sites I found suggest his age group should be speaking a lot more than this and that it might be speech delay. All the sites give dire warnings to follow this up asap...but I live in a remote village in europe and it is highly unlikely that there will be a speech therapist anywhere nearby that we could consult.
Does anyone have any more info, or good further reading? Better still can anyone recommend self help books or anything similar?
Or best of all, can anyone reassure me that this is actually normal and ds is simply at the bottom of the averages for speaking?
help!
TIA

Moondog will be able to advise. My ds2 had a language delay - didn't even put 2 words together until he was 3. He is now nearly 5 and speaks a lot but is difficult to understand. I have looked for books on this but with no joy.

hi kit bit

i wouldn't worry too much just yet! my eldest DD didn't start talkin to she was just over 2, when she went to nursery. she was quite fluent too not just a few words! i think she was just lazy i did everything so she didn't really need to talk! she is fine now doing well at school e.t.c. my son spoke quite early i guess so he could communicate with his sis! i have another DD now 20 mths and she is the same as her big sis! i'm not too worried because i'm sure when she goes to nursery she will do fine too. she understands everything and will do what i say or fetch things i ask for such as nappy juice e.t.c and you said your DS does the same so i'm sure he will be fine! see how it goes!

I posted on this a few days ago. There is a book called Baby Talk by Dr Sally Ward which I have just got from the library. It seems very good and offers lots of practical tips on how to provide the best settings for your child to develop their language and play.
here

thanks for the book recommendation CIAB, will definitely check it out, and am hoping this bump will maybe find some other helpful thoughts from other kind mumsnetters! Emz, am really encouraged by your post, with any luck ds will be the same, by all acocunts his dad was fairly similar at the same age too so that bodes well. TooTicky, hope your ds2 continues to have good success, and hopefully Moondog might look in!
x

cheeky but hopeful bump....anyone else got any info on this? self diagnosis is a tricky business! xx

Keep bumping and I'm sure you'll come across Moondog who is super-knowledgeable

one last cheeky bump

My ds is almost 2.5 and he didn't really start copying words until last month or 2. But DS is advanced compared to my older children at the same age, and both of the older ones turned into non-stop chatterboxes (compliments from reception teacher on how articulate they were, etc.)

So, doesn't hurt to get an opinion, but it doesn't sound like you have anything to worry about, kitbit.

I can't now remember where I read it, but children who are sung to tend to have better speech than their peers. Singing has the advantage of pacing and repetition. Nursery rhymes are not there for nothing. Maybe after a while you could sing a line then miss out the last word. 'Atishoo, atishoo, we all fall...' and your ds will probably not be able to stop himself saying 'down!'...and then extend it from there.

Is he interested in books? Read little and often, particularly books which have lots of rhythm and repetition and don't worry (as time goes on) if they seem too 'baby' for him.

If he's still under two, there's plenty of time for speech to come on yet.

Bumping for you kitbit

Kitbit - I was just wondering as you mention that you live in a remote village in Europe, could it be that you are speaking English at home and he is confused about how to communicate hearing another language around him outside the home? He clearly wants to communicate, but is having trouble finding the words so I wondered if some kind of language barrier might be a problem??

I'm really reassured to hear there are other little ones who have been at this stage at his age and who are now jabbering away! We do sing to him and do nursery rhymes etc but could definitely do with doing it more, so will make sure we do this. He copies the actions when he hears songs so definitely understands a recognises so I think this will help, thanks. He has also just started being interested in books so we have jumped on that as an opportunity, especially books with pictures and labels in although at the moment he points to the pics and says "DUduh" which means "what is that?/I want that/look at this etc" but it's a start because at least he's interested.

camgirl, yes we do speak english at home, and tbh my head is spinning with conflicting advice on this one. Some say that we should only speak english to him as otherwise he won't have a good grasp of it as he will get spanish from everyone else. Also that if we speak 2 languages to him it will be confusing for him, so one language set should be used. Others (including his nursery, who I personally think are 30 years out of date but that's material for another thread! ) say we should speak as much spanish as we can, as they are finding it hard to communicate with him at nursery. He definitely understands us at home (follows instructions, etc) and we also use some key phrases that we know they use at nursery and he also gets those (sit down, put your toys away, go and get your drink etc etc) but I do know he will have less understanding there. At the moment I have dropped all spanish except a few key words and phrases because I am anxious just to get him into the swing of speaking and feel that I'll have more success using just english. Other kid seem to manage this way, and I read on yet another website over the weekend that bilingual kids actually shouldn't be speaking any later than kids with 1 language...so more conflicting advice and I'm as confused as ever.

Does it sound as though the 2 languages might be a problem does anyone think?

here's my thread on speech delay - and moondog is very helpful!
www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=8&threadid=220402#4459393

The two language thing doesn't apply to us but in general children who are dual language are often 6 months 'behind' in language until they are about 4, then they suddenly catch up and they are brilliant communicators often steaming ahead of other children at this point.

They are only 'behind' because they have twice as much info to process but the very act of doing that helps develop the language pathways etc.

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