Speech

[Hawest1]

DS2 is now just over 1& a half & doesn't seem to be saying much! His brother was threatened with speech & language therapy at this age but even he was saying a lot more than DS2 is. He just seems to stand, scream & point. I have tried to encourage by saying 'this is juice' while handing him a cup, while helping with shoes I'll say things like 'these are ***'s shoes they go on his stinky feet'
I try to read story's (point out pictures in books mostly) but he barely sits still for more than 5 mins.
My mum said my little brother was the same, & he continued the 'screaming' until the age of 3.
Really my question is, what can I do to encourage him a bit more? I know every child learns at their own pace but I'm scared that he falls behind as I know he is a really bright boy.

It's not unusual for children of this age not to speak. When they get to two then it's more of a concern.

"Threatened" with speech therapy is an unnessacary way of phrasing it though. Speech therapy is a gift if you can get it....it helps children who need help. It is a good thing.

As for helping him, don't say "this is juice" etc but narrate all you do with him.

So....you're helping him to get dressed for eg. You might say "Let's put Tom's shorts on....these are your shorts aren't they? They're blue! One leg goes here...where's your leg? Here it is!"

And so on. Whilst out in the street, point things out that are interesting "Look Tom it's a digger! A big, yellow digger....where's the digger?" and point it out "There';s the digger!"

If he communicates in any way at all....even just pointing then you can say "Do you want the ball? I will get the ball....here it is! Here's the ball!"

Yes, you might sound a bit like a vintage Peter and Jane book but it helps them.

It won't do any harm at all to speak with your doctor or health visitor about his speech in the meantime. I would.

To me it felt he was threatened with speech therapy as me & my family felt he didn't need it, he would make tonnes of sence to me & spoke quite a bit at home, just wouldn't when the health visitor was around, he didn't seem to like the old health visitor & I don't blame him she wasn't the nicest.
Any ways, I understand it is very early but he literally says 3 words 'mum, dad & no' & that's the lot, everything else he just screams & points or hisses. I've not seen our health visitor since his 1year check & don't even know what her number is anymore to call her (the one I have isn't recognised anymore) I will try to get hold of her.
Even his big brother has tried the 'oh uve got a car, can u say car' 'oh what do u have? Is that ur juice?' Etc etc (he's 3!)
His brother was a bit slower with speech, but was walking early, give him any physical activity & he would master it in seconds, DS2 is kind of the same but seems to be a bit slower in speech.

My ds is almost two and still isn't talking and we've recently seen the speech therapist. We were told that even at 2 it's still too early to really know if there's an issue or not. How's his understanding? at this age understanding is more important than speech so if you say "let's get your shoes" does he understand?

I was told the opposite of what the pp said wrt talking. Yes, obviously talk and narrate but it can just become too much if it's a lot of chatter. We've been told to keep it really simple so instead of "It's dinnertime! Let's get your chair and plate ready, mummy's made you some lovely food" just "dinner!". But at 18 months I really wouldn't worry at all.

His understanding is brilliant. Like today I said 'come on shoes on we need to go get ***' (his brother was at nursery) so he brought me his shoes & jacket then ran to the stairs & screamed obviously thinking his brother was upstairs.
If I say lunchtime etc he goes to his seat & waits for me to lift him in.
He is literally only saying 4 words (mum, dad, no & his brothers name) & at this age his brother was coming away with a bit more & I was told he was slow for his age, that's the only reason I'm worried.

My sexond is exactly the same. Hes 18m and says very little! Hes very timid in personality though! His brother is vey loud and was talking in sentences and babbling with expression from a very young age! Which i think makes me think my second is further behind than he actually is! In the last few weeks he has suddenly started to pay much more attention to things and will point and make sounds to ask what things are called. He has started to liok at books and likes me naming things though he still wont say them. He doesnt babble any of his letter sounds! He only says mam allgone and yeah he doesnt even say dada. I think first port of call for me is to check his hearing. If he does attempt to copy anything i say he'll copy oitch and tone rather than letter noises so i feel maybe hes not hearing the letter sounds fully. Once hearing problems are ruled out i think its just talking to them as much as possible, naming pointing singing counting sounding and only giving them what they want when they make an effort to ask for it. Reward any attempts of talking or gesturing It is young for it to be an issue yet. But i do feel your concern. The fact theirnis good understanding there is a big indicated there no real issue. My son follows instruction perfectly too! Hopefully they'll both just change one day and say all these words they clearly have stored in there somewhere!

Also as a second child its alot more common to have delays as they learn differently. They learn things from their older siblings that a single child wouldnt. So a single child has more focus and need to learn words and less distraction. Like my son prefers to play by play fighting with his brother or chasing him round rather than reading a book! He doesnt need to talk becuase the oldest constantly entertains him

My boys are as wild as they come! Lol. Both barely sit down for more than 5 minutes, both scream & shout (my neighbours must hate us haha)
He was fairly chuffed with himself today, as it's the first time he's actually said his brothers name meaning to shout for him. I have thought I've heard him say it before but today it was clear as day & he was so chuffed, & so was his brother 'omg mum he said my name did u hear that, mum mum mum' lol, he gets plenty of appraisal from me & his brother when he does use his words altho it isn't very often. It's only the 3 of us in our house so we all muck in together & ds1 is absolutely brilliant at encouraging ds2 (ds2 took his first steps at 10months old because ds1 stood in front of him saying 'cmon come catch me I know u can' & it's been all go from then!! lol)
I'm so glad I'm not the only one that experienced the 2nd child being a little slower with things, I know he's a bright boy & I know he understands just a bit frustrating that he seems to prefer screaming over attempting to speak.

Sounds exactly like my house! Except my toddler isnt that helpful! I try and read youngest a book and the eldest starts jumping on me shouting over everything im saying! Haha! No wonder the youngest doesnt talk much! So grateful eldest is at nursery every afternoon so at least i get that time to teach youngest 1-1 the best i can! But as soon as hes home its hyper chasing fighting screaming chaos! Youngest has also learnt to communicate by growling thanks to the eldest! Im sure they'll get there! :-) good luck!

Oh he's only that helpful when it suits him haha. The walking came after 2 weeks of moaning 'why can't he walk' 'I want to play but he's too boring' haha.
Yeh ds1 at nursery to but even then my wee one runs riot & barely sits. He's started pointing to shoes & saying 'ssss' when he wants them on so I suppose he is making progress.
Think this post all came about because someone said 'when will he start talking' & when I thought about it further I convinced myself he should Definately be saying a lot more than he is. Occasionally he will come out with stupid words, but seems more accidental like he just meant to make a sound & it came out a word lol. His brother pushed him & im convinced he said 'ass' lol but I've never heard him say anything remotely similar since.

:-) all of my youngests 18m friends say loads of words, short sentences and babble loads just like my first did. It does make you question whats normal. But experts will say at this age understanding is more important. Understanding our language and being able to communicate their needs with us. And as long as you are noticing progress no matter how small they are doing just fine! I was actually practicing phonetics with my eldest tonight and the little one came over and copied a sssss sound i was amazed! I didnt even know he could put his mouth in that position! They defo know more than they say!

Nicky eds - I am in the same shoes .My 2 year old just says much .Just few words here and there .But he understands quite a lot .if I tell him get your shoes.ball he will do the job .Should I go to speech therapy .I am just confused .

Gg if u r concerned speak to health visitor & if they r worried they refer u to speech therapy.
my 3yo eventually went to speech therapy after nearly a year of the health visitor trying to get us there & was told it was a waste of time he was speaking brilliant. But I know someone who has a 5yo that barely speaks, the teacher at school can barely understand him & he has only just been referred to speech therapy 6month ago. Don't understand how that works I feel instead of threatening my son with it for ages they should have been go using on people that were really struggling like that 5yo.

gg1234 In our area you can either be referred by the gp or health visitor or you can self refer to a drop in clinic. We went to the drop in last weeks where a SALT saw ds, played with him and spoke to at length about his speech. She gave us a few exercises and told us to come back in March/april. The way I see it if March comes around and he's talking then great, if not then at least we're on the radar and the wait for therapy might not be quite so long. It was one of those things really- I was neither alarmed or completely reassured. She also gave us a kind of check list of what they would expect him to do at his age- ds is more or less there on all of the understanding and social interaction parts but miles away on the speaking. To put in into context they would expect a 2 year old to have between 50 and 200 words and be just starting to put two word sentences together. If your ds isn't there yet (and you don't feel he's well on his way) then it might be worth taking him along- might help, can't hurt.