20 month old- not really speaking

[Nicholas86]

Hi, just looking for some advise, not sure if I'm being completely paranoid. My son is just over 20 months old and isn't really speaking much, he will attempt to say "ish" when looking at a fish and "ssss" when a snake but mainly just makes different babbling sounds. We are currently waiting for another follow up hearing test, we went a few months ago as he wouldn't respond to his name and they discovered he had some sort of congestion behind his drum, I think abit like glue ear. He doesn't often respond to verbal instructions and will occasionally wave hello and bye. He is good at blowing kisses at bedtime and gesturing 'sshhh' when talking about sleep. He is good at remembering and doing actions to various songs, e.g. wind the bobbin up, wheels on the bus ECT. I'm just wondering if the speech delay is due to the problems with his ears, also could this be affecting his ability in understanding verbal instructions. I feel like I'm so over thinking the issue but I just can't stop thinking about it, I think working in early years doesn't help matters. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had some experience of this and how things worked out?

Thanks so much in advance and sorry for the long message.

Almost certainly.
If he isn't hearing sounds and associating them with objects and actions then he isn't going to be making them.
How long will you have to wait for the next audiology appointment ? Their waiting lists usually aren't too long.
I would certainly discuss your concerns with HV and (if he attends) Nursery staff.
I would also try some Makaton to support / give some cues for him.

We attended our first appointment in May, we are waiting for another appointment around August. I'm just concerned they will say we will review it again in another 3 months at which point he'll be almost 2 with no speech. He is becoming frustrated at times resulting in tantrums (Maybe this is due to his age and trying to express emotions)

HV have basically said children are all different and the audiologolist with refer to ENT if they think it's necessary. Just feels he is being left behind his peers. I think I'll look into makaton more and see if that helps.

Thanks