2 year old still not talking

[Hitchyhero]

I know we shouldn't compare but I've just seen my friends kid on FB who were born days apart and he just said every single planet very clearly.

My son has just been saying the same made up phrase for the past year which after hearing it over and over and over, its honestly driving me crazy. After seeing that video of my friends child.... I feel like I've completely failed him. But it's not like I try.

Even if I get him to say a word.... They all sound for the same. He will pronounce every word with a D.... And if its two syllables then all the words sound like Dehdeee. Doggy = Dehdeee. TV = Dehdeee. Grandad = dehdeh. Nana = dadarrr. I've tried getting him to look at my lips.... And pronounce different letters individually like P, B, R..... And they all come out D.

Hearing seems to be fine. Understanding is there and I can pretty much ask him to do most things.

He was about to go to nursury where I was hoping he would to start speaking more but now with the coronavirus it looks like he won't be going for another 3 - 6 months. Is there anything I can be doing... I feel like he's falling behind.

Talk to him. Lots and lots. With no background noise, turn TV/radio off. Come down to his level, make eye contact and try and make sure he looks at you.

Sing to him/with him.

Use single words or short phrases repetitively. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Play games that involve speech in a repetitive way, so peek-a-boo or ring-a-roses or row row the boat that sort of thing.

There is an American speech therapist called Laura Mize who has a website called Teach me to Talk. If you sign up to her mailing list she sends 3 or 4 emails a week with ideas, tips, games etc for late talkers.

Have you thought about getting him assessed by a speech therapist? your GP or HV can refer you, could be something like verbal dyspraxia which he would need speech therapy for.

How old is he? Like just turned 2 or nearer 3? As to me this would make a huuuuge difference. It's hard not to compare but they're all different. Mine is just 2 and does say a few simple sentences but took a long time to take off with her speech and still is very unclear. A lot of what she's saying would be missed if you weren't in tune and even I'm often having to tell her I don't understand her. I too feel a little bit concerned that some kids are already counting to 20 and sing nursery rhymes etc and she has no interest in doing either. You know what though? She recognises a bunch of her letters and all her numbers up to 10. She knows when there's 2 of something and says it eg; 2 tigers. She can do a 24 piece jigsaw more or less unaided. She has been riding a balance bike for several weeks. There's pretty much nothing she doesn't understand when you talk to her (although she does choose when to listen....) and if I am reading a book to her she can often finish the sentences if it's a word/phrase she knows how to say. I think a lot of it is her personality which just doesn't have any interest in rote learning things or 'showing off' to me

How is your LO's understanding? I'd be much more reassured if this is on track. Any other red flags for autism? You can do the MCHAT test (just google it) which is a quick screen for autism. Not talking at this age is something to be vigilant of but they do all learn different things at different times and have different personalities so it's best to try and not compare. Think about what he CAN do and you'll probably find he's more on track than you think. If you're worried I would speak with your health visitor although I wouldn't hold out hope for a whole lot getting done whilst this epidemic is going on. www.teachmetotalk.com is also a brilliant website to give you a better idea whether your LO is doing ok and ways to help him. Good luck xx

He's Just turned two. His go to phrase is ah-dah for everything unless I make him repeat and even then most words sound like Dehdeh.

I read 3 books a day, I make him look at my lips, we do songs all the time and including at the sure start. I've done a communication Peep course. I describe everything I'm doing and talk to him all day. He's definatly not saying sentences... Barely saying one word. His understanding is definatly there.

It does sound like he might need speech therapy, but I think given the current circumstances you're very unlikely to get that for a while. Just carry on with what you're doing and do visit the 'teach me to talk' website, it has loads of ideas.

Maybe increase the amount of reading if he's interested. Three picture books a day only equates to 10 mins reading max. You want to be reading for 10 mins at a time, several times through the day. Easy books with not too many words, those ones that have no words just pictures where you name things are also good. Go for repetitive books where possible.

Also, when you're speaking to him, keep it simple and repetitive.

@Hitchyhero how is your son's speech now? My son is very similar at 22 months. He only has a few words and says dada for pretty much everything 😆

@Chrissayeth his speech is absolutely fine now. He didn't speak barely until after he turned 3.

He had a few assessments and test his understanding (which I knew was always there) so I don't think they were too bothered. They gave me a list of things to do (which I was already doing at the time) like reading and repeating mispronounced words etc.

Just after he turned 3 he had an explosion of correctly said words. Literally before that everything was "ahhh dahhh". It just switched instantly.

Thanks for your response. Hopefully my son will have an epiphany with words soon. He's just started walking as well after months of just cruising about and crawling. He tries to say wordd sonetimes, like he knows what things are, he just cant articulate them. I always talk to him, sing and read as he loves books, it is patronising when SALT tell you things you already do, like we just plonk them down and ignore them or something. I was reading your other post about how he would get frustrated with toys as well, has that improved at all? As my son will just bury his head in the ground and cry if he can't get a puzzle piece in first time. I worry for children at his nursery if he's flinging toys about the place and he ends up hurting someone.