Speech delay practical help

[Marimaur]

Hello!

I have a 17 month old daughter who I think has a speech and language delay.

Compared to her fine/gross motor skills and problem solving skills (examples - she was an early walker at 10.5 months, can do puzzles for much old children) there seems to be a delay - she has about 3 words (‘dada, ‘goodgirl‘ and ‘that’) and doesn’t really seem to attempt to imitate words.
I’m also watching her for signs she could be on the low end for ASD (my red flags are the speech delay plus she doesn’t point a lot, she opens out hands and put things in them to indicate she wants something - like a book to read for example, she started responding/turning to her name relatively late and still doesn't always if she’s engrossed in something) I’ve done the mchat test and it indicates she is a medium risk.

I want to get her assessed for speech delay and asd, and know that lockdown/social distancing is going to create a delay. I wondered if anyone could share anything I can do in the meantime? Or what kind of things they do to help speech delay - Like practical activities? We read to her several times a day, point to objects and name them, talk to her all day long.

Thanks!

I don’t think your daughter sounds like she’s has a speech delay , try to relax she’s very young .

Maybe I’m comparing her too much/overly anxious/taken a few comments to heart from family members (sorry - first time mum, coupled with lockdown anxiety 😅)..

Only eight words are expected at 18M and that includes animal sounds so she doesn't sound too far behind....

Way too early to think she has a speech delay. Think children are meant to have a about 20 words by the time they are 2. She's not even 1.5 yet! So relax and see how she is getting on by 2

Please don't compare her speech with other milestones that she has reached. Just because she is ahead or on time with some doesn't mean that she should be expected to be early or on time with every milestone. I for example was very delayed with speech but started walking at 8 months and 3 weeks. My DD seems to be the same as I was. Your DD is not that far behind and I think it is way too soon to jump to conclusions about autism or anything else. All kids develop at different rates.

Also, you most likely won't find anyone who will assess your child for autism before the age of 2 and it is very unlikely that anyone would give you a diagnosis (even if there was anything to diagnose) until 5.