A question for any SALTs out there

[boo64]

Hi there

I have had low level ongoing concerns about ds's speech for a while and today it was mentioned by nursery that he doesn't really say anything much there and that is slightly worrying.

Here is where we are at - he is 2.3ish:

• has plenty of words - I'd guess maybe 200 so that's fine. Incidentally he started saying words early ish at about 11 months and was doing very well but then stalled for ages and hardly learned any new ones until about 20 months.
• has just started stringing 3 words together occasionally e.g. daddy move bee (meaning bin) - although there are longer pauses in between than other kids might have but I presume that's ok. Quite a lot of 2 word phrases now.
• problem area seems to be pronunciation and the number of sounds he can't produce - he cannot say quite a lot of sounds still and misses off the ends of lots of words or just garbles them. E.g. Alex (not his name) is said yaya, morning is momo, nappy is nanna, bin is just bee, no r's, no c's, in fact the only sounds he makes at the start of a word are: b,d,h (sort of), m, n, p, t, y (only in yellow) It seems to be the softer consonant sounds he can't say I think.
• he doesn't speak much when we are with other people or at nursery but does speak a fair bit at home. Nursery thought he just hardly had any words.
• he can hear well (although he did used to have loads of ear wax so maybe he had glue ear in the past or am I clutching at straws??? I never noticed he couldn't hear well though)
• he has no other apparent developmental problems - understands complex stuff for his age, remembers incredibly well and seems a clever little chap just like his dad.

Am I being mum to a PFB and fussing? Should I be seeking a referral to the SALT or waiting a bit longer (waiting times aren't too bad in my area according to the HV).

Hi boo64.

I think I might have replied to you before. I am a SALT but not practising at the moment.

I don't think I would be concerned about your ds if he came to my clinic. I would expect him to be joining words into sentences now, which he is, and be able to understand fairly simple instructions.

Lots of children's speech is still pretty unclear at 2. My dd didn't acquire "c" until 3. It's common for the parents to understand their child but for others to have difficulty. If a child is VERY hard to understand by age 3 I would be keeping an eye on them. But direct input for speech sounds is not that common at 3, as the child needs to be a bit older to get what you're trying to do. The best thing you can do is repeat back the word/phrase "properly" to him, but don't make it sound like you're correcting him. Also don't speak too fast, talk about what he's focused on at the time, and keep sentences to an appropriate length, usually I would say just a little longer than he can produce himself.

Do you think he's just a bit shy at nursery? I often had to ask parents what their child could do as the child would not say a word to me in the clinic! Sometimes it helped to see the child several times so they could get used to me.

At 2 I would also be looking at the child's overall communication. Does your ds communicate his wants and needs? Ask questions? Do nursery have any concerns about his social communication?

Having said all this, if YOU are worried then see a SALT. They will do a proper assessment and tell you if there is anything to be concerned about, or not.

Hope this helps.

Thanks KTNoo - yes you have replied before to my posts a few months back - I had been quite reassured but with nursery mentioning it I got a bit more worried again!

Your post is very helpful indeed.
I suppose there are two overall issues:

1. he doesn't say much to other people and 2. his pronunciation. You have reassured me to wait and see with the latter as it is too young to expect him to say all those sounds.

re point 1....

Generally ds is a bit cautious around other kids but sociable with adults, and he is taking more interest in other children as he is getting older so that is fine I think as they don't tend to play together much at this age anyway do they.

dh isn't a chatty person so maybe it is partly that - both dh and ds quite like to hang back and watch everyone else rather than pile in. They are more sedate than me so maybe this is just partly a personality thing.

Certainly a while back nursery were mentioning that he didn't want to join in with other kids much and was a bit scared of them but he has grown out of that and is fine now - not the first to join a scrum for a toy or whatever but perfectly normal.

He absolutely communicates his wants and needs - be it with words to me or whining (a fair bit!) but I am trying to discourage the latter and encourage words instead by asking him to use his words like a big boy and saying I don't understand whining.

I am also starting two things that might help his confidence - I stop in familiar booksand let him come out with the next word which he likes doing and also am starting to get him to repeat sounds in a fun way e.g. hoo woo from the Bear Hunt book. Until about a month ago he'd never repeat a sound I made like this or say a word back that I said and he seems to enjoy doing it and maybe this will encourage him.

Sorry to go on....thanks once again.

He sounds lovely!

My 3 dc's are all right there in the scrum I'm afraid, which is nothing like I was. I was the one at the back of the room who never spoke and missed out on drinks etc! I blame my determined dh for my 3 monsters.

I think you can put quite a bit down to personality. I would say that at 2 he's still very little and unless he sticks out like a sore thumb then just give him time.

I've learned a lot from having my own dcs. I've learned that perfectly "normal" children do very odd things at times - things that in my previous working life I would have used as a reason for referral!

Hi

Thanks KTNoo -really useful.

he is indeed lovely (well almost all the time - he has his moments!) He does have a couple of quirks but so do dh and I so it's hardly surprising! He is also very funny and winds me up now or tries to trick me. They are adorable at this age aren't they!

Interesting that your perspective has changed so much on your work.

Yes they are indeed adorable - make the most of it! My dd(6) is like a stroppy teenager now, although come to think of it she's always been a bit like that!