Advice needed on late talker - 32 months

[Moomin]

I need some quick advice / reassurance! My nephew is 32 months and has been very slow to talk. He says a handful of words (vocab of maybe 20 words tops), but many of them still not pronounced correctly (Dorge instead of George, that sort of thing). He will point or whine when he wants something but even tho some of the family have been trying to encourage him, I think they're all being very relaxed about the small amount he says compared to other children we know of this age. Just to give you some background - he has an older brother of 7 who is very articulate, a monsyllabic dad and an Indian mum who speaks fairly good English but not brilliant. He is at home all day with his mum but has been going to nursery for two mornings a week for the past 2 months. My mil and bil seem to think everything will fall into place for him when he's 3. I voiced some concern but they say that they'll wait until he's 3 then ask advice from the HV. Do you think I'm being over-anxious? I must admit if it was my child, I'd have asked the HV's advice yonks ago but the rest of the family seem unconcerned. Any advice/past experiences or professional knowledge welcomed, asap, please!

[megg]

My ds was/is slow to talk but he was way ahead on all other things (he's 3 next week). If his mum is Indian does he speak her language? Also IME boys are much slower and if they have elder siblings they tend to leave things to them (they tend to be lazy). My HV wanted to push for speech therapy but after speaking to the them they said they couldn't do much constructively because he's too young, the pronounciation will come in time and as long as he's making an effort not to worry. Personally I wouldn't worry too much as it'll come. We've decided to leave it another year and if ds is still having problems with his pronounciation then seek help. After asking around everybody seems to know children (usually boys it has to be said) who are slow to talk, my friend's boy (who also had a 7 year old brother) was 3 before he said anything. Its just nature some are quick and others take a bit more time. Bearing in mind there are not too many adults who can't speak at all I wouldn't worry too much.

[janh]

moomin, my DS2 was like this - possibly his vocab was even more limited than your nephew's (car, car, lorry, bus, that kind of thing) and this certainly continued up to 32 months, which coincided with the Christmas break.

When he went back to playgroup after Christmas his speech and vocabulary increased enormously; he was seeing a speech therapist occasionally which might have helped a bit but mostly he just got there IYKWIM. (Speech therapy was the HV's idea, not mine.) By the time he was 3 (in April) his speech was pretty good. HTH!

[Eulalia]

Moomin, my son is slow to talk - he is 40 months and is only just conversing with me now, ie asking for things (he would squeak, whine and point previously). I did interpret too much of his verbalisations and actions thus reducing his need to talk. However I gradually would state firmly, "what do you want?". However I would say don't push it too hard as this can just get the child upset.

Also he will NOT talk when we are out and not even much at pre-school nursery (2 mornings) but I am noticing he is picking up words from there and is even starting to sing songs!

Moomin - does he have an understanding of words - ie able to point to things in books, get things if asked etc? Not speaking doesn't necessarily mean not understanding.

[SueDonim]

My ds2 and dd2 were both slow to talk, nearer three than two, definitely. But it all came in a rush, with complete sentences and they caught up with their peers in no time. It's always worth getting hearing checked out, though, just in case. HTH

[Demented]

My DS1 has been a slow speaker, he is now almost four and is still slightly behind although now within the bounds of normal. If you are worried speak to your HV, mine referred DS1 to speech therapy and to see a paeditrician, and I found the appointments mostly very reassuring, someone also came to the house for a little while to assess his readiness for nursery etc. He was also sent a hearing test and the paediatrician sorted out an infection he had had for a number of months that my Dr was unwilling to prescribe antibiotics for as he thought it was just a cold, something like this can obviously hold a child back as well.

[Demented]

Sorry that should read sent for a hearing test.

[Moomin]

Thanks for your comments, all. I'm afraid I've got to let it go, tho, as he's not my son and his dad and nan are sure everything will sort itself out when he's 3 (like he'll go to bed not talking the night before his birthday and wake up being able to converse like Kenneth Williams!?)
In answer to some of your questions, I don't think his mum speaks her native language to him when they're alone - she does make an effort to speak English. And they're all fairly sure he can hear and understand ok. He seems to suffer from selective deafness, which all the men in the family suffer from, apart from my dh who has received some intensive training from me on how and when to repsond when spoken to
I'm sure they think I'm an interfering bag now, but I can't believe that none of them have even raised it with their HV up to now. Oh well, it's up to them isn't it?

[Moomin]

BTW the selective deafness comment wasn't entirely flippant - I'm sure my nephew sees and copies his brother, dad and grandad who are often in their own world, oblivious to everything and everyone else, during which time it's like trying to converse with a brick wall. It's a family trait (a highly annoying one...)

[SueDonim]

Moomin, your Kenneth Williams scenario could actually happen, you know! My ds spoke maybe a dozen words and then when I gave him the wrong thing at a meal he came out with an entire sentence of complaint. As we looked on in astonishment he looked very embarrassed because he'd finally been rumbled and his speech improved incredibly rapidly after that - maybe not to KW standards but very acceptable.

[slug]

Reminds me of an old joke, the one about a German boy who grew up, apparantly normal but just never spoke. His parents despaired but nothing they did worked. However, one day when he was 12, he sat at the table and announced "This dinner is cold." His parents were astounded and wept with joy, why hadn't he spoken before they asked, why now? He replied (insert Allo Allo comedy German accent here) "Up till now everything has been satisfactory."

[SueDonim]

There's another version, Slug, about Einstein, who didn't speak until he was 4, apparently. In our case, ds was peeved cos I gave him bread instead of toast!

[Carolann]

Even if there is no real problem it is best to talk to a speach therapist before a child gets past reception age. My 4.5year old dd is to have help with W and R. she had real problems a year ago and has had to wait a year for help, which luckly has changed to somthing minor. But when she gets older than reception age all help will finish because there is no funding past that age. She has done so well recently that one could say wait and see, but if we leave it we will have to pay for it.

[Bozza]

That sounds really stupid. The older a child is with a speech problem the more help is needed IMO. It sounds like if they get to a certain age we are supposed to give up on them. And 5 isn't that old.