13m old delayed communication skills

[kalicia]

When I saw the health visitor for her 12m assessment it was when my lil one was 11m. She said motor skills are great but showed slightly behind with communication, but not to worry and she will give me a call at 13m to see if anything has changed. I’ve not had the call yet but 2m later there has been not really any change within my babies communication.

So for context, she doesn’t wave, doesn’t point, babbles but doesn’t say words, will only respond to her name sometimes (if she is too engaged in something she will not look), she has clapped probably a handful of times but if I clap she won’t copy it. When I try sit and talk to her and engage her with these things, she has 0 interest. She is a very physical baby and wants to be doing stuff ALL the time. She’s been walking since 11m, climbing up stairs, onto sofas and she knows how to safely get down too, she has learnt to walk backwards! Although will only take a few steps before falling, she kicks balls, loves puzzles, activities and stacking things. Is it just a case of she is so focussed on her motor skills that communication will follow? Or is there something I should be worried about? I did consider asd or even adhd but I know it’s too young to say. She does make eye contact though, she loves us interacting with her, peak-a-boo, round-a-round the garden (if we put our hands out she will do it), she puts her arms up to be picked up, she is a real people person brings us toys all the time and loves being tickled and cuddles. Just all the typical stuff the HV looks for she doesn’t really do.

Have you heard of Speech & Language UK? They're a charity and have some useful resources.

I think if your main concern is her speech, I'd do [[https://speechandlanguage.org.uk/talking-point/childs-progress-checker/12-months/ their 12 month progress checker and see if it flags up any concerns. If it does, they have a helpline which is usually quite good.

I don't think it would hurt to call the HV to chase up the review and to request a hearing test for DD.

Would you say she is starting to understand a bit of what you say (without gestures)? Something like 'let's go in the garden' or 'bath time!', would she head to the right place or otherwise show she understood? If you ask her where a favourite toy is (when it's in plain sight), would she look at it or get it?

Definitely no harm in following up with the HV, but if her understanding is coming along, then I wouldn't worry too much (and she would probably be there or thereabouts on the 12m questionnaire; she's not expected to do everything in a section). Pointing is important, but for lots of children that seems to emerge between 12-15 months, and it's not 'late' until 18 months, which is a huge amount of time yet in the life of a toddler.

@SiouxsieSiouxStiletto Yes I filled it out and said no to a few things so it said to either contact them or my HV. Her actual hearing I’m not concerned with cos she very alert, wakes up to any sound and does respond to her name (sometimes) and looks in the direction of people talking. Thanks though.
@skkyelark She understands certain things but not places. But maybe it’s because I usually say come on rather than the names of places and she just follows. She understands milky means milk as she spits her dummy out. She understands the word no as it is usually followed by a mini tantrum lol. She knows her doll which we have always called polly she will bring it if we say where’s polly. So she is understanding some things. It’s just hard to work on the communication when she doesn’t want to sit still or listen for longer than a couple of minutes because she’s constantly looking for something to do or play with.

I think the advice is to follow the child in terms of what you talk about, so essentially narrate her play in simple, repetitive language. 'Oh, your ball! Big ball. You threw the ball. Get the ball!' She sounds very busy (so were both of mine), but that gives plenty of scope for different things to talk about – just build the talking into what she's doing anyway. DD1's first verbs were 'bouncing' and 'dancing', which gives you some idea of her priorities, but it all counts! (DD2 went for the more general 'go!')

Action songs are also good for language development, and might appeal to your daughter. I remember singing many, many variations on 'if you're happy and you know it' with DD1.