Before I begin - I know there are a lot of other threads about this. I have read every single one that I can find, but now have even more concerns. Long post ahead.
My DS has just turned 2 years old and does not say a single word. The only sound he makes is "dah" as in "that", which he says whilst pointing to/ looking at something. He very rarely says ma / mama or dada. It's just always "dah".
On every other thread on here that I have read, the OPs child can at least say a few words at this age, albeit not many, but at least some. I would be thrilled if he said any real word at this point.
I desperately want to get him a private SLT. My health visitor has referred him for NHS SLT but we are still waiting for an appointment to come through and it has been months. She said it's good that he communicates in other ways (I.e. if he wants me to refill his water bottle he will bring me his empty bottle and a large bottled water that I use to refill it. If he is watching cartoons and wants me to change the chanel he brings me the remote). She says this shows that he can communicate just not verbally, and then went on to essentially blame me for this by saying I anticipate what he wants too much.
By this she means that in the case of him needing anything, I.e to refill his bottle, I will just do it for him. I stressed to her that I always say to him "do you want more water? I will refill your water bottle. Here is your water, drink your water" to try and reinforce the word. I also just go simple and sometimes just say "water" a few times but still he just refers to it as "dah".
when he points at things and asks "dah?" I ask him "what is it/ what dat?", pause to give him the chance to say the word and when he doesn't say anything, I tell him what it is. It's usually a dog as he really likes dogs. I've been trying to teach him the word dog for over a year.
I'm at a loss, after the HVs comments I feel like this is all my fault. I so desperately just want him to talk to me and really do not want him to fall behind his peers developmentally.
He has been tested for hearing and has passed the tests, I know he can hear me perfectly. He knows his name, likes to play both alone and together, tries to play with children in the park/ soft play area but they often show little interest because he can't speak and it breaks my heart.
He developed very early in terms of crawling, walking, etc I just want to know if there is anything I can do to improve his speech? Does anyone else have similar experience? Please share as I feel like I have failed him.