Advice for speech delay (2.5)

[ProbablyHungry]

My DS is a wonderful and imaginative boy, but has a speech delay which makes it really hard for him to communicate with us. I can tell he gets really frustrated so want to help as much as I can.

Hes on the waiting list for SALT but who knows how long that will take! Nursery are also working closely with him and say they’re not worried, but he’s so much further behind his peers that I do.

Does anyone have any resources or advice they can share that helped?

He has issues pronouncing a lot of sounds, ‘s’, ‘g’, ‘t’ etc, babbles in between words like he’s trying to form sentences, then some words he says completely differently no matter how many times we repeat them (eg instead of whale he’d say goola 😂)

His hearing has been tested and is perfect, so apparently he can hear everything we’re saying.

He doesn’t seem to have progressed much at all recently and I just want some fun and engaging things we can practice with him to help.

Any suggestions welcome!

Give the speech and Language UK charity a call, they can book you in for a free 30 minute chat with a speech therapist for advice.

It sounds like he has some words (even if the pronunciation is very off, like 'goola'). How many, and can he use them to get his needs/wants met? Can he tell you about what he's seeing/doing, as that can very definitely also be an important want? Can he tell you (by whatever means) he wants a drink, wants more (food/stories/tickles/whatever), wants to go out in the garden, he's bumped his knee, that he saw an exciting big bus/dog/whatever?

If he's struggling at the single word level, to have the words he wants, you could try Makaton or baby signing. We did it via an online baby/toddler class with lots of songs, but Mr. Tumble also uses it, or you can look up various key signs and just start using them yourself (also useful for words for specific toys or interests that your child would appreciate being able to say, even if 'penguin' and 'tractor' aren't in the beginner course).

Makaton could also help if it's more at the combining words level – the baby/toddler teaching tends to focus on single signs, but it's quite common for the children to start sticking them together themselves (no, more that [pointing]! was one from DD2 when I went to give her more apple and she wanted pear).

I think the research shows that it supports the development of speech, rather than replacing it (you, as the adult, should always say the word you're signing, not sign in silence), and it could help with the frustration.