Almost 2.5yr old not speaking

[Jackofallmasterofnone]

Hello all, does anyone have some good news stories they can share about kids they know who have just suddenly started speaking after this point.
My 2.5yr old babbled as a baby and stopped completely for about 9 months, now he babbles again, it's dada, babababa etc, there's no specific meaning to any sound expect smacking his lips means he wants his dummy. He doesn't follow instructions such as, go and get your shoes, but he does understand "stop" "ta (give that to me)" amd a couple of other things.
If he wants something he takes your hand and leads you to it or brings it to you (like his water bottle and food/toys).
He does make eye contact. He can be on/off to react to his name.
He does seek out others to play but not all the time. We have a 1yr old and a 10yr old and he'll look to play with them both but it pretty happy flipping through picture books and pottering about with toy animals.
He will laugh at actions from people he finds funny and at things on TV.
He seeks attention and starts games himself, like peekaboo and play fighting.

Has anyone ever heard of such a speech delay just coming right? He's under SALT and we're waiting for the first appointment shortly. He's been given a hearing aid for a very minor hearing loss, probably due to glue ear, but he won't wear it.

Thank you

Hi
my son was exactly the same at that age
I mean like you described my son exactly how he was at age 2.5-3 yo!!!

boys tend to develop their verbal/communication skills slower(i guess you notice that at salt groups there is always more boys speech delayed)

we went tru salt and ot and …a lot of worries at that time

now he is at school year 1, done kindy very well(his English vocabulary and pronunciation way better then mine) he doing sports and has plenty friends
if someone would told me that 3years ago - I wouldn’t believe

so stop googling and do what you doing now. You doing great

I personally think that boys developing speech more slowly is a bit of a myth. In our very limited experience our DS was fine, it was our DD who had speech delay.

The glue ear will definitely impact him though. Did you know that you can join the NDCS if he has glue ear and it’s free? They might be able to support you in getting him to wear his hearing aid

Are the only referrals he’s had so far for hearing and SaLT? And is he in any kind of childcare?

Hi
the numbers of statistics in regards to speech delay shows it’s not a myth:
Boys ages 3-17 are more likely than girls to have a voice, speech, language, or swallowing disorder (9.6% compared to 5.7%)

I’ve been with my son in SALT for 2 years and I notice that roughly 8 of 10 kids there are boys.
even here at mumsnet majority of the posts about speech delay related to boys.

Thank you. I didn’t know those statistics. Can I ask where you got them from please so that I can do a bit more reading?

What I do find difficult though is when people say that boys are slower so you shouldn’t worry. I had similar when I posted about my DD. Unanimously posters reassured me that she was fine, she wasn’t and did need SaLT.

Oh wow, I really hope I'm saying the same as you in three years!! Thank you

No I didn't know that! I'll check that out thank you. He's at nursery two days a week and yes those are the only referrals he's had, are there more you would suggest?