Help! Has my 20 month old got a speech problem!

[Sallyallyally]

I think mumsnet is becoming my guru so am again trying to tap in to the fountains of wisdom. Could someone help! My 20 month old nearly 21 month old son doesn't really speak! He makes plenty of noise, intonations and sounds, but mainly communicates by saying 'dee' and pointing. He doesn't really seem very interested. I read him books and point out the pictures, we sing songs and make animal noises (!!!!) and I chat away to him in general....my DD was talking in sentences by this point so I am staring to worry there is something wrong. He seems to understand everything and will carry out quite complicated instructions, so I reckon his hearing and comprehension are fine. Physically he is fairly advanced and does puzzles, builds towers etc etc so I don't think there is anything too wrong with his development otherwise. Only words are 'indere' (in there), dada, moo and mummum. everything else is 'dee'! Sometimes I worry I will have a full grown adult talking like 'Ann' in Little Britain. Should I be concerned...feel it's a bit early to try the health visitor...could do with knowing that a few other people have experienced this. Please? Hopefully!

if you live near plymouth theres a toddler group called step by step. it's a group to help little ones speak while waiting to see a speech theopist. they have even written a referal for ds2 whos 3 next week. he only has about 50 words. the waiting list down here is about 12 months.

It's not straightforward in the 2-3 age group even for people such as HVs to figure out if a child is just on the late side of normal or needs intervention asap. DS ended up on the wrong side of things - I was first concerned at 2.3, both HV and GP refused to refer until he was 3, he didn't get first SALT appointment until 3.8 (and this was after private SALT confirmed at 3 that DS had a severe language delay).

Unsurprisingly I therefore come down on the side of bubblagirl, thinking it's far better to get on the list than cancel, than end up with a 3 year old with a serious problem.

Anyway - moving back on topic - denbury makes a good suggestion re:groups. Up here the Surestart centres run a 9 week course called "You make the Difference" - it's about helping you help your child to communicate.

oops pressed post too soon. Just to add - if you have spare time in theday, may be worth checking out whether nearby children's centres offer any useful groups/courses/chance to speak to a SALT.

It's probably nothing but I think it's always worth mentioning these things to your Dr or HV just in case. The chances are he'll be chatting away by the time you get a speech therapy appt. But at least you'll have the appt in place if you need it.

I mentioned dd3's lack of speech at 17 months to the GP, who mentioned it to the HV. I did think that maybe she could hear some things but not others.

To cut a long story short we have found that she does in fact have hearing loss in both ears and is having her hearing aids fitted on the 10th. It's taken 2 months to get to this point but only because we had a private hearing test rather than wait 3-4 months for an NHS one.

i go to a group called SNAP special needs and parents not sure if you have one in your area but hey offer all sorts of courses and advise i start makaton course next fri so i can teach ds some sign although his speech has come along is till want to do this anyway as when he is ill he loses his ability to form his words

but there also great for there courses for him he has a busy schedule but id rather that than do nothing

you can speak to proffessionals within the unit for advise on anything they can put you in right direction for any other proffessionals well worth looking into

Is there a 'Talking Tots' group near you? - pre-school groups aimed at developping sp and lang. Don't know how much the groups cost but I guess similar to the charge made for other privately run groups.

(Unfortunately, there will always be children who do not develop communication skills appropriately or at all but I'm just pointing out that if all children under 2years who are not communicating verbally, were referred for assessment then slts would indeed be even more inundated than they are already and have less time for giving therapy to those who are old enough to benefit from it and who have serious sl difficulties.

Do some areas have minimum ages for referral? (was dark ages when I last worked in community clinics and we didn't but we did not have long waiting lists like many other areas). Unless of course there is an obvious condition that could affect communication - in which case that child may be seen by a specialist straight away.)

I worried about this too. Then at 24months he spoke, pretty clearly, in about a fortnight we went from two words to clauses! Weird how it works, but MIL said DH was the same.

Hello Liffey, I agree with you on this one!!

I think, on reflection, I'd advise get his hearing tested. I mentioned lack of speech at 2 yr check and HV said it was okay as long as he could understand me and make himself understood.
Well, he could if I shouted in his face, but I left it as I'd already had his eyes tested for a squint at 6 mths (I was born with one)and I felt like a neurotic mother.
It wasn't until his Reception teacher mentioned his speech that I had it looked into, and discovered his hearing was down by 20%.
Not wanting to scare-monger, he could just be doing the typical boy thing, but I wouldn't leave it later than 2.

normally if you go for lack of speech they automatically send you for hearing tests my ds had to have 8 before they were convinced all was well lol he used to just sit there and smile at the man when asked to put the men in the boat lol

from ther eif all is well you get referred on to say hearing was fine good luck x

Sallyally,

Your little one sounds lovely and very normal. Clearly, he hasn't experienced that "language explosion" that most kids have around 18 months so he's a late talker.

The great thing about the book you've been recommended in this thread "It takes two to talk" by the Hanen Foundation is its upbeat positive approach. There are no scary milestone charts at all! So you can happily use it without having to go through that awful psychological loop of thinking "if I start "intervening" am I saying something is wrong?".

There's no speech therapy waiting list in my area, by the way.

We ought to have another thread to pick up on desperatehousewife's points as this is very interesting and something should be done about these dreadful waiting lists- they must be distorting the system.

Wow...just popped back on and loads of really interesting points. I think I will give it until after Christmas when he will be 22 months, if no obvious signs of anything improving I will go and see healthvisitor. Re Hearing tests...we had the newborn baby one in the hospital. Does that not pick problems up? Thanks for all advice.

Tom had the hearing test done by the HV when he was a few days old and was ok then. I guess hearing tests should be carried out more often like sight tests. I remember having sight tests at school until I went to Secondary school and it was between then and when I went to college that my eyesight deteroiated!

at language explosion. Tom has more of a temper explosion!

Bexie - just wondered if Tom's ENT had come through yet? My friend had to wait 9 months Her DD is 2.2 and no words as of yet. How many words does Tom have?