concerned about child's speech or lack of it - any similar experiences?

[clary]

OK ladies I would appreciate some thoughts on this.
It?s about a friend of mine, I?m a bit concerned about her ds. He is 3 later this summer and barely talking. Says yes and no and that?s all basically.
At 2 all he said was ?da da da da? when he wanted something, no babble otherwise (eg my ds2 who is just 2 will sometimes come out with quite detailed sentences which you just can?t understand (as well as sayign clearer words) none of this with friend?s boy).
I had a chance to chat with the friend and her ds yesterday and all he said was yes or no to any question. If it wasn't a yeas or no answer he just ignored it.
What I wondered is was there a real cause for concern? I wondered about hearing and also about ASD.
You could say this was none of my business and of course you would be right. I?m not sure I will even act on any of this (ie give her advice) unless the friend asks for my input. But have any other MNers seen this kind of delay and if so what happened in the end?
BTW because he is a summer baby he will start school in just over a year....

Unlikely to be ASD if his choice of words is yes and no tbh.

How's his understanding and non-verbal communication? Can he make himself understood pretty easily without speech? (if he can then unlikely to be ASD). can he point? How does he let his mum know if he wants something? How's his play? Is he obsessional? Can he follow simple instructions?

If his understanding and play etc is fine then you might be looking at a speech (not language) disorder (especially if he didn't babble). Has he had a lot of ear infections/glue ear? Mild hearing loss could cause the same sort of problems.

Or he might just be a later starter!

Jimjams thanks for posting. That?s good news about ASD being unlikely if words are yes and no. They are very clear incidentally, as opposed to my ds2 who says ?earr? for yes.
I think he does get his point across by pointing at something and going dadadada (ie I want that), certainly mum can understand what he wants.
Not sure about ear infections tbh, not that I know of.
Sounds quite positive really. What does a speech as opposed to language disorder mean? Do you mean he has language (ie pointing etc) but just doesn?t speak? And what does that mean?
(not sure tbh how worried the mum is as she?s quite laidback about it on the surface...)

If he's pointing at something to get what he wants then you can pretty much rule out ASD (a more common thing for a non-verbal child with ASD would be to grab your hand and shove that in the direction of whatever they wanted).

By speech problem I mean just speech, Language (understanding of speech and non-verbal communication) all fine. Just unable to actually make the sounds- even if the words are in his head. My middle son was like that- I didn't worry as I knew he wasn't autistic. He went from not talking (except as described really- maybe a few more words) to talking completely properly in sentence in the space of a week!

Alternatively I have known children with glue ear be very similar to how you've described the child- they've caught up after having grommets fitted.

Similar experience: DH (says MIL & Uncle B--) didn't talk until 3 and then he went pretty fast to constant non-stop chatter. He's not ASD or anything you wouldn't want your child to be (well, left-handed, but that's another story!)... DH still yaks & yaks nines to the dozens. Both our boys are noisy chatter-boxes too...

The DS of a friend of mine was similar, fine in all otherways just not speaking at all. Having eliminated health related issues she took him to a speech therapist who did lots of testing but declared that there was nothing wrong and no physical disabilities and that he would speak when he was ready. Finally, at about age 4.5 he started speaking - and now she can't shut him up I hope your story has a happy ending too!

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hijack rnb - how did you teach it? ABA? Ds1 doesn't get it at all.

thanks everyone for all those positive messages.
Really doesn't sound as if there is anything to worry about but maybe a hearign test might be an idea.
Thanks once again.

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ah thanks rnb- ds1 can't physically say yes or no bUT I GUESS WE COULD DO IT WITH SYMBOLS. whoops sorry-0 ds2 on my lap (wants cbeebeis)

My nephew was like this as a baby and his speech is still very poor BUT he's just about to go to university to study vetinary medicine so it hasn't held him back.

my dd has only just started saying yes and no aswell, i think it must have been taught at school. Except she is like a 2 yr old and says NO to everything, gggrrr

sorry just thought I would share

clary he just sounds a bit late to me. Does he go to nursery? i am sure they will flag it up if he needs speech therapy

agreed with jimjams. ASD kids don't normally know how to really respond to questions like that.

i would however bring it up to the doctor, it could be hearing, it could be nothing.