so, when should i get worried about toddler not talking?

[thisisyesterday]

ds2 is 2 years and 4 months.
I don't think I am worried yet, but i am certainly starting to see more and more of a gap open up between him and his peers.
he is getting so frustrated at not being able to tell me what he wants.

on paper he has quite a lot of words that he is able to say.
in reality he rarely says most of them, and some of them he has said a few times and then never again.

he also doesn't say words that you might expect him to say. he can't/won't say drink, or milk for example. He has only just started to refer to his dummy (calls it bean!)

he doesn't string any words together. although he did once say "fish man" and "bad baby" lol

re sleep.

anything is possible once you have sleep!

Just seen this thread - just to add to the 'weird way of talking' - like 'Man. Man eat. man eat cake.'

This really helped ds2 because one of his issues was that he had 'missed out' the 1 or 2 word developmental phase - probably due to hearing loss. So he understood the words, but had never practised saying them, and I think also had mild hypotonia, so NEEDED the practise to use his mouth muscles!

Anyway, he had moved straight onto sentences, so at age 3 pretty well all he was saying was 'Ba ba baba dada DAH mu la?' all with excellent intonation....but totally incomprehensible. So the building up sentences really helped take him through the 1-2 word phase that he had missed, and really helped with his clarity. He also taught himself Makaton (Something Special is FAB for that) and uses that if people don't understand him. He's 3.10 now and I reckon 80% of what he says is understandable now, and you can usually work it out with a combination of context and signs.

Hmmm, very interesting lily. I liked the way you put it all though, much better explanation

Though after our first proper salt group yesterday he wasn't spoken to like that at all!

The reason for going back to basics with the language used in these slt groups is to help the children develop their use of single words.

If most of them have no (or very little) expressive language, they have not been able to pick the words up at home when used by you in sentences so by hearing the word on it's own repeatedly, they are more likely to understand and then learn it - just like in the Hanen approach.

Lady, it sounds as though there should have been some explananation of this before the group started. It would be very valuable for the therapists to have your feedback even though they forgot to give out the forms. We were always tweaking courses after feedback.

It would be hard to tell parents what the next step would be for each child before the group started because, lots of the time, the next step would depend on how each child responded to the sessions.

Maxy, you could ask the salts what their aims are for the group. This might help you understand the activities in the group and what they are trying to achieve. It's hard to explain 'on the hoof' as this would interrupt the flow of the group.

I think Saintly's posts on this thread have been very good.

Oh I did!! They were very nice, he does use expressive language, just in his own way I guess. he is much more expressive than the two children with him in his group I have to say, it's just that they try to say actual words (well the boy did) and DS doesn't. the salts did comment on how expressive he is though with his whole body face etc.

Well done, Maxy.

I think if you start off by asking questions, the therapists are more likely to keep giving you extra information and will be prepared to do so.

They may even have prepared printed information that could be given out once they know what will help your dc.

We had lots of leaflets with suggestions aimed at different language levels and needs.

I am getting more and more freaked out by the fact that my 21 month old DS is not saying any words and is not pointing. I saw a paediatrician last week and he didn't seem worried but said if I wished I could see a SALT, so I am seeing her in 2 weeks (covered by private insurance). I had not realised that not pointing is such a bad sign. I have been trying oevr and over to get him to point to things in a book etc but he just won't, and gets upset and frustrated when I persist. He does communicate in other ways, makes good eye contact, enjoys a joke such as running away and hiding, and understands lots of words. I am feeling really scared and upset right now.

Hi, this is an old thread so you will get more replies if you post a new thread here or in special needs. Sorry you are going through such a rotten time. Hopefully the language will come together v soon, but you have done right thing going for paed/salt visit, as nothing they do, including asd assessment will be harmful if unnecessary. Not pointing is a red flag for communication problems but does not inevitably mean asd.

Wiht the pointing, you might have more success if you encourage him to point to fave toy or food, sthg he is v motivated by. Or if he imitates well you cld try baby signing.

In general the hanen books are pricey but v useful.

Thnaks for reply. Did not realise it was such an old thread! He doesn't strike me as ASD in any other way, is so sociable, smiley, laughing, and interactive etc. But I am getting more worried day by day.
He is a very picky/tiny eater and would probably go without food if I required him to point at it to get it! I might try the Hanen books, but not sure of he would go for signing, he doesn't really imitate much.

My 19 months old daughter is not talking not even a single word. She only babbles n uses body language. She seems to understand when you talk to her. But she never talks back. She will only smile at you. Few months ago she could only say hello! But she now she only uses gesture n points at what she wants or sometimes she will bring the object n put it in your hands to open for her. I am beginning to worry about her speech delay n I am thinking of visiting the health visitor for help. I wonder if anyone is in similar boat as me n what is your advice to me.

@Mohit1234 This is a blast from the past! I am thisisyesterday (well, I used to be) and my DS is nearly 16 now.

He ended up being referred to audiology and SaLT. He was diagnosed with glue ear, and eventually had grommets at around age 5, which helped immensely.

He didn't say mama until he was 3!
But after having grommets He came on brilliantly and has not had any issues since

Hi, he was referred to audiology at about 2.5 yrs and that's when they discovered he had glue ear.
We decided to wait and see if he would grow out of it, some kids do, and he had speech therapy in the meantime.

He did communicate, but his speech was not very clear and he didn't talk very much, although he managed nursery ok and made friends

But by the time he was 5 he was still struggling so that's when he had the grommets in and it was the best thing! It really helped