Late talker 2.5 - please help

[mompa]

Hi my little boy 2 yrs 5 months seems to be a late talker. He has 50 plus words but not talking in sentances yet - even to say more jucie/ thank you etc. I am so worried that something is wrong and it is my fault since I drank alcohol when I was pregnant. Please can someone reassure me that he will catch up. His physical development is great and his hearing seems fine. Do any other mums have the same concerns?

He will be fine - kids reach dev. milestones at different times. Mine got referred to speach therapist and told that if he's not speaking by 3.5 then we need be concerned. Don't panic, he's fine.

My friend's daughter didn't say a word until she was 3 - seriously, not a word, just pointed and said "uh uh" at everything. She's now nearly 5 and you can't shut her up! She has an amazing vocab and is very bright, just did it in her own time I guess. Try not to worry.

My ds is the same age and not a good talker i'm not too worried at the moment he's always done things at his own pace,only last week he started holding his own drink!
I just keep talking to him and we laugh how one day we won't be able to shut him up

My DD (nearly 2.5) is similar to yours, but her speech is now coming along more. She sometimes puts two words together, but certainly not doing sentences. She only started saying 'juice' this week and still can't say 'biscuit' or 'milk' (I though all kids could say biscuit!) She also uses her own sign language for some words. She understands everything I say and I think her hearing is fine (she has an appointment for a hearing test next week, just in case).

Her two older brothers were both good and fairly early talkers so I'd never experienced this before. I took her to the GP and he said that she's the 'slow side of normal'.

My mother cheered me up but telling me that when I was 2 yrs 3 months I could only say 'mama' and 'dada'. DD was saying way more than that. I was my mother's first child and she didn't know anyone else with children so she had no idea it wasn't normal until she visited her relatives in her home country. I was alright in the end.

Thank you so much for all your kind replies - you have helped reassure me x

My ds is/was a late talker, probably even less words than your ds at the same age. He seemed to understand what we were saying even when we spoke in fairly rapid and complex sentences but wasn't really trying to say anything himself beyond bababa etc

We saw a speech therapist who said to slow down, name everything and find opportunities for the repetition of words "Oh look, a horse. Nice horse. The horse is walking. Hello horse" etc until they start to try and say horse.

With the sentences thing, when ds had built up say 100 words the speech therapist said to introduce a new word alongside, so if we were blowing bubbles, we started saying "big bubble!" "little bubble!" etc.

He came on all of a sudden and although he's still not quite caught up with some of his more chatty friends, now at 2.9 is making sentences of his own. He just came up and said "oh look mummy, tweenies video! oh no, tweenies video empty, what I do?"

Does your ds go to any kind of playgroup? I've found attending playgroup has helped ds's speech immensely.

My ds2 at 2.4 years is a late talker recently ive been taking him to more playgroups. And trying to spend at least 20mins a day with no tv just chatting and playing.When i talk to him i try and repeat key words and speak alot slower (to be honest i sound like a bloody childrens tv presenter). I say things like can you see the car? where is the car? shall we put the car here.....etc. Also we do jigsaws and play the silly mistakes game where i blantantly call the cat a dog and wait for his response they love to correct you-then say silly mummy its a cat not a dog. Also do not give into them when they want -something try and get them to ask or make some reponse even if its a grunt.Ive noticed a real improvement in his willingness to talk and try even though he may not be saying it correctly he's making the right sounds.

p.s ive only just been doing this a week and already he's saying flower, hiya, bird and please can't rember the others. They aren't always perfect but you can understand it in context.

"Mine got referred to speach therapist and told that if he's not speaking by 3.5 then we need be concerned"

sorry but I would not want to meet that speech therapist! My 3.5 year old autistic son has many single words but few 2-3 words phrases. At 2.5 he was diagnosed with 75% speech delay. Now he is scoring at 2.5 level (so just under 1/3 delay). So I don't think what you describe is off the chart of normal given my DS is scoring at 2.5, but I would not wait until 3.5 if your child does not make progress.

If you are at all worried then go and get it checked. Speech therapists would rather see children unnecessarily than not see ones who needed help.

mompa,

hi, I have two late talkers. I simplified my language with the first and that was enough, he combined words at about 2.8 and then grew out of it completely. My second has required more intensive help (from me). He didn't combine words until 3.1. He is finally catching up (4.8 now).

Your problem is, you don't know which category your child falls into right now. Better to help too much now than regret not helping enough later.

Re the drinks, you owe it to him not to waste time blaming yourself.

Get his hearing checked if you haven't done so already. It could be glue ear.

Assuming it's not hearing, the best thing you can do right now is buy the book "It Takes Two to Talk", published by Hanen, available through Winslow, about £32 but worth ten times more, and work through it religiously. It will show you how to adapt your own behaviour so that you are giving him the best possible opportunities to develop his language. It will show you how to stop saying " say this" and instead create situations where he is motivated to talk.

The reason why I recommend this so highly to you is that it is 100% positive, has no scary milestone charts, no scary syndromes, no blame, no negative stories, no off-the-cuff phrases that will linger in your head when you're trying to sleep at night - nothing frightening at all in fact, just lots and lots of positive techniques. And it is so clearly written that you can read it even when tired. It trains you to use the opportunities that arise in daily life so you don't have to make big changes to your routine either. Ask any speech therapist - they will all be happy for you to use it.

Go ask about speech therapists - you might get put on a waiting list (in which case, all the more reason to start now) or you might see one straight away. The good thing about a speech therapist is that they are trained to figure out what the "block" is (is it hearing? is it understanding? is it finding the word to say back? is it not understanding the etiquette?) and that can help you target your efforts more effectively. But be under no illusion, you will be the one doing most of the work.

The drinks thing is just a distraction from the job you need to be doing right now. Good luck.

PS, this 3.5 thing must surely be a typo or a misunderstanding?

Thanks so much lingle - have ordered the book
DS is on waiting list to have hearing checked and I am going to look into seeing speech therapist today. Thanks again for your kind advice - so frustrating for DS and mme. Must try not to worry so much about it! x

oh that's great!

don't be deceived by the apparent simplicity of "It Takes Two". It takes very very clever people to write so clearly about something that other people make so complicated-sounding!!

My son was the same, very late to talk, we got the usual from our HV to say he had got problems, maybe deaf etc etc. He is now 5 and can talk the hind legs off a donkey!! I do understand how worrying it can be though but try not to worry