Could this be a sign of a hearing problem?

[morningcuppatea]

DS (2.8yo) is very happy and physically healthy. He is way ahead on his physical milestones and very good at problem solving, he communicates his wants and needs usually by pointing or tugging at the nearest persons hand.

His speech seems to be delayed but actually he does have words he just can't seem to get the full word. So for example we've just been looking at a book, there was a page full of animals, he pointed at each one and named them but only using the first 3 or 4 letters ( so: mon= monkey, girf =giraffe, Ella = elephant)

Is it possible he could have an issue with his hearing? And who would I speak to about it? HV or GP?

Hard to say but does he react to sound? Turn his head in direction of someone saying his name? While reading to him does he point to the pictures on the page appropriately? My husband had delayed speech due to vision problems as a child. Good luck. You can always bring up your concerns with his doctor or health visitor

@EKGEMS he reacts to sounds sometimes but not every time. If we're looking at picture books I will say for eg. 'where is the dog?' And he will point to the dog, he does this and gets the right picture most of the time.

It's really import that any hearing loss is diagnosed as early
as possible, OP.
Get his hearing checked as soon as you can by someone who
is a specialist. Insist on it, don't be fobbed off by GP etc.

My DS (2.5) is similar, rarely says the last sound of a word. We just had his 2 year check and the HV said it could be linked to hearing so has put a referral through to audiology. Have you got a HV drop-in that you could go to? Or GP I guess? Also, you can self-refer for speech & language, so that would be an option too.