Over 40 words at 17 months

[catgirl1976]

Is that good? Or am I being PFB

DS just seems really good at talking to me. Plus he understands everything you say (eg, could you take you coat and give it to daddy? etc)

If you give him two things he says 'two'. He does animal noises (loads, not just 2 or 3) and loads of other stuff that seems so amazing to me.

But he's my first and I don't know if I am just being totally biased or if he is really clever

[Pearlington]

FaddyPeony - yes, definitely no gloating involved. I heard hushed comments from other parents in our circle and I just learned really fast never to tell ppl what dd was up to when they were busy comparing notes (eg at preschool "oh my kid knows the first few letters of the alphabet" " wow, my kid hasn't done that yet but she memorises her books. How about yours?" "Yeah, she's coming on ok"). It was a bit lonely at times.

I've just focused on her social skills more than anything to help her fit in and we've been commended by her teachers on how well adjusted she is for a kid at her level. She has tonnes of friends and can play with older kids or younger kids with ease. She runs into emotional difficulties a lot because she works out things that she shouldn't really be thinking about but she can't put it in context so she makes herself anxious. The school has been really on top of it and say its a common issue for kids with her level of advance.

I don't know any kids like her but I belong to a charity that helps families like us navigate the minefield and so I meet parents on their forum with kids in way more trouble than mine!!! ;-) I hope to go to one of their special weekends sometime to meet other parents and get some education myself on how to deal with it all. Also they put the kids together and give them great opportunities to do fun stuff in line with their interests so it's good for them too.

Thanks so much for understanding. There are always ppl who'll think we are deluded vain parents (hence why the only place I talk about this stuff is on specialised forums, and even here I seem to have provoked some unpleasant comments). Many of these children have bad experiences at school and become chronic underachievers so it's definitely nothing to brag about, rather something to worry about and manage.

[jojane]

Pearlington, do you mind if I ask what forum it is? I feel like I need to get help with ds1 with aspects of him that aren't easy to get help with (e.g, he has hyper mobility and poor muscle tone so is getting physio and hydrotherapy, but it isn't so easy to know what to do with regards to social skills or his insistence on a million questions a day or his thirst for knowledge or the fact he likes to read the diary etc!. I also feel like we are focussing so much on the things is isn't good at that we are neglecting the things he IS good at and don't know if we should be pushing him academically rather than letting him coast along.?)

[jojane]

Dictionary not diary!

[Pearlington]

Sure, it's potential plus uk - they just rebranded from national association for gifted children. You have to join to get access but I appreciate the resources and support available. They do phone consultations too.

[RiversideMum]

My DD also a fluent talker at that age. DS on the other hand ...

[waterhorse123]

My DD was talking in full sentences at 15 months old and was able to skip Year 6 and go to selective secondary school. We never had her IQ measured but it must have been very high and there was no G and T then (I would have thought it was a gin and tonic I expect).
She started talking at about 8 months old and never stopped.
DS2 turned out to have a massive IQ as he got measured when he was diagnosed Aspergers. I imagine DD and her brother DS1 likewise had similar IQs but not the aspergers. However DS1 rather amusingly was as silent as DD was garulous and was ages before he deigned to speak.
All are exceptionally bright.
They now have a younger brother (they are all grown up and have flown the nest) who already has an IGCSE at age 12, and who came top in the entrance exam for his chosen selective school. He too has been measured as having a huge IQ but he is dyspraxic.
Interestingly none of them were early readers but all showed signs of talent in different ways very early on.
DS3, the youngest, would sit in his car seat telling us which way to go to get to places and get very irate if he thought we had gone the wrong way.
DS3 is much happier in adult company and doesn't much care for children his own age, not having many interests in common with them. This is very difficult indeed as everyone seems to think if he doesn't socialise with children his own age he is somehow missing out.
My opinion is that once he has left school he will be able to socialise with adults (which he prefers) and will be thought very odd if he tries to socialise with children. So why force him to now. All adults who meet him think he is fine (unless they are teachers who think he should get on better with children than adults) and are surprised when we say he is supposed to have communication problems.
Oh well, can't win them all.

[29chapel]

My DD was speaking in full sentences at that age and her nursery had her assessed by a senco - they were unsure if she was gifted. Turned out she wasn't - she's now 8 and although her reading age is much older, she is average at everything else - just to warn you ;-)

[blueberryupsidedown]

DS didn't say a single word until he was 3 years old and is G&T in maths, and has a reading age of 9 (he is 6 years old and in year 2). In my mind, there is very little to prove that early speech is equivalent to G&T. In some cases maybe, but I am yet to see any statistics that support an early talking child to G&T.

[CloverkissSparklecheeks]

There is no way you could tell if a child will be g&t at that age as non talkers may be gifted later on but it maybe an early indicator.

Like others DS1 was speaking in proper sentences at that age, walked at 9.5 months and could read properly at age 3. He is g&t now at age 7. Another child who was at his infant school wad very much the same as him until y2 then just plateaued. DS2 has always been pretty much average for all mile stones and is now on Y1, we just keep being told he is different by his teachers

I think development varies hugely and some slower starters can be very giftedbince at school.

40 words at 17 months is way above average!

[WiseKneeHair]

DS1 was similar at that age. He is now 11 and WON'T SHUT UP!
Honestly, he has verbal diarrhoea. I just wish sometime he could be quiet.

[mrsshearsagain]

Dd3 is just turned 17mths and Like moresnowplease Ds, she will repeat almost anything you say to her, is talking in full sentences her favourite phrase is 'And she goes...BUMP' which is said just before she jumps on you!
She understands multi step instructions and has recently made us aware she has a sight word, dd2 has a very high IQ but was very different personality wise to dd3 as a baby, 17mths is quite early to say gifted or not although having said that I was well aware dd2 was different very early on, with dd3 however I'm on the fence.

[Twattyzombiebollocks]

40 words is excellent :0) I know 3 g&t kids, two are mine, one of them was about the same as your son at this stage, my daughter was having conversations at that stage and was able to join in her favourite story (saying words from memory)
My friends son could read fluently at just shy of 2 years and do simple addition and subtraction
My two are top of their year at selective private primary (don't do g&t but both are regarded as exceptional in their year group) friends son is y2, birthday in July and is working with the higher ability group in y4 in English and maths. He is recognised as g&t

[richmal]

I think it is a sign of the vocal chords having developed enough to allow speech.

IME, however, that teaching him things like numbers, etc will make him more able than others in these areas.