2 year old speech delay

[ZoolInMyFridge]

Hi there! My gorgeous nearly 2 year old DS is a very happy, content little boy - loves playing with us, lots of laughing, giggling etc. I had a zoom consultation with a speech therapist a few months ago. She assessed him as developmentally in line, apart from his speech where she said there was a delay. She said she would reassess him again at age 2 - but I don’t think his speech has progressed much. He says a couple of words quite clearly ‘daddy’, ‘quack’ - other words are sounds e.g some animal noises. Not saying ‘mummy’ or his sister’s name/his name yet. He tends to only name things in a book, not much in the environment. He rarely points (except to things in a book). He had an audiometry test last week - his ears were clear but he was quite distressed when performing the tasks, so they will reassess in a few weeks time. He is generally very happy, he makes sounds all the time - sings (dee dee da) etc. He can get v anxious in unfamiliar situations, or with new toys. Certain toys like a ride on bike, scooter he absolutely refuses to try. Any ideas? Thank you!

Helpity bump!!!

Bumpity helpity bumpity bumpity bump!

Hello, I have a 24 month son who is also speech delayed and I've done precisely nothing about it. I have the 2 year review with the HV in mid Feb and will discuss then.

Does your son seem to understand what you say? Will he follow instructions a bit? And does he get frustrated when he can't communicate? How does he make you understand what he wants?

Progress seems slow with my son, but there is progress. He has developed his own way of signing for certain things, so I repeat the sign and name whatever it is he wants.

I use lots of facial expressions and try to leave space in conversation for him to reply. Several times a day I will sit for a few minutes and try and get him to copy what I'm saying. We do a lot of sounds of vehicles and animals, as well as basic nouns and names.

He sometimes learns a few words and then forgets them again! I also focus on singing nursery rhymes with actions and we have some board books with simple stories and pictures which he likes. The repetition and association of music is helpful to them. My DS will, like your DS, point to pictures when asked, and passively he know lots and lots of words, he can follow two-part instructions and is happy and active.

He doesnt verbalize much, but still babbles a lot. He doesnt join in singing yet, except to say "beep beep" in wheels on the bus, but he loves music.

This is my second child, by this age DD was talking in sentences and could sing several nursery rhymes and do the actions. But I am not panicking. They learn at different rates, still time to catch up.

Regarding not enjoying new toys, do you manage to see other children sometimes? My DS loves watching children on their balance bikes, and he loves watching his big sister play with it too. Then he tries to copy. Maybe put a big favourite teddy on the Bike or scooter to play first. And sit on scooter before he stands, just to get the feel of it rolling (you can pull it along).
If still no joy, put it aside for a few weeks and then try again.

Hope things work out and some of this is reassuring.

Same here with my now 8 year old. Speech delay, until about age 4 or so, which is when he started having therapy at the local clinic. He's now completely fine, sometimes struggles with his rs, but it did take a few years of work.

@SillyOldMummy my goodness, my situation is exactly the same! His older DD was singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to herself at age 2 - with clear speech - but DS is nowhere near this!!

Completely concur with the knowing and then forgetting. His sister is extremely verbal, whereas DS loves running, balls, being outside - at a completely different level to his sister. He is also very ‘easy’ - whereas DD demanded input all the time (still does)

We do all the things you are suggesting - and certain books (Dear Zoo) he knows well - and will repeat back sounds to me in correct order of the book. Shape sorters, stacking cups/ towers are completely his ‘thing’. Huge amount of selective hearing - e.g ignored his name, but I can mention food v quietly - and he is off to his high chair in a flash....

My DS is only 18 months but sounds very similar - we have zero words but a lot of random noises and he's very happy and engaged in everything. He's very independent (nursery say that when he wants something, he just stands up and goes and gets it compared to the other children who just sit there and shout) so I wonder if he feels like he doesn't really need to speak because he's worked out how to get what he wants. I'm about to start the process of contacting a speech therapist though because, although I'm not massively concerned, I've read that early intervention can lead to better outcomes.

@ZoolInMyFridge

We do all the things you are suggesting - and certain books (Dear Zoo) he knows well - and will repeat back sounds to me in correct order of the book. Shape sorters, stacking cups/ towers are completely his ‘thing’. Huge amount of selective hearing - e.g ignored his name, but I can mention food v quietly - and he is off to his high chair in a flash....

Haha, you could absolutely be writing about my DS here. Particularly the Dear Zoo obsession...and the uncanny ability to hear when I've just tried to sneak a bit of chocolate out the fridge!

Sounds like DS. Everyone kept telling me that it would just suddenly click and he'd start talking... & it's actually happening! He's suddenly been learning a word a day for the last few days. He's nearly 2.

This is DS exactly. In fact his ability to hear something he ‘wants’ to hear astounds me , along with his ability to completely zone out/refuse to do anything that is not of interest (but in a very quiet/cute/charming way)

Utterly obsessed with Dear Zoo - and my massive ‘go to’ if I want to get any hint of verbal communication out of him

Yet he ‘talks’ - all the time - sounds/singing etc - but it’s all on his terms??

I talked to speech therapist about a very ‘boyish’ personality - yet I have not consciously been gender specific (I’ve used all his DD’s old toys). She said 80% of her referrals are boys....

Similar here with my 18m old. He has no words. Babbles happily away with expression and delight but no words. No mumma or dadda although he can make those sounds when babbling.
He shakes his head and laughs if you encourage him to copy. He does Brum for cars, and some animal noises. Understands instructions and enjoys books, and doing the actions to songs. Like you say above he does things (or not) on his terms.

His 3 sisters were all talking by this point (dd2 was an early talker and an early walker!) His male cousin didn't talk til gone 2, then quickly spoke in sentences so I'm hoping he's just following his cousin.

Its silly, he's loving and kind, and a bundle of energy and joy but I would really love to hear a "mumma" soon.

@ZoolInMyFridge

Completely concur with the knowing and then forgetting. His sister is extremely verbal, whereas DS loves running, balls, being outside - at a completely different level to his sister. He is also very ‘easy’ - whereas DD demanded input all the time (still does)

That sounds very much like my 2 except they're both girls - dd1 very athletic, great at anything physical - she was jumping, climbing, throwing and catching etc from well before 2. She didn't speak clearly until 4. She was actually very chatty but, other than animal noises, basically everything was du, dee, dat etc. She had speech therapy sessions from just before 3 but honestly it was mostly just encouraging speech and trying to practice sounds with cue cards etc, she obviously still had to learn to make the sounds on her own.

My second daughter was speaking in clear full sentences before she was 2 - she understands everything and can articulate herself very well but she is very difficult and needs constant input.

This is all so interesting! So can I put this down to - an over emphasis in early years speech development?? Or the exclusion of physical skills being as important. E.g my daughters lack of interest in physical activities was never particularly questioned -whereas my DS’s lack of verbal interest is more of an issue??

And yes DD is extremely verbal, and EXTREMELY demanding!!!

My son is very similar- 20 months and hardly any clear words are spoken. He’s obsessed with toy cars and has said ‘car’ for quite some time but will often use it out of context. He is making very slow progress... enjoys making some animal sounds but struggles to get it right. He usually communicates by pointing and squealing. He is an absolute charmer though and very sociable with eye contact, giggles, babbling, etc. A very happy and affectionate little boy. He’s been seen by SALT but mainly for feeding delays and they are not concerned at all. He’s very delayed in his gross motor skills as well unfortunately- only just started cruising- but hoping to see him walk before he turns 2. We have an appointment with the developmental Paediatrician next month and I’m hoping they will have no concerns. A lot of people have been reassuring with various anecdotes about children taking their time sometimes. So different to my DD who was walking, talking and potty trained super early!

@Snoopypants yes my son is obsessed with cars (everything in the vehicle category is a car, even a boat, I am so sick of the word "car!").

It does sound like all our little ones are quite similar. This morning my DS got up and went to the cupboard, got a plate put. Then went to the next cupboard and got the pasta out. Then went to the drawer and got a saucepan out. So, breakfast?! I explained he had to have cereal or porridge or fruit, pasta was for lunch, and he got very whingey. The self sufficiency thing can be a blessing or a curse. I am sure he will speak one day, and then I'll probably wish he'd shut up again. 😁

My son was the same now 3 and won't shut up!! Just exploded in the last 4 months and can suddenly have full blown conversations with him!

Hi OP. I have a 2 (and a bit) year old girl.
She was the same. Then all of a sudden she started to learn words and even to put them together when she was 2. In this last month her vocabulary has exploded, even her social skills -not that she has many chances to practice, the poor thing. We are raising her bilingual though (me and her dad speak in different languages to her) so I don't know if this was a factor in her being delayed. The HV didn't seem worried at all at her 2 year check up and we rescheduled another call in six months to see. I am not worried any more. All she needed was time.
Good luck, OP!

Sounds very familiar. DS didn't have many words at 2. We did some groups for toddlers and they modelled some useful techniques (offering2 choices, games where you do something and then stop and wait for some sort of request to carry on e.g. blowing bubbles, repeatedly describing what DS is doing and simplifying language etc). When first lockdown happened I was home full time with DS doing some of this stuff and he suddenly seemed to pick up more words and started putting words together (about 2 years, 4 months). Since then he's added loads of words, talks about things in his environment more (although still spends a lot of time quoting books) and the speech therapist is giving nursery techniques to support him too.

Just wanted to say that there are some things you can do that might help a bit, but all children are different and you might see a big leap in a few months anyway. I think helping DS to see talking as something that's worth doing was part of it (so gets him something he wants) and it's easy to anticipate what they want so they don't need to ask. Good luck!

I have three boys, all late talkers. I knew they knew what we were saying and they would communicate but not in a verbal way which was clear to those outside the family. There's a book about late talkers and a connection to engineering, maths music, analytical brains which fit our family to a T, most of the men in both my and DH family are in those type jobs. All three boys are very good with maths etc and now 8,7 and 6, it took till about 5 for them to be understood by others easily and for them to be bothered to speak to people regularly. There's also info on how the ear doesn't develop fully until children are older, I think 7 or so, and therefore can't hear all the different sounds to be able to then replicate them and that this can be more marked in boys. Husband was the same as a child, which I found reassuring. I wish they would accept that maybe boys ears developed a bit slower and that speech therapy can only do so much and to be patient.

Thank you for these extremely useful posts! @slfk3 - that’s very interesting. Apart from running/climbing he loves shape sorters, sorting objects by size (cups), building towers, music -and is strangely drawn to numbers. @prettygirlincrimsonrose Yes! The speech therapist recommended those things, I’d forgotten some, but that’s a great reminder.