Concerned about my 22 month old speech

[ajja2021]

Hi,

My 22 month old can understand commands, he gestures to what he wants and says the following words:

Yes
No
Dada
Can say mama but refuses to call me it

Random words:
Potato
Goal
Go

He also has some words that make sense to him, but they aren't actual words such as "dakoor" - says this in agreement (if I say, do you like that teddy, he will say "dakoor" but will follow it with yes too)

Gaga - Ball

He seems to have regressed with his speech, when he was 1 he was able to say many more words (banana, nanna, please) and repeat whatever we said, he could point and name animals

However, if I ask him to do something such as put something in the bin or can you get me a nappy he will understand and do it. I have no doubt that he understands what I'm saying.

He's very affectionate, but extremely shy around other children, or even family friends that we see fairly regularly.

He attends nursery at least once a week (sometimes more as we are shift workers) we've recently had issues around nursery and he will
Be changing nurseries as soon as there is a place for him.

*reasons being, constant agency staff, I've noticed hes started to cry on arrival, a lot. He came home starving, never any crafts or activities to show for it and no pictures or updates even when he's upset and I ask for an update. Doesn't come home messy anymore, sounds trivial but he used to come home covered in food, paint, mud, signs of a good day.

Does anyone have any advice? Am I expecting too much?

We read to him regularly, sing along to nursery rhymes and do flash cards every night

I know how this worry feels as I’ve been there You sound like a fab mum and he’s obviously getting lots of time spent with him.

I had a very similar dc. Everyone kept telling me not to worry and it would come, but at 22 months we finally saw a speech therapist. She said children this age should already have 50 words.

We were convince hearing was fine but hadn’t realised there are different frequencies, so kids can seem ok because they can hear some sounds easily, but they could still be missing lots of human speech frequencies.

This is what I would do:

1. go to go and push for a hearing check. Our similar child had glue ear and only 50% hearing of human speech frequencies which they said was likely to be a large part of her speech delay.

2. ask for to refer you to a speech therapist. Do a bit of searching on speech therapy as in lots of areas including ours you can self refer to speech therapist.

3. while you are waiting for all the above things to happen you could consider a private speech therapist if you can afford it as that is a good way to get help quicker.

4. share your concerns with nursery and ask their views - speech wise and consider whether it’s the right setting. He sounds like he really needs some consistency

5. get a book produced by the hanen speech therapy foundation - it’s a Canadian charity. It’s called ‘It takes two to talk’ and is evidence based - helps parents learn how to help their kids who are slightly slower than average on speech acquisition. Cheapest site to get it is wilmlsow press - Amazon is pricey for this book. Our speech therapist recommended it.

Finally, try not to worry too much - after grommets and speech therapy our dd caught up and now has completely age appropriate vocabulary and pronunciation at primary age.

I would flag regression to gp too and try completing the Mchat tool at home, to check for flags for asd. My dd had some flags but is so much better socially now she can speak normally. Maybe she will ultimately get an asd diagnosis but I’ve come to the point where I see that wouldn’t actually be the end of the world

Trading with interest as my son turns 2 on a couple of weeks and really doesn't say many words either and no where near 50!

My boy is also shy even though he is at nursery 4 days a week.

I am starting to worry about it now too and have noticed the words he does say aren't quite right or he misses the end off the word etc.

Just to say, to counterbalance the PP, he could be just fine. My daughter was like this and barely had any words at 20/21 months (mummy, daddy, and about 3 others). By 2 she was just about stringing 2 words together. Now 28m she speaks in sentences and I have no concerns. She just had an explosion of language between about 23 and 26 months. I was constantly told they don’t worry at all til 2. If he is understanding I expect the speech will come.

Any loss/reduction in skills needs to be investigated so I would make an appointment with your HV asap.

Did he lose the words gradually or all at once? Has he had an ear infection or similar at any point? I also think hearing loss could be a possibility. It could be as simple as something getting lodged in his ear at some point. Definitely ask the HV to refer you for a hearing check though.

To encourage speech just lots of what you're already doing. Talk to him constantly. Where possible do this at face level, with eye contact and minimise background noise (turn the TV/radio off). Lots of repetition, use the same phrases over and over. Always leave space for him to reply/contribute to the conversation/game. Lots of reading. Lots of signing. I wouldn't bother with the flash cards.

I'd speak to your HV about it, as you said he's regressed.
Also could dakoor be thank you? So "you like that Teddy don't you?" "Dakoor, (thank you) yes"

Just had another thought. There is a lot of really helpful stuff on the ICAN speed charity site e.g.

“ Children develop skills at different rates but by 2 years, usually children will:

Concentrate on activities for longer, such as playing with a toy they like
Sit and listen to simple stories with pictures
Understand between 200 and 500 words
Understand more simple questions and instructions. For example, 'where is your shoe?' and 'show me your nose'
Copy sounds and words a lot
Use 50 or more single words. These will also become more recognisable to others
Start to put short sentences together with 2-3 words, such as ‘more juice’ or ‘bye nanny’.
Enjoy pretend play with their toys, such as feeding dolly
Use a more limited number of sounds in their words than adults – often these sounds are p, b, t, d, m and w. Children will also often miss the ends off words at this stage. They can usually be understood about half of the time.”

ICAN have a really good helpline - you can book an appointment with their speech therapist for free.

Just to say to other posters, I wouldn't worry hugely about a child who isn't a big talker yet as long as they understand language and interact with you.

The issue for the OP is the language regression. That's different from just hasn't started talking yet.

I also would worry about regression

But some children who are understanding but not speaking still need help. Like my dc. Grommets and two years speech therapy needed to help her get to age norms for vocabulary and pronunciation. I would always push for a hearing test if speech is delayed and ask for a SLT assessment.

Thanks @NuffSaidSam yea there's no regression with our son just not much progression but he definitely can understand a lot.
Can't help but worry though, that's my job I think?! Heh

The regression would worry me the most. It can be a red flag for Autism.

My DS is 28 months, has full understanding, follows instructions, interacts in every way but has about 25 words.
Chased Health Visitors for months now and finally have his 2 year check on Tuesday.
I am going to request a hearing test and SLT referral.
His nursery and unconcerned as he is starting to try and speak now and does in his own way, also showing frustration of we don't understand.
Until the past three months he wasn't bothered about even attempting to speak however now is really trying.
We literally spend all day speaking to him, asking questions, letting him answer, getting him to follow instructions, reading and asking him to show us things.

Would really recommend the hanen book I mentioned upthread which is full of excellent evidence based advice about how to maximise speech development.

My little boy was very like this at 22 months, even down to saying 'dakoor' in agreement! He still does that sometimes (he's just 3), although it's getting crowded out by 'yes' now. Around two weeks before he turned two he suddenly had a word-spurt and went from saying perhaps 15 words to dozens and dozens within literally a few days. It became very obvious that he'd had excellent passive language for quite a while but simply hadn't been able to turn that into speech. (Sounds like your son could be similar?) By the time he was 2.5 he was using pretty sophisticated full sentences and had outstripped many of the children who had previously been ahead of him in terms of expression. So I think with boys especially the cognitive leap required for speech can happen relatively late without being indicative of any developmental issues. That being said, we never thought he had lost words or regressed, and that does seem to be of importance in ASD. I'm also really interested in what @Foxhasbigsocks says about hearing: our boy is immensely articulate but his pronunciation of words remains quite idiosyncratic or 'babyish' compared with some of the other children of a similar age that we know. He's also not great with pitch he sings along to things but not very tunefully so maybe that's something for us to think about a bit more.

@RoseAndGeranium I would definitely ask for a hearing test. I would also self refer to speech if you can in your area or ask gp to do that.

I actually have two dds impacted by hearing issues. Dd1 (mentioned above) didn’t get grommets until age 2, so was significantly speech delayed. Dd2 I recognised her hearing issues much earlier so she got grommets at age 1. However her speech was still a bit muffled/unclear at 3 compared to peers. She had grommets put in again during her preschool year which really helped.

Glue ear can come and go (often worse in winter) so children can make intermittent progress with speech but still struggle with pronouncing.

I have no expertise whatsoever in all this - not an hcp, just a mum with two dc impacted by hearing / speech issues.

Thank you for the helpful replies I really appreciate it.

DS is really good at communicating he just doesn't use words, I voiced my concerns to nursery today and they said his key worker will contact me but they have no actual concerns about his speech.

I'm looking into private speech and language therapists, we're trying to talk in a way that he can easily respond.

DH's dad said he was exactly the same until around 26 months when he started using sentences, but I don't want to rely on that for reassurance. If there's anything I should be doing I want to be doing it.

I have a health visitor coming tomorrow for an antenatal appointment for soon to be DS2, I will ask her too as I currently don't have a Hv assigned to DS

Thanks again for the replies

That sounds like a great plan op

Following the advice in the hanen book made an enormous difference to dd. Really simple practical advice on what to do and she learned 20 new words even before the grommets went in.

Oh wow. My DD is 22 months and has about 6 words. She understands very well though and can communicate what she wants in her own interesting ways!

Pretty much everyone around me tells me not to worry. Then I see this and now I'm panicking.

That said I suppose regression is a bit different.

@Disneyblue I wouldn’t panic, but I would be asking for a hearing test and a referral to speech therapy. Sometimes they just need a little help to get started!

My DS said about 10 words at 2 years old. He’s now nearly 4 and doesn’t ever stop talking! They’re all different. You sound like a great mum.

They are all different, but always best to get things checked. That way if there is an issue the dc can get help to close the gap before the preschool/school years.

If you are concerned please see your gp. It could be something or nothing. He could be about to make a leap in his language, they do suddenly start to pick up words. Also some children do stop using words and it isn't a sign of anything sinister, just them concentrating on a different skill set. My current 3 year old was actually quite shy about using words and when we made a fuss and praised him and put him off. You don't need flash cards...just talk to him and books. Sorry, they're my pet hate.

Hi @ajja2021,

I was wondering if there has been any progress now that your little one is 2 years old.

Have you done a hearing test? Have you been referred to SLT? Has there been any word explossion?

My DD is currently 22 months and behind at her speech, however she is also bilingual. Her understanding is great, same as yours.

Your experience and the steps you followed from August would be handy :)

Many thanks and good luck with DS2!

Just a thought but how long have you had concerns about the nursery? Could it be linked to the regression?