2 year old slow talker

[magpie1234]

I am worried about my 2 year old who is not talking very much at all. Although he can say about 10 words I have noticed that many other children the same age are now starting to join words together and it is noticable how babyish his talking is in comparison. He does understand a lot of what I am saying to him and he babbles all the time and is very quick at doing/learning non-verble stuff. However, although he will copy all sorts of simple sounds (ie from the tv or simple slang words) he is very reluctant to say or learn new words no matter how much I try to teach him. If I do manage to get him to speak a new word (I recently taught him to say duck with flashcards)he will only say it infreqently while he is doing other things and not when I am asking him to. I cant tell if he just can't be bothered or whether he is genuinely struggling to talk. Can anyone advise me?

mine is 2 and says "no!" "mummy" "daddy" and "woof". She quacks occasionally too. I'm not worried because she is clearly super-bright and manages to communicate EXTREMELY effectively by screeching imperiously, pointing dramatically, and if all else fails, dragging us across the room to do her bidding.
I am quite sure that once she does manage to string some words together our lives will be a living hell. It will be like living with Margaret Thatcher. I'm rather hoping she doesn't start talking until she is three

the point is that if he is communicating and copying he is fine

enjoy the silence

Mgpie
I have recommended babytalk before but I think it really does help.
Please stop trying to get him to talk. Really. Stop the flash cards etc .
If he has no speech delay you are just turning speech into a dreary stressful thing.
If he does turn out to have a speech dealy you are just constantly asking him to do something which he can't which will upset and frustrate him.

Talk to him a lot using basic, simple language and repeatiung stuff. You will feel like a numpty but it helps. So you say " lets go to the park. We must get your shoes. Where are your shoes, oh here are your shoes, your shoes are by the door " .
My son DID have a profound speech issue and this helped him.
Asking him questions and trying to make him speak made him very upset and angry and by the time I found out that he needed to hear speech rather than be told to use speech, he was a very angry little boy.

Sing to him, talk to him. make your voice melodic and make language seem like fun. If he can join in he will

Princess Peahead
Seriously.
As the mother of an 11 year old who still is massively debilitated by his inability to speak ...

Another vote for 'Babytalk' here. Great book! It also has great suggestions for age appropriate play and books.

well quite pagwatch. Communicating and copying are of course good signs but don't automatically mean that there is no delay - DS communicated and copied fine at 2 - but still has severe speech delay at 3.10.

I agree with pagwatch - rather than flashcards, better to teach words by ad nauseam repetition, as they crop up in daily life.

Magpie, I know it's easy to worry and try to find something to blame it on (including oneself, usually)...but honestly, just chat lots and lots and point at things whilst saying the words, etc...best way...

I put a similar thread on quite a few months ago - there isstill lots of time and my DD1 who is 2.2 is now talking much better than she was 3 months ago - so they come along really quickly.

Search the achives of MN to find a lot more advice.

Oh FGS pagwatch, I was just trying to be helpful, don't be so over-sensitive.
He is a two year old with 10 words, copying, learning, babbling, communicating and seems bright in other ways (all according to the OP). Surely the correct advice is "don't worry, seems fine".

DD just over 2 yrs old as well. Obviously she's super-smart and clever and will one day be prime minister but sadly at the mo, sheep are still "baas", dogs are "woofs" and the best we've got so far on word combinations is "mummy gone", "daddy gone". Personally I think she's working on a literary masterpiece in her head which is occupying a lot of her brain...

"Don't be so over-sensitive"

Oh ok , well as you put it so nicely....

A child who is doing all the things that OP described can still have a profound speech delay. It could be verbal or oral apraxia for example. It could be an auditory processing problem. It could of course be nothing and will resolve itself.

children with these issues benefit massively from earliest possible intervention.
A parent who is genuinely concerned will not harm their child in the slightest by checkingthis out. In the meantime any child who has any 'natural'delay will still benefit and absoloutely not be harmed by using the techniques described by many posters on here ( including me) or in the book recommended. It could massively help a child who is just a little slow to get going or it could inprove substantially the outcome for a child with an undiagnosed speech issue.

In the meantime - your advice to do nothing and delight in a childs silence is totally useless and frankly moronic.
Your stupid, crass and rude response will at least perhaps warn the OP not to listen to a word you say.
I hope that wasn't harsh. You're not one of those over-sensitive sorts are you?

I agree Pagwatch, my ds did not have a problem, as it turned out, but using the techniques not only helped to put my mind at rest, but they also made me think about how to engage with ds in a way that made sense to him - because "babytalk" did not come naturally to me but I still felt that ds needed me to do something to encourage speaking.

And if there had been a problem with his speech, at least I was taking it seriously.

I agree with the main thrust of Pagwatch's recent post (well except for the last paragraph). Chances are that a just turned 2 year old who seems to be copying well, understands well, points and has some words will turn out fine, and just be a late talker. But this isn't inevitable, so it's wise to keep an eye on progress at the very least, if not actively seek SALT referral.

DD has been on the waiting list for SALT for over a year now.

Although there's every chance your ds will be just fine, unless you can afford to pay privately if further down the line he does need intervention, I would ask for a referral now, or at the very least ask the opinion of the HV.

Six months ago my advice might have been different, but I am jaded now...

not in the slightest pagwatch
nor am I the sort of person who calls people stupid crass and rude for no reason at all
we obviously differ in SO many ways, thank goodness

oh and since I have a child with congenital hypothyroidism (aka cretinism) your use of the word "moronic" is at the very least insensitive and at the worst completely unacceptable use of language in this day and age

luckily I'm not over-sensitive so don't take it personally

Thanks for all your advice, I will have a look at the babytalk-talking without teaching and have a go at the techniques, it is worth a try and I will see how he gets on. I also looked at the chat test, he does imaginatively play, imitate and copy us and there is eye contact and he is always wanting you to cuddle him. I answered yes to all questions a1 to a9 except a6 he doesn't point but he does tap things instead to show you. I am not sure if that could be classed as similar. I am also going to try him at nursery a couple of hours a week and see how he gets on there.

My health visitor only saw my son a few weeks ago (she said she couldn't see anything wrong in his behaviour) but is going to check him again at 2.5 and if no improvement in speech refer him then. So I will take the next few months, try and calm down a bit and try not to worry so much, also try a few new things as suggested above without pushing him and see what happens.

Oh don't be pathetic

I didn't call you stupid crass or anything else - I said that being 'jolly' about a childs lack of speech was all those things.
telling a parent not to worry is really kind and supportive. telling them the thing that they are worrying about is some sort of blessing ( and implying that silent kids are a boon) is over stepping that mark IMO.

I thought that your suggestion that a silent child is a great laugh was badly made. You were the one that threw "over sensitive" about.

hi... my ds also didn't seem to say much at 2 esp as most of his playmates seemed to have really started to get new words all the time and also repeat anything we said...my ds seemed very far from that. hearing and understandng ok so kept being told not to worry...in the end we got a quick assessment from speech therapist who said seemed fine but referred for full assessment...and gave following tips for dh and me...speak slower, use very simple language (we had not really dine babytalk more just chatted) make sure ds could see our mouths/faces (i often sat behind him or talked from a distance) and spend specific time eg 5 minutes a couple of days a week playing together something that helped his concentrating eg cards/building blocks and thinking about speech but letting him lead conversation.... by time received (7 months later) appt for assessment it wasn't needed dont know wether time or tips made difference but hope helps.....