Expressive language delay - experiences please?!

[desikated]

Hi

My DD is 24 months old (just turned 2). Had input from private SLT and now from HV and nhs SLT. In summary:

• she has a delay in expressive language - quite significant. She does have A handful of words.
• possible mild glue ear from hearing
• no other delays identified and has (assessed) good comprehension and understanding
• uses signing to communicate along with sounds and gestures. All professionals agree she is 'very communicative' ironically
• she is sociable / able to play imaginatively / v good eye contact / shared attention etc

Nursery have noted the expressive speech language but say they don't have any concerns, and isn't something that prevents her doing anything / taking part in activities.

Obviously I'm worried and it makes me feel really anxious. I feel quite desperate for her to talk and trying hard to make sure she doesn't feel any pressure to talk.

Looking for similar experiences and stories really. For those who had a child with expressive language delay at this kind of age, what happened?

Obviously lovely to hear good news stories but also if the language didn't catch up, what has happened / long term diagnosis.

Mine turned two and literally started talking the next day. He suddenly decided it was a useful skill. After three months (according to google) he has the speaking skills of an average 3 yo

Just keep reading and chatting to her. As long as understanding is there, speech is bound to follow in time

My kids are grown up now, so my experiences are from a while back, but you have my sympathy.
My daughter spoke very late, but when she started it was fluently and in sentences as if she waited until she could express herself properly.
My son is speech and language disordered and it was tough. I won't pretend that it wasn't really hard at times and it's a long journey.
Well done to you for starting to get support and intervention so early: this is very important so you are 'on the radar' with all the appropriate support services and start to get intervention as early as you can.
My son went to mainstream school, with one-to-one support and we were very lucky with our local primary, and secondary in that they were clued up and supportive.
He went to uni, studied maths, has recently married so his is a success story. No one would know now that there is an issue, he is articulate and fluent. I do find it interesting though that his bi-lingual wife is not a native English speaker so each, in their own way, has language 'issues'
I wish you and your child my sympathy and my love and I hope all works out for the best.

You might possibly find this organisation of use. I found a local group, it was good to meet other parents and children in our situation and it was a great source of info on local schools, which SLTs and ed psychs were any good and so on.
Home - Afasic

My daughter stopped talking between 15 and 18 months. She had 2-3 words at a time, every time she learnt a new word she dropped a old word to the point she no longer said mummy and daddy.
At 18 months we had some language support from the HV which got her to probably 10 words. At 21 months we went into a very unsettled period. Her nursery closed with 20 minutes notice, my nan was diagnosed with terminal cancer and we moved house. She had 13 weeks without consistent childcare and it didn't help her language development. She mostly communicated through pointing. She turned 2 the week she restarted nursery and within 2-3 months she was speaking and starting to communicate. This was a year ago and she has come on leaps and bounds since then

Thank you for sharing these experiences. It's so heartening to know that this kind of speech can develop.

The professionals are kind of united in agreement saying she has all the building blocks of communication so language will follow. I find it tough to see her around other children her age as the spoken language difference is really notable (well to me anyway! She has a two syllable 'noise' she makes which could be mistaken for a lot of words so I think people who don't know her probably interpret that as words but I know it's not).

But in the meantime it's just a massive worry. Good thing is she doesn't get frustrated - because she signs and is able to make herself understood.