Anyone's kids (not autistic) completely non verbal age 2?

[Tinkeringg]

Anyone’s kids with diagnosed apraxia not say anything at all age 2 apart from very rarely a word or animal noise and then never again?

Or did they try to say stuff just not very well and get it sounds mixed up?

speaks only in ‘uh’ sounds with correct intonation as if he were talking

This could be gestalt language processing - it's an alternative route to language development. It is associated with autism, but only because it's early in the research and the most prominent/clear cases seem to be autistic children. It tends to develop from the long strings of babbling with intonation into echolalia, and then children can get stuck there unless they go through the process of breaking their scripts down into more usable chunks.

DS2 did this (he is 7y9m now) but not as intensely as the clearer cases - he did have some single words but did a LOT of the nonsense babbling with intonation. I will look up videos of what his speech was like at 2, because I can't remember and think he did have some words. We do suspect he is autistic, but he does not have apraxia and his IQ is normal. No autism dx as yet, as he presents as socially capable. (He does have ADHD and challenging behaviour).

I know a few people- including my husband - who were non verbal until 3 or 4 and I am very sure that every single one of them is autistic.

Mine had 4 words at 2, yes, no, mum, dad. Lots of random noises, clearly understood everything as would follow instructions and get their point across. He would say the odd word loud and clear, then never again.

By 2y3m he was full paragraphs. Just as I was starting to really worry. Literally things like "mummy it's not time to go yet because I need shoes".

My son doesn’t babble at all. He forces sound out from the back of his throat or gargles when he wants something 😔

aww that’s wonderful…
my son can’t say anything at all apart from ‘uh’ so we’re pretty worried. Praying for a miracle currently XXX

One of my sons didn't say anything before he was 3, not a word or an animal noise and he didn't really babble in fact he was pretty silent!!(He didn't cry much either) 25 years later I'm sure those things would raise concerns but at the time HV assured me all was fine and he would catch up and he did. He is NT and there are no concerns or signs that he might not be and is undiagnosed.

OK no sorry - I did look back through the video folder we have and for a video just past his second birthday, although he's doing a lot of the babbling with intonation which is completely unintelligible, there are a few clear words and he even puts two together - "re weeyoo" (red wheel) "red dac-dac" (red tractor) "yelloh" (yellow) "whi' weeyoo" (white wheel) and possibly even "whi' no' re" (white not red, or why not red)

I would recommend looking up some videos about the GLP baby talk though because DS2's baby talk was so unusual, I had never come across another baby who babbled like he did. We thought it was because we speak English but live in Germany and he had the sense the intonation was more important than the words, but DS3 did not do the same thing.

It is quite hard to find videos online of the specific GLP preverbal babbling. This is kind of one but it's not a great example because the little girl is mimicking words.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DPzo6p1DpL4/

Ah sorry I spent so long looking for links I missed the posts in between. It does sound worrying, I hope you can find the answer for him. It seems there are some treatments for apraxia which can help so even if it is that, it might not mean he is nonverbal always.

Dd3 didn't babble or speak until she was 3, then straight to full sentences and really hasn't drawn breath since (now 27). Went to Oxford and now has a good career involving many presentations.

During her silent years she still managed to communicate - so well we really barely noticed the lack of speech, though that possibly had something to do with being one of four dc so I was pretty busy.

Thanks for looking & confirming he was actually saying a bit…

lots of people saying their kids were completely non verbal too but I wonder if they’ve just forgotten!

thanks for your advice - I don’t think he sounds like he’s GLP and I’m just praying he’s not got apraxia but hard to ignore when his presentation is similar…

ahhh - the worry! Usually this doesn’t start until they are much older. I really just want to enjoy these early years; he’s such a delightful boy but it breaks my heart to think he could be trapped in a body that can’t speak and even if he does manage to learn, it’ll be years if not a decade of intense therapy which we don’t have the money for..we will find it somehow though

xxx

Thank you for sharing - praying this is my son. I can’t bare to think of the alternative 🙏

Thank you for sharing and praying my son will be able to talk. not worried about him being late but just that he can’t do it due to lifelong motor impairment called apraxia.

so many people saying it’s very likely but then I hear stories like yours which gives me hope so thanks for sharing.

I jsut want to enjoy him but how can I when professionals are saying he wants to talk but he can’t and might not be able to for years and years…. And that he has full awareness he can’t as well.

was your son a busy boy? Do you think this is why he talked so late?

mine is very focussed and engaged with us. It’s all very confusing and sad.

When you say he says uh is he using that to tell you what he wants or is looking at or to show you something?

To answer your other questions @Tinkeringg honestly I didn't think anything about it, he was always very quiet and serious so it was just his personality. He was walking at 9 months so I assumed he had put his energy into that rather than making sounds and, as there was no access to Google or AI like there is now, I didnt think there was anything wrong and just enjoyed my little boy.

I really hope you can get to that point too 💐

He uses it tell
me he’s looking at something when he wants something it’s more of a louder ‘UHHHHH’ and has a demanding tone but still same sound.

I have another son who wasn't silent but did use uh for everything. He is nearly 6, his speech is delayed and he wasn't understood by others until probably 4.5 but improves all the time. We were worried but decided that we would have been told if there was something major to worry about.

I remember crying in a shop because I could hear another little one saying mum over and over and mine had never said it. He got there in the end and your little one will be the same.

I know a lot of NT adults who didn’t speak until 3 or 4. Often because an older sibling/relative did all the talking for them. I know a lot of ND adults who started talking quite early.

Having worked with children all my adult life and also attending lots of toddler groups with my daughter when she was that age, I have known loads of kids who are saying nothing on their second birthday. The vast majority of them are well on their way to being fluent talkers by 3.

Dd was not saying much at age 2. When she was 2.5 she suddenly said that “Pheobe hit me”. That was childminders daughter who had hit her but after that she started to speak in sentences. She is now 14 and quirky. She used to have mega meltdowns but surprisingly they have calmed down in her teens. She might be in the spectrum but seems to cope. She is very good in maths and her has said her friends think she is autistic.

But did she babble before she spoke and as a baby ?

But did they babble as babies or before speaking ? I know some
kids don’t speak groups but say the odd thing at home. The HV, portage and SLTs I’ve spoken to all seem very concerned…

Neither of my DTs spoke until after two. They were both clearly understanding everything though but they just said ‘uh!’ And pointed at things. Health visitor was shocked and referred to paediatrician- who wasn’t concerned at all!

they both went on to speak just after two. Apparently it’s fairly common in twins though. They also had really funny turns of phrase as they were repeating what each other were saying.

both 18 now and incredibly articulate- both of them :-)

Did they get frustrated before this if they couldn’t get the word out or were trying to say a word ?

did they babble before this?

She was rather quiet. Her pre school friend acted very surprised when she finally started to talk. She did start to talk in full sentences straight away.

No babbling, just a lot of pointing and ‘uh’. Yes they were frustrated!