15m DD has no words but hums and flaps - any advice?

[AliCanTea]

DD is now 15 months and generally extremely engaged, loves books, points at e v e r y t h i n g etc... but not speaking at all. She hums loudly and fairly constantly. And flaps - the flapping is lovely in a way as it’s always when she’s happy or excited but I can’t see it the way I used to since reading it’s a red flag. Obviously we’ve been in lockdown for a while but prior to that she would watch other children play without joining in herself.

Spoke to doctor who advises we wait and see for another couple of months. Makes sense as she’s still little but I guess my question is, is there anything more I should be doing? Should I be pushing for an assessment or am I way ahead of myself? TIA.

Do she understand what you are saying to her? Respond to her name? Follow simple instructions?

Thank you @jellyfish1982 - yes to all three.

I wouldn't be overly concerned at this stage then. She has understanding and is pointing which are major goals on the way to speech. Keep an eye on things of course but she's still teeny tiny.

@AliCanTea hello, how is your dd getting on now? She sounds lovely, a happy child. I’m asking because I am now in the same boat as you were 5m ago. My dd is 15m and is a happy baby, smiles, great eye contact recently but worried about asd as there are some red flags...
unlike your dd my dd doesn’t understand anything I say and won’t respond to her name all the time. There’s doesn’t seem to be a two way shared communication. So worried

@Sabu1234 Thanks for your message and I’m sorry to hear you’re worried - it’s such a horrid feeling. What I realise now is how young 15 months is and how much changes between then and 2. All kids really do develop certain things at such different rates. Your DD will be different from mine of course, but for what it’s worth, mine is doing well in many ways. She’s seeing a speech therapist as she’s struggling with consonants (she now has plenty of words she tries to say but struggles with the mouth movements). I’ve now worked out that the humming was an attempt to communicate. The speech therapist has said she doesn’t think it’s asd - more likely verbal dyspraxia. We’ll see. Even now, she’s still too young to tell!

It’s great that your little one has good eye contact. Having seen many professionals over the last few months, they all mention that. Have you spoken to a GP? Always worth getting in the system if you’re worried as these things can take time.