Language delay advice

[Suspicioussam]

Hi, I hope it's ok to post here. My son is quite young still (21 months) but he has no words at all. People keep telling me he's lazy or a boy or he is just taking his time etc and I really really don't think that's the case.
His understanding is fine, his engagement is fine, he just cannot form words. I can see him trying and recently he has started to look embarassed and annoyed if we try to get him to repeat sounds.
I never say 'say this' because that annoys him but even if I point at an owl for example and say 'twit twoo" really clearly and look at him, he can't say it and he puts his head behind his hand in a dismissive way.
So I want to approach things in a way that won't effect his confidence. At the moment I strongly believe that he cannot form words, everything is just 'ahh' or 'urgh'
So I want to help him communicate with sign language and picture cards. I'm learning makaton, but I just wanted some advice from anyone who has been in the same boat .

Firstly, has anyone had a child like this whose understanding was fine, physical development fine, engagement fine but just cannot make sounds, and if so did they 'catch up' or was it a speech disorder?

Also, how do you go about using picture cards with a child this young? Any techniques or ways to start? I'm wary of putting a picture of all his fave foods in the kitchen for example in case he always points to biscuits and is constantly reminded of biscuits
I feel like he's too young for pictures of facial expressions/moods?! Should I buy a set of.flash cards from amazon and do you have any recommendations of good ones? Do you put the cards in a book and get the book out when they are frustrated or stick them on the wall, or what?
Any advice would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Just to add he can make 'sounds' they are just limited (mostly vowels) and inconsistent, he cannot produce a sound when looking at a picture for example. The only thing he can do on demand is a lions growl as it doesn't involve coordinating his mouth, and he does this every time! It's like he's so happy he can do one.

There is something called apraxia of speech that might be worth looking into. (Caveat I am not a doctor and even if I were I couldn’t diagnose over the web).

www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/childhood-apraxia-of-speech/symptoms-causes/syc-20352045

www.nnuh.nhs.uk/publication/download/apraxia-of-speech-information-leaflet-v3/

Thanks for your response. Apraxia is what I'm so worried about I've read about it and it sounds so similar to my son.

He sounds like my son who is 25 months. I also get frustrated when people say it's because he's a boy or because he's lazy.

At 21 months my son had no words. Now at 25 months he has lots of animal sounds and word approximations so we have made good progress but he still has no entirely clear words (though speech therapists count animal sounds and approximations as words so officially he's definitely on more than 20 now).

My son struggles to form words. For example if I say 'what does a cow say' he'll say 'mmmm' with his mouth closed as if he can't form his mouth to say 'moo'. We have been in speech therapy and the SALT think he has all the tools to be able to speak and is just a little behind with no disorder.

From what I understand Apraxia is quite rare, it's not been suggested as a possibility to me though it has also come up in my searches when I try and find out why he's not talking.

Apraxia is quite rare, and an absolute bugger to get a diagnosis of as well. Inconsistency of sounds (especially if it's vowels - they usually come in relatively accurately) is one of the big things pointing toward it over other disorders.

Knowing what I know now back then with DD I would have pushed to get on the eternal waiting list for SALT (although we had fuck all joy with the NHS to be honest) and just kept on trying to reinforce the back-and-forward communication in response to whatever your child does to communicate. It might well pan out OK - DD had minimal intelligible speech starting school and is now a flipping chatterbox - still with slightly quirky speech but there's a lot in there that she can get out into words now. Even if it's just you both rahhhing like dinosaurs - I really wouldn't force him making sounds at all.

I'm a student SLT and also have a child with Apraxia (and motor dyspraxia as well).

@HeyDuggeesFavouriteSquirrel and @CoffeeWithCheese thank you both so much for responding. Heyduggee - Does your DS grunt and point a lot and appear to be groping for the right sound? That's what mine does.
He has started saying 'uh oh' occasionally which is a relief but he can't always repeat it on demand. Glad to hear your DS is starting to make some progress. When my ds was a year old he could say mumama on command but he totally lost it.
@CoffeeWithCheese he's had one appointment with a SALT but he wont see anyone again for a few months. She said it's too early to know if it's a disorder or not but at least he is in the system. Great to hear your dd is making progress and is a chatterbox, those are the stories it is so reassuring to hear. Thank you.

@Suspicioussam I went through a very worried phase where I wondered if he'd ever talk but I think we're doing ok now. He can even count to ten! Though it's very unclear.

He points, hand leads and vocalises for what he wants but only seems confident trying to make the sound occasionally. Though he understands lots of words and follows directions well he mostly doesn't even try to say the words. He has also just started saying 'uh oh' but even that is unclear it's more like the cadence of the sound but it is used in context and I definitely know he knows the meaning of it.

My boy has been able to say 'mummma' and 'mum' for a while but unfortunately there's no context, they're just sounds he makes.

I started worrying at 18 months and had a SALT appointment then but she also refused to see us more as he was too young. Now he's 2, I'm being taken more seriously but I am paying for private speech therapy as I've heard NHS waiting lists are long.

@HeyDuggeesFavouriteSquirrel I think I'm in that very worried phase now. It doesn't help that I have two friends with non speaking children, one is 7 and says 2 words and one is 6 and can't speak in sentences and I see the struggles they have.
What was so heartwarming is my eldest son befriended one of them in reception and before I even knew he had a speech delay he had told me this boy was his best friend. The fact this boy can't speak has never had any impact on the fact my son wants to be 'best friends' with him was so lovely, and he settled in so well.

Anyway it sounds like you're little boy is making great progress, he is clearly very smart counting to 10 I'm going to try to stay positive too and focus on the things he can do rather than what he can't.