Should I be concerned? 36 month old speaking age of 18 months

[DaddyofMonsters]

Hi everyone, my son is 2 and a half and amazing. He plays and laughs and runs around like a lunatic but his speech is way below where it should be for his age, compared to his peers. He does speak and has lots of words, he has a few 2 and three word combos like “daddy sit down” or “no it’s mine!” but mostly it’s single words. He’s also not as steady on his feet as I’ve observed similar age kids to be.
We've done a couple of Autism test on him and he doesn’t seem to have any of the traits.
He’s booked in for a hearing test and the health visitor is going to speak to his nursery to get their opinion of his development. He’s come on a lot in the past few months to be fair, we read to him every night and after a consultation with health visitor we started to narrate everything he did or saw during the day.
I’m just worried, he’s such a fun little chap and I want him to be ok. I don’t even know why I’m writing this post… has anyone else had a similar experience?
Thanks, concerned Dad.

EDIT: 30 months, not 36.

Yes I've had some experience. Haring test is a good place to start as it could be glue ear.

How is his understanding? Does he respond to his name and follow instructions? My eldest got an ASD referral following speech delays, but his understanding of what we said to him at that age was really bad (is loads better now).

Is HV going to do a referral to speech therapy? Waiting items in most areas are really long at the moment so by all means the HV should speak to nursery etc, but they should get on and get a speech therapy referral submitted sooner rather than later.

*waiting times

Hi @SatinHeart thanks for replying. Yes his understanding is good. I can tell him to go get his shoes, or go get a bowl and he does it. We were referred to a Little Talkers Group which quite frankly was terrible and I don’t think he’s been referred to speech therapy so I’ll chase that today. Thanks.

My DS had a similar speech delay. What he could say was also quite unintelligible, e.g. mi instead of milk, even for words he’d obv known for a long time. We had the funds for private speech therapy which would highly recommend if you can afford it. The wait in our borough at the time was 7-8 months. We had to do it over zoom at the beginning because of lockdown and it was still worth every penny. If you’re in London I can give you her contact details. We only needed a max of 7 or 8 sessions in the end as most of it we practised at home. She was also so reassuring. He is now 4 and going to school in Sept. His speech is much improved, still not on a level with his peers and not necessarily conversational but so much better.

we also have other potential issues with repetitive behaviour and social communication difficulties but nothing specific diagnosed as yet.

It’s impossible not to worry and not to compare, but really try not to.

Hi @Bonjourlaclasse we’re not in London but luckily my wife works for a child therapist (who are based in London) so we have access to a coach and literature. Not sure we could afford it otherwise although I’m sure we’d find a way.
he’s definitely making big leaps on a daily basis and even started using the potty today, something his older sister did nearly a year earlier than him.
mum considering holding him back from school if his speech is not mostly intelligible by then. Do you think your child is benefitting from being around peers of the same age at school?

Yes, my DS definitely benefits from being round peers as he’s the type of child that is a follower.if you ask him to do something like play with Lego he’ll say no, if all his friends are playing Lego he’ll do it. He was potty trained at nursery aged about 3 1/4 because he followed the other children but he wouldn’t use it at home until he was at least 3 1/2.

it’s a while til your DS is going to school isn’t it? An awful lot can change in 18 months.