20 months old now, still now words, but understands and communicates well by...

[emkana]

... pointing adn grunting.

How much do I need to worry?

We have been referred for speech therapy but apparently they are currently sending out appointments for October.

I want to believe tha everything will be okay, but am I putting my head in the sand? What could I do?

sorry about terrible spelling

shoudl be no words in the title obv

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pointing is really good! If he's pointing and understanding I'd only start to be concerned about lack of words somewhere in the early 2's.

Pointing and understanding are definitely very good signs that language development is on its way. In my case, my DS has always pointed, even for shared attention as well as getting things and at 20 months was responding to spoken language. It wasn't until DS2 came along that I realised how much more limited DS1's pointing and language comprehension were at that age. I'm not trying to worry you just to say that for me it was not total absence of key signs of development, more that the signs were not as clear as they should have been How is he at social engagement? Will he wave hello and bye bye etc. It is great that you have a referral to ST so young even if you don't need it by the time you get an appointment, it's best to be in the system just in case.

That sounds pretty typical from what I've seen at toddler groups around here. The understanding and pointing are both good signs.

I'm just a bit worried because he says nothing at all other than "hiya", but he say various syllables.

He does wave bye bye when in the right mood and he will do imaginative play to some extent.

My DD has just turned two and she still has a limited volcabulary although I have noticed over the past 2 weeks she has suddenly come on in leaps and bounds.

I'm not too worried. She is a second child and so her big sister has always answered to some extent. Also I haven't pushed her as much as with my first. With DD2 I always understood what she wanted just by looking at her and she was a very contented baby and so she has not needed to express herself by speech as much as my first did.

he sounds Ok to me, but if you are worried, why not introduce some signing? This really helps speech to progress. CBeebies have a great programme called 'Something Special' which uses signing. Maybe you could learn some signs together and develop from there. It may make you feel more at ease anyway! You could bgin by teaching him the signs for foods he likes or 'yes' and 'no'.
'drink' is like when you signal to someone who can't hear 'do you want a brew' !! Just make sure you sign as you say the specific word.
'Biscuit' - put your left hand on your right shoulder. Tap your left elbow with your right hand twice.
'Yes' - make a fist with your right hand and 'nod' it once (like you would nod your head for yes)
'No' - put your right hand in front of you, palm facing away (as if you were going to wave). Move it from left to right once as you say 'no'

Hope this helps!

Nat, thank you that is really really really helpful.

I was thinking earlier today that I should really start doing some signing, so thank you for giving me some pointers.