speach problems?!

[Loobyandherbabes]

My little girl is 2 and 9months.
I am worrying at the moment as her speach is very poor, about 20 words that i can understand. She has become very shy and just ignores people if they speak to her. There are a number of other little things that i am becoming more aware of, lack of concentration, repeating her self (she will stand and shout for her friend next door even if you explain they are out)i have no idea if they are all related or what to do next. Health visitors say go to the doctors, doctors say give it 6 months,speach therapy refer her for hearing tests, and they say she is not deaf. I really dont know what to do now, do i just leave it or do i go with what i think to be the best for my child?! Any one with any form of advice or help please let me know. Thank you D

How well does she understand what you say to her?

Is she not on a list for getting SALT at all, starting age 3 or 3.5yo perhaps?
I have a little experience with late speakers and speech therapy for them.
From what you describe, I would expect her to be referred about now.
There are lots of anecdotes about children like yours who suddenly launch in to full clear sentences soon after their 3rd birthday; don't despair just yet!
And speech therapy isn't that bad, you will learn a lot about how to help her, too.
The non-speech things she does sounds within the normal spectrum, btw (I have 4 DC so speak with experience).

Get dd on referal list now Hv should be able to do they often have ling waiting lists can always cancel if dd suddernley makes large leap

but do not let them fob you of with waiting because it might come they tried To get me to do with da I refused demanded he is seen just in case and guess what ds is almost 5 and still has very few words

I would really recommend getting your daughter's hearing tested privately and following up with speech therapy quickly if you are likely to have to wait for the NHS. My DS had hearing loss and needed speech therapy at that age, the NHS really messed us around (great speech therapist went for surgery & no replacement). We spent the money that we would have paid for a summer holiday on his speech therapy and went camping. Really worth intervening quickly to resolve problems otherwise her development / education may be effected.

I too would push for speech and language therapy, and if possible another hearing test. I'm not a great believer in the sit-and-wait approach, even if it is important to stay calm, and to remember that often kids have a leap forward all of a sudden.
There is a book called 'It takes two to talk', which several other threads refer to, which could be useful and give you strategies to facilitate her speech and communication

Children don't have to be very deaf for hearing to have a huge bearing on speech. Children do not have the well-developed coping skills of adults to deal with mild hearing losses. An adult hears "the ca sa on the ma" and he has a rough idea what it is likely to be. A child is not really that aware of context, is the person more likely to be saying cat, sat or mat? They don't know, they know only what they fully hear. A mildly deaf child also misses things that are overheard, learning only the words spoken directly to them. While it does save the odd embarassing incident of repeating conversations about the vicar's wife, they lose out on lots of adult vocabulary and structure. She doesn't need to be deaf for hearing to be an issue.

Push forward for her to be at least formally assessed. If the HV refers her to SALT and she assesses as on target then at least she's completed a full assessment and you know where you stand. If the assessment says she needs help then you are in a position to get it. Why wait around on this one, if she's likely to grow out of it that will become apparent to the SALT.

There is plenty of time for things to change, I'd say this describes my daughter very well also, and she is nearly 4. But it's easier to cancel an appointment you have got than to get one you don't have.

And meanwhile just keep telling her things. It's hard when you feel like you should simplify what you are saying because there is no way she will understand, but if you simplify the langauge too much they don't learn anything new. For 6 months maybe she will not know what you are talking about, but one day it will click in if you keep repeating it.