I was just wondering if anyone has experienced this. My 18 month old little boy used to say about 15 words consistantly, mama, dada, go, ball, cook, blue...you get the picture. Anyways, over the last few months, he has completely stopped talking. He is still "communicating", he can clearly tell us what he wants and when he wants it by pointing and taking your finger and pulling you to the correct room or whatever. He plays with us and interacts with other children, so we know it is not autism. He is dressing himself and about 50% potty trained and climbs on EVERYTHING is VERY active, much more active than most of my friends kids. He stopped talking about the time he was learning to dress himself and potty train, so I at first attributed it to the fact that he may be just concentrating on other things. Now it has been a couple of months and I am starting to worry. We have started pretending we don't know what he wants when he "tells" us but it is just causing tantrums. We have our 18 month appointment in a week (we are a little late) but I just wanted to know if anyone has been through this. Oh and he has not been sick, no fevers, nothing. One more thing, he does "babble" if you ask him to tell you a story and he will tell you what a cow, chicken, and lion says though it is a whisper, so if you consider that as talking, I guess that is it. Thanks for your input!
Thank you all for your advice. We saw the doctor and she said Evan was fine. That many kids do this when they are concentrating on learning a new task. She saw that he was communicating and following directions and answering questions, just in his own way. She also said if he or we were deaf, then I wouldn't be worried at all and I guess I have to agree. Oh and about 2 weeks after I wrote this, he started saying all his old words and a few new ones too!
Hi, I don't have any advice, but I was just wondering how things are going and what the doc said? Hope all is okay.
Hi K.,
Wow your little guy is potty trained...my 21 month old doesnt even have an interest. I think the talking thing is fine. Sometimes once they master a word they do not feel the need to use it again. It is like been there, done that to them. Still address this concern with your doctor but dont read too much into it. It sounds like your little guy is way about the curve and everything will be fine. Tomorrow he may wake up using whole sentences.
Good luck
S.
Hi K.,
I have a bit of experience on that. My dd (now 5) went through the same exact thing. At first we attributed to the fact that my son talked enough for both of them so she felt she didn't need to talk. But a babysitter was asked by her dd ped. if my dd was autistic. For 2 years we got the run around from her dr. Until we switched and finally got results. My dd was diagnosed with PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified) its an Umbrella Disorder which Autism and Aspergers and other brain disorders are categorized under. She has a diagnoses of Severe Receptive and Expressive Language. She takes speech Therapy, and Occupational Therapy in School and it has helped alot. I urge you to get on his dr. and stay on the dr. I was told that if we got her into early intervention when we first noticed a problem, we could have seen results much quicker. One thing you can start with him, Its called the Pecs System (www.pecs.com) But you can make your own... Show him the word and the corresponding item in the house. When he wants something, the object is to get him to show you the pic and eventually learn the word; instead of pointing and tantrums. Good Luck, and I know everything will work out.
My son did the same thing. After a few months he started using all his words again... and then some! Now he comes out with words I didn't think a 2.5 year old would know. Remember, young children have so many things to do & learn every day, they can't do it all all the time. But still, talk to your doctor. Hopefully this is just normal and he'll start talking again soon.
K. - I went through the same thing with my son. He stopped talking more or less at age 18 months. I thought it might be because we have a bilingual household or because he had just started daycare. The doctor did an autism survey with us and it seemed unlikely. Then we went to get his hearing tested. That was a wash...his ears physically were fine but he wouldn't attend to take the test (I am sure his hearing is fine). On the advice of the doctor we called the Chester County Intermedia Unit and they sent someone to test him. He didn't always comply with directions and they weren't sure if it was because he couldn't or wouldn't. So - he scored low enough to receive free developmental services. At first they saw him at home - a speech therapist, a teacher and for a brief time an occupational therapist. Once he turned 3 they reccomended that he attend a special developmental class. He's been there for 6 months and loves it. He is much more verbal. He is considered developmentally delayed. Ask your doctor if she/he thinks you should contact the Intermedia Unit. It's a free service and has really helped not only my son but several of my friends children. (Some only needed a couple weeks with a therapist, others are continuing in preschool classes). Trust your gut. You are the best advocate for your son.
Well your pediatrician can tell you better than anyone, but here's my non-professional guess:
He's working up his confidence, testing things out, taking things in. I had a student once (I teach adults) who was concerned about her little girl who had not begun to speak at all and was significantly older than your baby. I didn't think she needed to worry and in fact predicted that when she began to speak she would do it in full sentences. I was right!
I think your son may be just listening, paying attention, and you may find he practices talking by himself. These kinds of developmental milestones always concern us, but every child grows and learns in his own way. We needn't stress ourselves or them with our sense that they should do things in a particular way or within a particular timeframe. Your son is probably fine.
Now the probably is where the concern comes in, right? But you have an appointment with a professional, so I say don't worry at all between now and then. Enjoy your healthy, adventurous little boy and then partner with the doctor to determine if there's anything you need to do and (if necessary) how to do it.
My son was learning at ton of words and then just stopped about 12 months old. He didn't totally stop speaking, but he reverted to only a few words. He had chronic ear infections and I'm sure it was hurting his hearing. A soon as we got tubes put in, he began readjusting and quickly surpassed where he had been. I would check to make sure his hearing is normal because there are many things that can affect it that aren't necessarily sickness. Even just thick wax build up could stunt his development.
Good luck! I hope you can find an answer soon. I know it really can be scary:).
My son talked too but only said a few words before he stopped talking. I was not concerned as he was my 4th child. At 2 we had tubes put in his ears due to many infections and 6 months later nothing had changed so we had him evaluated for speech services. I will say it sounds like he could have apraxia also referred to as dyspraxia as well. Look it up and see if he fits the profile. You do not need to be autistic to have apraxia although quite a few of autistic children have it. After 2 1/2 years of speech therapy my son is speaking just fine although he does struggle with singing ( because it is too fast). He is 7 now and was diagnosed with a mild case of apraxia. He had many temper tantrums due to his lack of speech in his younger years and I wish I would have learned ealier how to respond better. When your son tries to communicate through actions ( pointing etc) repeat to him exactly what you think he is saying and then give him your response as in yes or no etc. That way he knows you understand him.
S. F
The fact that he is throwing a temper tantrum when you don't do as he "points" tells me that he has found his manipulation button. If you have ruled everything else out with his pediatrician I would then move on to just letting him throw the tt's and just ignore the pointing. But it sounds like he's smart enough to understand if you tell him "this is not how we will respond to you, use your words."
Good luck!
