2 1/2 Years Old and Talking

Having been through this with my own son, and through my training as an early childhood education professional, it sounds like your son has a language delay.

DO NOT wait until he is three to have him set up a PPT with the school district, call Birth-to-Three right away (look it up via infoline 211)--you may miss out on early intervention services to which your son is entitled right now. Your son can receive services in your home/daycare/other location with trained professionals if they determine from the initial screening that he has areas that are delayed. They also will set up the transition meetings with the school district so that he will receive services (if he still needs them) from them once he turns three (as is required by law under IDEA). It's a great thing that you are having his ears checked. Children acquire language from hearing it since birth; if that hearing is distorted, your son will only be able to speak what he hears. This could lead him to imitate you in an unclear way which most of us wouldn't understand. Whatever the findings, give a copy of the report to Birth-to-Three. Make sure you tell them when you set up the screening appointment you are having his hearing checked and that you want to provide them with the findings; they will provide you with a release paper which, under HIPPA, authorizes them to have this information.

After about a year of college for early childhood education I noticed that my son was behind in language development for a typically developing child his age. He was about 19 mos. at the time. Birth-to-Three sent represenatives from Easter Seals to do his screening assessment and found that his fine motor skills were of concern (which was news to me) and that his speech and language communication was delayed. The information was forwarded to his pediatrician and he approved it. They then began in-home services right away, and because my son has Husky insurance they were free of charge. He initially worked with a tutor twice a month, and a speech and language pathologist once a month; this was found to be insufficient during a review, so services were upped to six times per month. Also, an occupational therapist was added to his IFSP (individualized family service plan) 2x/month, to deal with his sensory seeking issues.

For a very long time his language skills did not increase, and we were having the same frustrations you are; we tried doing the baby signs and verbal prompting, token rewards, edible rewards, and nothing worked. Then one day he started talking--while signing!--and making remarkable progress. He is now 32 months old and well on his way toward "typical" language skills for a child of his age. We are working on preparing him for preschool.

I have learned through a child development course that toddlers need to reach a fifty-word articulation behchmark in order to begin their "language explosion": fifty words gained PER DAY in their vocabulary from that point until about age 10 (see the book Magic Trees of the Mind by Marian Diamond and Janet Hopson for more information--this is a great resource!). Very young children's receptive language--what they understand--greatly surpasses their expressive language--talking. It is just taking your child longer to develop his expressive language than the norm for a typically developing peer. If you start now and have him work with trained professionals he will increase in progress much sooner, which will reduce his frustration as well as yours. If you choose not to intervene now (to avoid labeling him, etc.), he will probably still develop his language skills, just at his own pace--and you could be in for a long haul. Be prepared to discuss this with his preschool teachers if this is the path you choose.

Whatever you decide to do--and I'd strongly recommend that you contact Birth-to-Three--please keep in mind that your child is not unintelligent by any means. Try to make other people see that too. When my son had great difficulty talking I even had two of my own grown-up siblings say to me, "I was convinced he was autistic" and "When does he start his retard classes?" Most people who don't have at least some knowledge of child development will assume because your child doesn't talk he is dumb. Again, this is not my view because I know better, and I'm quite sure your child is not stupid, but there are plenty of people at the playground, in the grocery store, etc. who will assume so.

Two more things:

If you start him through Birth-to-Three, and his pediatrician delays approving his IFSP, give them a call and ask them to fax it to the pediatrician that day.

If you don't decide to start him with Birth-to-Three, you can have his school district screen and provide services for him as soon as he turns three. They may give you a hard time and try to give him inadequate services, but don't give up. There are parent advocates you can turn to to make sure your child gets the free, appropriate education to which he is entitled. If you and the school district disagree on his education in any way PLEASE call in an advocate to help you.

Good Luck, and I hope soon your son will be able to express himself the way he seeks.

--M.

We went through this with our oldest daughter. Our pediatrician told us she must be delayed because she had only one clear word in her vocabulary around 2.5 years old (ball). I had a feeling she was fine but being our first child we did the early intervention and the speech therapy. She didn't improve, in fact she refused to participate at times. Turns out she was being stubborn and just didn't feel the need to communicate further than what she already was. She turned 3 and began speaking in 5 word sentences - blew us away.

Definitely have his ears checked first but if all is well give him some time. Do make sure you don't speak for him though. Make him ask for stuff, don't ask, "Do you want a cup?" KWIM?

Good luck!

My daughter was going through the same thing. I took her for speech therapy but it didn't help because she would not talk and she would scream and cry!
But, I discovered her speech delays and emotional issues were due to all the milk she was drinking! I decided to experiment and took her off milk and substituted with Orange juice with calcium. After 2 days, she went to her speech class, walked in without crying and started talking to the teacher!! It was a miracle! The teacher couldn't believe what she was seeing and even called in others to see because my daughter made a tremendous turn around!
Look at your childs diet, milk and wheat. Can't hurt to try.
Good luck!

My son was a late talker, with less than 5 spoken words at 18 months. We had taught him sign language, and he could communicate, so there was less frustration. Our pediatrician recommended hearing tests and an Early Intervention evaulation to try to find any issues early. See if your pediatrician can also recommend additional screening, like Early Intervention. Otherwise use the suggestions here, or go to your early childhood care services in your town. Good luck, and hope the hear how it works out.

Just went thru it.
1) the doctor should be checking him. when hes 3 the school can do a ppt on him. My son's vocabulary was stronger then what ur describing ur sons to be.
but this is what i did and by the time his ppt came he was really better andn only has to do a follow up. She (the speach pathologist)said "because he developed physicly quickly the speach didnt catch up" which is normally the bodya really can only consentrate on one thing at a time. if words are clear it shoudlnt be hearing. tubes are for ear infections not hearing. an i inquired about hearin loss and the doc said he was fine. (again somehtin the school can test at 3) Here is a list of things my husband and babysitter did.
A) use flash cards a lot.
B) do arts and crafts and talk abut what ur doin.
C)join groups wiht other kids for interaction. (simmin)
d) draw pics and asked what he was drawin adn resaid it as i wrote
e) whent for walks and had him find stuff while we were walking again restating everything.
f) for dad Work on the car/lawn/play ball and say everything ur doin.
You can get preschool books at the store (riteaid stopnshop walmart) Use them as tools. my son and i still do these things. his speach is much better. but it brought us closer doing this stuff so my husband an i still do it.
lots of luck
L.

Hello! While I can't talk from experience about your sons speaking issue, I can comment on your aunt's advice about him needing tubes because he can't hear!

I worked for an ENT for over 3 years....I can tell you that his speech and tubes have nothing to do with each other! Tubes help with chronic ear infections to relieve the pressure and help with drainage. They are temporary, not a permanent fix.

You SHOULD have him see an ENT/Audiologist to check his hearing. If there is delay or hearing issue, he needs to be put into a good speech program (offered through private institutions and your local hospital).

I can say that the only way that tubes tie in with his hearing is if he does have chronic ear infections (non-respondant, bursting eardrums, etc.). Tubes would help in that area. HOWEVER! They will not help his speech/hearing. On the other hand...Chronic ear infections CAN cause speech/hearing issues. Scar tissue builds up on the eardrum.

Have him tested by a trusted ENT. They will guide you in the right direction to where you need to start with your son.

Good luck!!

I went through the same thing with my son. He was 2 1/2 and his vocabulary was very limited. And the few words he could say were not understandable. I could understand him, but no one else could. I called 'early childhood developement' in my town and got him a speech evaluation. There could be several things going on, speech delay,or occupational therapy (muscles in the mouth and face that have not developed). My son got his evaluation and has been treated for speech delay and articualtion.
I am not sure if you have this in your town, but we have a program called The LABB. It is a program for kids in preschool that have these speech problems. They do a regular preschool setting and they have therapists pull each child out for therapy on their particular issue.
So, it is a free program, and he gets to go to preschool. He went last year and he is attending this year. He has made an unbelievable amount of progress and will go to Kindergarden next year just fine.
My advice to you, is find a 'early childhood development' in your area and see what services they provide. These kinds of things are provided by the state, so none of it should come out of your pocket. Also, have your sons pediatrition check him out to incase you need a referral.
Also, the doctor may tell you that he should have his hearing tested. Tubes in the ears are to prevent ear infections and it doesn't have alot to do with speech. But he prolly will ask to go into a specailty hospital, and have his ears tested. It isn't anything too extensive, don't worry. They will just play games with him and makes sounds and see how he reacts to the sounds. Nothing surgical.
It does take time, and it won't be better over night. Just be patient and everything will work out just fine. Good luck.

J., mother of Quent 6 and Kyle 4

Oh my , I thought I was the only one who had this problem. My son will be three in december, and for awhile, he was talking , but not very clear. He can say many words, but has trouble combining them to make a sentence. I did call our local early intervention specialist, and she said that three seems to be the magic number for boys and talking. I will be taking him in January to be evaluated. Already, he is able now to say daddy go to work, or what you doing mommy? And I am reading to him more and letting him know exactly what I am doing, I also prounouce words slower, especially ones that have K,S,B, and M in them. It took him till he was 16 months to say momma. I hope this helps you, I know how hard it can be, especially since he is the only child.

My son too is doing that sort of thing. He just turned two in September. He can say many things clear, however, he isn't speaking in sentences. All my friends' kids(which are all girls) are about the same age as he is and are speaking full sentences clearly and experess their needs through those. My son wont. He expresses what he wants by crying. He talks in his own language a lot as well. I talked to his pediatrician at his two year check and he did confirm that boys do take longer then girls. I've also noticed that he does following directions and does pick up on things we try to teach him really quickly. Our pediatrician didn't seem to concerned, but he did however tell us that if we were worried he could reffer us to Child Developmental Services, so he could be assessed and that way we could get him some speech help if needed. We just started a play group for my son and other children of my friends. His whole life he's been the only child until about 6 months ago when I had my daughter. So, I was a little curious to whether that had been a factor in his not speaking full sentences either. I just started a program where a nursery school teacher comes to our home and works one on one with my son with me. We do everything together. I know I didn't give you much advice, but I felt it would help make you feel a bit better knowing that there are others out there dealing with the same thing and your son isn't alone. Good Luck : )

Hi R., my dd (now 13) was talking by the age of 15 mos. I then proceeded to teach her some "Sign Language". Only because I knew that she would get "frustrated" when she had something to say but couldn't get it out. going to the dr. is definately a good thing. also, I care for a 2 y.o. boy and he has lots to say. I sometimes have difficulty hearing exactly what he has to say, so I encourage him to "show" me and then we "talk" about it. I am teaching him some "signs" also. He is picking it up nicely. By the way, don't encourage your child to learn language skills through toys that sound out words. If the battery dies, he is mislead on sounds. On the other hand, if you sit and read "anything with him" he will pick up on your sounds and start to reflect on what he is really hearing. Good luck

Hi R., I understand the frustration you are going through. Your Aunt gave you a suggestion about tubes. Has your son had chronic ear infections? Does he have fluid buildup behind his ear drums? My son now 14 years old had chronic ear infections, he was on antibiotics to thwart off any infections, until they finally decided he needed to have tubes placed and his adnoids removed.He not only had them insterted once but four times. His ear drum ruptured etc... He's had many issues with hearing and speech not only does hearing problems effect a childs speech it also effects other things such as reading. Till this day simple words such as box, car, top how my son has to sometimes ask what we just said because some of those words he hears differently then you or I would. You mention having an upcoming appointment I do hope it's with and ENT. (ear nose & throat) specialist. And to answer your other question when do children start talking and making sense. That all depends on the child. My son and daughter were oh so very different. Well I wish you the best of luck. I hope I helped some.