21-Month Old Son Stopped Speaking for the Most Part

M.,

Any time a child looses a skill you have a big cause for concern and you should take it seriously.

I urge you to call your nearest children's hospital in the morning and make an appointment with a developmental pediatrician. This is something to never, never mess around with, find out for sure what is going on here and do not try to speculate about the TV. If you are wrong, it could be devistating for your son because he may need the earliest possible intervention.

Call tomorrow. The worst thing that can happen is that you will be sent away from a professional who has spent many hours evaluating your son, and who has called in many other professionals to evaluate him, and if he were to tell you that absolulty nothing was wrong, you will know for sure. If not, you find out exactly what to do to help him be all that he can be. Don't wait on this.

M.

Just a note here...he won't qualify for school based services yet, he must be passed his 3rd birthday. Before age 3, there are state run early intervention programs, but a caution here, you should never depend on the state to diagnose your child. You should never know less than any agency or school about your child and what your child needs. You should not count on public services to give your child everything they need; while some may do more, they are only legally required to make your child "functional" and every parent wants much, much, more than the lowest legal requirement for their child. Suppliment private with public service, let the public educate your child, but don't count on them to be accurate at telling you what they need; because they have to fork over the service and pay for it, you will almost always get less than you think is best (which they are not required to give you anyway.) You should hold and own the evaluation that diagnoses your child.

Here are some questions for you:

*How is his eye contact?

*When you call his name from across the room, does he turn his head and look at you?

*When you are near him and you say something like, "Look at that flower," and point to a flower that is a little distance from you, does he look in the direction of the flower?

*How are his play skills? Is he playing with (age appropriate) toys the way that they are meant to be played with?

*When he is across the room, will he hold up a toy and look at you for you to see it too?

If your answer to most of these questions is "not really" or "not very good," then I would urge you to find a new pediatrician and ask him to refer your son to a speech therapist to have him evaluated ASAP. And you will want to contact your State Early Intervention services department right away and get on their waiting list to have him evaluated.

If he is able to make effortless eye contact with you and others (looking you in the eyes, not looking at your eyebrow) and is interacting with you and others and is otherwise responsive to his surroundings and the people around him, then you may want to have his hearing checked just to rule that out.

I hope that your receive some positive answers soon.

It could be nothing at all or could be VERY serious. See a specialist. It could be hearing problem/ processing problem or autism. (My friend went through same thing you are going through and her dr. didn't recognize he had autism which is amazing to me as I myself and a friend recognized it long before he ended up being diagnosed by a DIFFERENT dr. as severely autistic. I looked at your profile and noticed that your son also has sensory/texture aversion. You should mention this when you see the specialist. They might be inter-related. Also texture/food aversion is also a sign of autism.

He's not yet 2 so I wouldn't worry , the fact that he can point to body is really good , my 2 yr old cannot do that. I also don't think there is a link between the TV and this , channels such as Srout and Noggin actually learn then stuff , so TV in moderation is good. Try and encourage him as you are , but don't make a big deal out of it , or expect him to sit and listen while you try and teach him , if by the time you have his 2 yr well child check you still have concerns , then bring it up again and talk to the Dr about having some eearly intervention testing done.

I'm just going to reiterate--loss of speech is in no way connected to introduction to TV. That is surely just a coincidence. And yes, absolutely take him for an evaluation with a developmental specialist ASAP. Loss of speech can be red flag for many things-most are already listed below. It is always better to be safe than sorry. Evaluations are typically play based and fun for the kids. Call tomorrow! :) Good luck.

I would encourage the use of the words he used to know (the ones you know for sure he can say). If, for instance, he wants a drink and you know he can say the word drink, then don't give it to him until he uses the word. Tell him "you need to use your words". My pediatrician told me that as long as my son was pointing with his finger, then he likely would not have autism. This is apparently an early sign of it (if your kid can't point, they get worried). So, if he's pointing, then I would take a little breather and try to strongly encourage the use of his words. My son could only say a few words for the longest time and then all of a sudden his language just took off! Now he can say a whole bunch of words and phrases and he just turned 2. He will at least try to say just about anything, except when he's in a mood. There are times when he, too, just doesn't want to talk. He's just being stubborn and I ignore the behavior and tell him he can have what he is asking for when he chooses to use his words. He might whine or pitch a tantrum for a few minutes, but when he realizes I am serious and not going to give in, he will ask.

I'm not saying that you don't have anything to worry about, but just use your instincts and try to determine if he is just being stubborn or if you really believe there might be a problem. If your Mommy radar is going off and you can't shake it, then I would push the issue with your pediatrician or get a second opinion. It's definitely better to get these kinds of issues resolved early, so I wouldn't let it go on for too long (a few weeks) before seeking some other resources.

I'm not sure, but if I was you, I would definitely get a second opinion, that just doesnt make sense to me! You say he understands and follows your directions but is he following your hands and your lips, or does he hear you when you call him from behind his line of vision? I would definitely have his hearing checked and if that checks out okay, turn the TV off and start interacting more with your son, playing games, pointing out wheres mommys ears? wheres baby's ears? etc, etc, read books, talk, talk, talk, the more you engage him the better, and don't give him what he wants if he says umm, or won't say yes or no, if he cant do this at almost 2 years old, something is definitely wrong, seek a second opinion, hope this helps, Mom and Nurse, friend in motherhood and life... LA

This happened with my grandson. His pediatrician also said that he was probably OK and we could wait until his next check up. Well......it turned out that my grandson has speech apraxia and one of the ways that it presents is to begin learning speech but then to stop. We also thought he didn't talk because his older sister talked for him and was talking all the time.

I urge you to get him evaluated raw. You can do this thru a private speech professional or you can go thru the school district. Because evaluation and therapy was not covered by insurance my daughter made an appointment with the County Intermediate Education School District. This evaluation and therapy if needed is provided by the school district, without charge, thru the No Child Left Behind federal law.

He may not have anything seriously wrong but you want to know as soon as possible if he does have a physical condition affecting his lack of speech develpment. The earlier such a condition is caught and treated the better the chances are that he will be caught up on his speech by the time he enters school. Without an evaluation you will remain anxious. An evaluation can also tell you all is OK and you can stop worrying.

There are more federally paid programs for a child before the age of 3 than after that age. While my grandson was 2, a therapist came to his home several times/week and worked with him and his mother. When he became 3 his therapy at home was limited to one time/week and twice/week at preschool which was provided by Head Start, even tho under other circumstances hew would not have been eligible for Heat Start. Head Start is a great program but it's not geared specifically for speech and behavior issues. My grandson was transferred to a therapeutic preschool when he was 4.

My grandson was just a couple of months shy of 3 when he started therapy. He is now 7 and although his speech is better it's still not easily understood. If he'd started in therapy earlier he would be further along in developing speech than he is now. At 7 he's still in special ed with both speech and behavior issues. He's smart and would be capable of doing regular school work if he didn't have those issues. He is mainstreamed for 2 classes. From my reading, I suspect that he would be doing much better if he'd gotten help earlier.

I urge you to get an evaluation. You have nothing to lose and lots to gain if he does have a correctable speech issue.

Later, after reading Laurie D.'s post and questions. Negative answers to those questions can indicate a loss of hearing or the possibility of an autism spectrum disorder. They're good questions to ask but do not indicate anything about the possibility of some speech difficulties. My grandson would've passed the "test."

My oldest son did the same thing at the same exact age. It turns out that he was just working on other, non-verbal skills at that time, ie, gross motor skills such as mastering the big slide at the park and climbing.

The not talking thing lasted for two months at our house. The fact that your son RESPONDS to your verbal instructions is huge. He is interacting with you, so there's nothing wrong with his hearing, that's for sure.

Right now, my son is three is talks our ears off. I'm betting yours will too. Still, you could call Early Intervention if you're super worried--it's free.

My third son it also like this, but I am not worried about it as I know that he has said words in the past, it's like he learns them and stores the data.
My in-laws say that my husband was the same, and believe me you wouldn't know that now! He has plenty to say, and does ;-)

I plan on giving my son more time, and continue to talk to him, explaining what I am doing but not so much waiting for him to reply, as I feel it could make him feel pressured.

As we know, we are all different and develope in our own way.

E. xx

If you really think it started when he was introduced to TV just take the TV away. If he doesn't like it tell him that he has to use his words. Self expression is very important. If taking the TV away for say, a week doesn't return his interest in communicating I would re-visit the concern with the doctor. Obviously his hearing is okay and his ability to understand and differentiate seem fine ... little kids mix up face parts for quite a while.

Is there anything else going on that might trigger him not wanting to grow up? My middle brother was NOT happy to discover he would no longer be the youngest in our family and promptly had a months long fit of acting like a baby (no talking, wetting, etc.) Maybe your childcare situation has changed, etc.?

Try staying away from the tv and see if he starts talking again?

Try signing with him?

Try using songs to teach him colors, letters, body parts, animals, motions, etc.

If he was doing fine for awhile, what else changed when he quit using words.

We also insist on words rather than "uh-huh" or "uh-uh". My toddler is very verbal, but when she hears us use the shortcut words, she wants to as well.

My daughters didn't speak a lot until after they turned two. And sometimes my two year old says "ummm" or pretends her ears are her nose, etc. Trying to be silly with me or to get a reaction. I don't believe that tv makes kids less smart or lazier, personally. If anything my kids pick up many words and phrases, including songs, from sprout. I know some people don't believe vaccinations cause autism or delays, but did this happen by any chance after his mmr vaccine (if he had one)?

He's young. It might be he's retreated over an emotional problem or is waiting until he feels confident about talking once again.
I'd check this out with a speech therapist.

It might just be that he is observing the power of language and how you react when he does not talk. Unless he has had some trauma recently I would patiently wait it out.

Kids are amazing and if you don't pay attention to this shift in behavior it is possible that he'll get bored with it and go back to talking because it is more convenient.

Also, you could just make a policy of having to use his words to get what he wants. You have to have a lot of patience to make that work, but it probably will work.

Good luck and don't worry. Sure there is a remote chance that something has happened to him and you should look for other changes in personality if you suspect that. But those chances are SO slim that I wouldn't waste sleep over them. I know you're frustrated and every mom worries but kids do things like this, especially when they see your reaction to it. They are little scientists observing the world and their place in it.

I have heard that for every hour of television chidren watch, there is a corrolative number of words they do not learn. My house has always been TV free and both my kids are fantastic with language to the point that it gets commented on frequently. My dd is bilingual and from the time she was 2 it was clear that her language skills surpassed other kids her age who only spoke one language -- that was true in both languages. I don't know why it is, perhaps because the communication is one way and they are not expected to respond? If you have any doubts, just get rid of the TV.

Good luck to you.