My 2 Year Old Is Not Yet Talking

My nephew did the same thing. He finally started talking,when he wanted to, at 3 yrs old. He knows how to talk but doesn't really talk much. He is in kindergarden and he has started talking more, but he is just a shy little guy. We decided that he will talk when he wants to and not to fuss about. The fussing seemed to make him even more quieter. Good luck!

My 25 month old daughter is the same way. In just the last few weeks she is using more words and occasionally strings a couple together. I wouldn't worry, soon he'll be talking up a storm and you'll laugh at ever being worried about it. My daughter uses a lot of her own 'sign language'.

Good luck!

Hi-
I would suggest an ASQ (Ages & Stages Questionaire) be done on him, and then you can tell if your concerns are valid or not. I work with children ages newborn to 5 and perform this evals with the families we serve. If you contact me with your address, I could send you a copy and instructions. Then, if your child is scoring LOW on the communication portion, you could look into services through Early Steps (Sarasota Memorial). My email address: ____@____.com Blessings...W.

My son was still just babbling at 12 months, by 18 months his ped. was concerned as well as myself that he only had simple vocab ( ba=ball, da=dog,)she gave me a referal to have him tested at All Childrens Speech department. When we got the results we were floored he had a comprehension of language that equaled a child that was 2yrs 9months old. However his expressive language skills were between a 3and 6 month old. He was started in speech therapy twice a week. After about a month his speech therapist requested we have him evaluted for sensory intergration. Low and Behold that is what he has. He turned 3 in April. Good news he was just reevaluted and his comp of lang was at 3yrs 10 months his expressive is at 2yrs 4 months with some deficit in final constant. I am not saying your son has sensory intergration or even any problem at all. He may just not want to talk. But I do believe if you're concerned you should exhaust all avenues of help. Hope this helps

I would get a second opinion. I know every child is different, but to give yourself some peace of mind you should talk to another doctor.
If you are in the Brandon area, Dr. Nadal is great.

Our daughter didn't talk either at this age and we were very concerned. As with Shawn and Cathy, her pediatrician said that it was because she didn't "need" verbal skills. She would point or grunt and we would give her whatever she wanted/needed. One day ... dad was eating a pickle and our daughter pointed and grunted and dad told her, "Say it or you don't get it." The button was pushed and then we couldn't get her to STOP TALKING.
However, my goddaughter had an ear infection at 8 wks. She didn't talk and her pediatrician said that children learn basic sounds VERY early. She went to speech therapy. This was covered by the state insurance program.
If the pediatrician says that your son is fine ... I wouldn't worry.

my oldest son didn't start to really talk until he was about 2 1/2. i didn't think there was a problem but i had taken him to a speech test for kids 1-3, it was advertised in the paper and was free so what did i have to lose. they had my son go to speech therapy at all childrens in new port richey. we went once a week, then when he turned 3, they told me to send him to a school for 'needy' children. i visited the school, those kids were nothing like my son. i found out that if i put him in the school it would be on his record, and i did not want that. i just kept him home, and i read to him- like a did everyday since he was an infant. he is perfectly fine now at the age of 13- he reads at a high school level, has been since he was in the 3rd grade.

i think that he just wasn't ready to talk at that time, he was just adsorbing it all in. a 2 yr old that doesn't talk much isn't as much a concern as a 3 yr old....... have your sons ears checked. he can't talk if he can't hear.

i was so worried about my daughter now almost 5 when she ws that age she didnt seem to b talking as much as other kids her age and when she did you just couldnt understand much has he had tubes put in for ear infections? my daughter had tubes ad we found out through a hear test she wasnt hear at all her tubes were blocked we got the tubes cleared and within like 2 weeks it was a complete turn around also my boyfriends 3 yr doesnt talk much or well with him we have to make him say what he wants and repeat it a few times in the last few months we'cve seen great imporvment when he's at home with his mother his older brother seems to translte for him we have put a stop to that here and only use it as a last resort when we just cant get it out right

I felt the same way. My son will be 3 on Nov 1. Up until about a month ago he wouldn't say a word. All on the sudden {as if we turned on a light switch} he started talking. I think it may have to do with his personality. He is very content and not very demanding. As long as your son understands what to you are saying to him, and follows directions I would give him more time before getting worried.

Hi N.,

I used to teach in a PPI (pre-primary impaired) classroom in a school for kids with special needs in Michigan. Our school system evaluated babies from new born thru adult. After seeing so many kids pass through my door my advice to you would be to contact your school system and ask if he can be evaluated. Please ask them to provide you with the phone number for the director of specail education. Now don't let this freak you out. If there is a problem with speech it can be caught early which leads to, on most occassions, easy speech classes in a program. One might think that it is best to wait until school age, but with early intervention he will be on the fast track with needed learning. All parents are afraid to think that their baby/child has something wrong with them. Please don't be afraid; you will just be requesting testing. It will be much easier on you and he if began early before bad habits set in. What ever you do don't talk for him because it will make matters even worse. Confront the problem and know that there are many caring speech teaches out there to help you and him. You will learn from the experts on how to carry over the training at home. We had many parents who would rather coddle their little ones than fight for them and teach them at home too. If any school work doesn't carry over at home (where their kids are most of the time) most of the teaching just goes out the door.

Most pediatricians aren't aware of the help that is available through our schools. Plus this testing is free from a wide variety of experts. My daughter's doctor didn't and he totally mis-diagnosed her; just telling me it was ADD. I wish I had known about this help long before she began kindergarten! This is why I went into the field. You will feel much better just knowing what is wrong or not at all.

Be willing to fight for him! There have been many program cut backs since 9/11. Our government has chosen to put our tax dollars into the war on terrorism thus leaving our precious little ones put out to dry. Good luck and be strong for him always.

My son wasn't talking in anything but 2-3 word sentences and he had just turned three. I wasn't worried about it. He seemed to understand everything I said. We took advantage of all the free evaluations that the public schools in our area offered. Turns out, he's just fine. He's just picking his time to talk. Which amazingly enough was just about a month after his evaluations. He started talking and has never stopped :)What really helped more than anything was that I started taking him to playdates with other kids and the nursery at church so he would be exposed to more kids his age. Best of luck to you! Jen

I am a two year old preschool teacher. Do not worry about a thing. At the age of three, if your son is not talking, then talk to his doctor. He will be just fine:)

I know my nephew didn't talk either until pretty late. He would make sounds but that's all. But he's a little slower for some reason in everything....running, coordination, etc. Now he is 3 1/2 and talks a lot. He started day care with other kids around when he was 3 and only said a couple of words. He is super smart though....knows his abcs and can recognize them too. My son talked early and was always coordinated, running around, etc. (too much energy sometimes). My son is 2 months older than my nephew. He knows his abcs but doesn't recognize them because he won't sit still long enough to learn. Every child develops differently. If he is doing other things and the dr says not to worry then I wouldn't. Good luck.

D.

I'm not a speech pathologist, but my mom has worked in special education for almost forty years. My eldest is a boy who is seven now. My mom has given me advice since his early development and maybe my recollection of her advice will help you. The brain likes to work on growing one area of development at a time. For example, you write that your son is very active. He's developing his gross motor skills - climbing, running. Right now, his fine motor skills are not developing at the same rate - cutting with scissors, trying to draw between the lines. His speech is not developing at the same rate as his gross motor skills either. You'll find that after some time (couple months?), the brain will start to develop another area and his gross motor skills will take a backseat to speech or fine motor skills. Meantime, make sure you both read together at least once a day, include him in your conversations, play a game like "I Spy." He's a sponge and will absorb what you're saying. If you really feel he is well behind his peers, you can contact the school district. They offer free testing and, if your child needs it, classes to help him improve.

Hi N.! My daughter turns two Sunday and is they same way. She says two word sentences. It is frustrating. My son speaks very well and started talking at the age of 10 months also. Every child is different and they will start talking well when they are ready. If every thing else is well don't worry. If he has had a lot of ear infections maybe you could get his hearing checked, sometimes this is the issue but I don't think so in your case. Also reading to child seems to help a lot to. Even a phonics book with sound, you can make a fun game out of it. I hope every thing goes well and good luck!

My daughter is 4 now and she, like your son didn't say much of anything when she was 2 either. I had my doctor put in a referral to have her tested for hearing and speech. Her hearing was just fine, she just had a speech delay and so I went through a program called Babys Can't Wait and she received speech therapy in my home 2 days a week until she turned 3, because they can only work with your child till they are 3 then they refer you to the school district. It can't hurt to have him tested. It doesn't cost much if anything depending on your insurance and the state you are located.

Hi, Don't feel bad. Our sone will be 3 years old in November and he still dont talk. Only the very few words that your son says as well. He says ball, cat, no, car and ok. Thats it..no more The Dr says its because he is lazy because of us. Every time he pointed at somethng we wold jump and give it to him so he learned that he didnt need to talk.

my 2 year old didn't speak until she was close to 2 her pediatrician wanted her tested because he 5 year old sister is autistic. the words are there sometimes you just need to force him to say them. he knows as an only child you will say it for him and thus he has no need to speak. make him tell you. if he wants something and pojnts to it give him the word and make him make the effort. also putting him in daycare may help. it shows him the social side of speaking. my niece could barely speak until she was 3 and went into ese pre-k and not she talks very well. she was an only child. my 2 year old started talking when her 5 yr old sister started talking so its really cute to have them both talking now. my 8 yr old was talking and saying mamma and daddy and poppa at 6 months. every child developes differently.

My daughter has the same issue and she'll be two in a few months. Someone from Early Steps came to my home and evaluated her. Based on the evaluation, they decided that she could receive early intervention once a week. So for free, once a week, a woman comes to our home and works with her. It's nice one on one time between her and my daugther. The attention is totally on her and within a few months, she's already saying more words.
Good Luck.