I am a little concerned about my 21 month old not talking very well she has hit all her other milestones on time walking at 12 months crawling at 6 months im a first time mom and not sure if this is normal she can say a few words but thats it we have had her hearing checked and it is great is she just being stubborn and will she talk when she is ready or should I try and find her some help or am i overreacting any other moms out there who have been through anything like this i need some advice
She is still very young. Its not time to seek help yet. My 2 year old said nothing...ZERO words by his 2nd birthday. Today, 9 months later, we have full fledged conversations.
I agree with Kristina - please have your child evaluated. It just costs you a little time and then you know. My son was close to 2 years old and still did not call me Mama and he was slow to pick up on sign language, and I noticed he didn't have very good depth perception. But he was a happy baby and very interactive. Loved peek-a-boo and hide and go seek. I had concerns at 12 months when the sign language wasn't coming, but I waited. Finally, a friend of mine who was a speech pathologist encouraged me to contact the county when he was just shy of 2. I found out my son was delayed one year in his expressive speech and in many other areas. It was very scary and emotional to go through, but in the end of course it was worth it. He is now 2 and a half and talking much more. We have since discovered he has dyspraxia. The good news is since it is mild and we started therapy so young, that eventually he will overcome it and catch up. These really young years are so important. A child who gets help at 2 is going to improve much more quickly than a child who gets help at 5. Hopefully, everything is fine and your child will just start talking, but it is definitely worth checking out.
Talking alone is not the only indication to delays. A lot of kids I know they had normal delays. They started talking after 3 year old but afterwards they had very normal life. You need to look at other stuff to be concerned. Look how her communication is! How much she interact with you and other kids her age! See if she takes you by hand and points at objects she wants. See how much she loves to play with you and stay with you in the same room! If she doesn't do that then you need to talk to her Pediatricial and be concerned about PDD NOS or Autism, though my feeling is your daughter has normal delay or at least I hope so.
Children do not refuse to talk because they are stubborn, but even if they did, it would still be an issue that required therapy, because she is not practicing the give and take of converstation that she should be at this age. In the next three months, she should have over 50 words, and be putting two together into a simple sentance.
I always tell parents to never wait on Development. The stakes are just too high if you wait and see, and you should not have waited. An evaluation is a win win. You either know that there is nothing to worry about, or you know exactly what you need to do to help her. Make two calls. One to your county/state ECI program for a free evaluation, and a second to a private speech therapist. ECI is there to help, but is not designed to be everything every child will need. I am pretty sure that a private therapist will recomend that your daughter get weekly therapy. Don't wait any longer, find out for sure.
M.
C., There are no "normal' delays, althought there are kids who miss the speech milestones and go on to seem fine later, you should know that the kids who don't look just like the kids who do...you are betting that yours is the lucky one, and frankly, the lucky few. An evaluation for a child who is not making a speech milestone is not an over reaction in the slightest, please get one and be sure that you are not going to lose on this wager, your child really cannot afford for you to be wrong. ECI is the public evaluation/therapy outlet until she is three, then the school district is the public agency that is resposnible for minimal services. All public services are designed to make your child functional in the classroom only, not to maximize your child, so private evaluation in additon to public evaluations are always best, even if a public evaluator says that your child does not qualify for public services, that does not mean that they do not need services at all.
Early is best, early can mean the differenrece between a rosy outcome, and a less than desirable one. You have so much more to gain if you evaluate. MR
We had our son tested at 18 months. I'm SO glad we did otherwise he'd REALLY be behind in school. My sister waited and REALLY regretted it so I learned from her mistake. There's nothing to lose by having your child checked out
Sign Language is a great way for kids to talk faster. "Baby Einsteins: My First Signs" was great for my daughter. My husband and I didn't know much sign language but we learned the signed words right along with her. She started talking soon after that, although i forget axactly what age that was but she is over 5 now, has a great vocabulary and still signs some words (when she has mouth full or "quiet time").
My son didn't start talking until 23 months. He had a few words before then but not much. Once he started talking it just took off from there! He is now almost 28 months old and speaks in sentences. She is just waiting until she's got it down mom! If she's not speaking much by the time she's two, talk to your doctor about it. Some say not to worry until they are two and a half. Don't worry mama!
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My now 23yods did not talk till a month shy of his 3rd birthday. He would say little words like Mama Dada Hi but that was about it. His first sentence, Daddy home was right before he turned 3. The pediatrician told us if he wasn't talking by age 3, THEN they'd test him because it would be very difficult to do so beforehand.
After that he started adding more and more words/sentences at great speed. He did have trouble with R's (sounded like he was from Boston) and S's (he put his tongue between his teeth) but that went away with very little speech therapy.
Just keep talking to her, showing her things, pointing out things and relax. She'll be fine.
My son is 24 months old and only says mom and dada. His doctor did a thorough evaluation and told me that hes just fine and that some kids are just late talkers. My cousins son didnt say ONE word until he was 2.5 and then all of the sudden one day, he started talking in complete sentences. My son does communicate with me with baby sign language that ive been teaching him to make things easier. He does great with that. He also points to things and takes my hand to take me and show me things that he wants. So although he isnt talking, he still communicates with my quite well in other ways. My son also understands everything I say and follows simple commands quite well (ie, put this in the trash, please). I wouldnt worry, just be patient and help your daughter by repeating words when she points to them. I also find that picture books help my son recognize object names so that when I say the name, he knows what Im talking about. A website I used to help me get started with baby sign language is http://babystrology.com/baby-learning/baby-sign-language/. Good luck
All children are eligible for not only the screening and evaluation but speech and OT therapy under three for free regardless of your financial situation.
I would seek out how to find out the Early Intervention numbers in your area (perhaps your pediatrician or the public school nurse knows?) and have your child evaluated.
Speech therapy is expensive. The worst thing that could happen is that you do or don't qualify. But if your child does qualify, you can get several months of free therapy. If your child does not qualify, your worry is at rest.
I have written about my son who went through tons of speech therapy in previous posts if you are interested in his story.
Good luck!
look into your local schools they will usually have programs that are free and will test your child. Not sure if they will do it before 2 but your child is close enough that it might be worth looking into. If she does have any issues they will do speech therapy and the earlier you start the better, and if they decide that she is fine then nothing to worry about.
Contact Early Childhood Intervention and have them evaluate her ... really it could be nothing or it could be a problem ... it is no charge to you to have her evaluated and depending on what you need and what your financia state is services are free/affoardable for the most part.
shes probably fine especially if her hearing tested good. you can get ahold of eci if iyou are really concerned through your school system sounds to me she just isnt ready to talk yet
