My Son Isn't Talking and He's 2!

I would get him an evaluation (great, you already have that on your calendar). I would also make sure that you are not making him lazy by doing all the talking and allowing him to point and grunt. Then I would just be patient. I had a delayed talker. He did have to go to Speech therapy. Actually, all my children did. But all are healthy talkers now. Can't get them to shut-up.
Just for the record---He is talking, just not as much as you would like. In your description, you did say he was talking but wouldn't when you wanted him to say shoe. He is saying words, just not when and what you want. I would get him evaluated. I would read alot to him, I would not accept grunting or pointing for things. Like "do you want a cookie?" and he says "ba". I would say when you can say cookie than you can have it. I am sure when he has the proper positive reward you will be amazed at what he can say. after all at two, you can hardly do more intervention than talking and reading anyway. especially, if he isn't cooperative. i would also have an appointment with the pediatrician to check his ears for wax, fluid, infections etc. and rule that out also. you did indicate that he does hear you and recognize things. he is after all only two. and frankly, it doesn't sound like much is to terribly behind for a two year old. i think that you think he should be farther along when from your description he sounds just fine, just not cooperative. And the cooperative is the whole "terrible two" control thing. Because the more you want him to, the more he won't because he can control that and make his mamma do stuff, if he just doesn't talk or make an effort. He sounds very smart. You just have to be smarter. Use the cookie and see what happens.
Been there done all that with a slow talker (son #1) that had speech. Son #2 had speech simply because he mimiced son #1. They were only 17 monthg apart. Son #3 talked but not clearly, had to have speech. All are motor mouths now, and are never quiet. Oldest 13, then 11 1/2, then 8. All boys. I think you see this talking thing with boys more than girls because....we are so much more....VERBAL!
just give him some time and proper motivation.
Good luck,
L.

Hi K. - I don't have experience with this myself, but if he's evaluated and they don't find any problems, he may just talk when he's ready. My cousin-in-law didn't talk till he was 3, and his parents said it was because he felt he didn't have anything to say. Another friend said the same thing with her son - suddenly at 3, full sentences. You're doing the right thing by getting him checked; try not to freak yourself out - he may be more of a thinker. Take care!

I would take him to a pedi ENT and get his hearing tested!! My daughter was the same way and she had about a 50% hearing loss from the residual fluid in her ears. She got ear tubes and overnight she was talking in full sentences!! Of course now we can't get her to be quiet (lol). But I would suggest that before you start him with speech therapy you rule out the possiblity of a hearing problem. Good luck!

All children 3 & under qualify for free ECI therapy (early childhood intervention). I think it's run through the county. Just do a google search for ECI, you should find it.
My nephew was behind, and had speech therapists come to the house once or twice a month till he was 3. He has steadily been catching up. He's 4 and not quite at the same level as the rest of his peers, but VERY MUCH improved. His sister is two and she is definitely a more severe case- they found out she has a rare chromosomal deficiency-- and will always be behind. NOT what's going on with your boy, but just to illustrate... she has a speech therapist & an occupational therapist that come to the house for free on a regular basis to work with her. It really helps. Also, she attends a Montessori preschool for a few hours a day and that helps more than anything, I think.
It's worth checking out, in case your son needs a little extra help.

My son is 4 and he was a delayed talker. He didn't really start talking "good" until he was 3. We talked about having him evaluated, but I opted to wait a bit and see what happened. He started pre-K last fall and I have seen an incredible improvement in not only his speech, but his fine motor skills as well. I think that if you feel like he needs evaluation you should do it. No one knows your child better than you and being educated about a potential condition is better for him. Good luck :-)

My son only said a couple words at 2 (look, ball, whats that) and that was it. Now, 6 months later he has a huge vocabulary and he is even talking in little sentances.

One clue if there is hearing loss from what a mother friend I know discovered, is her child really paid attention to vibrations from music/tv and such. GOod luck on the evalutation... it's always best to check it out early.

My son was the same way at two and we found out that he had some hearing loss due to fluid in his ears. He didn't have too many ear infections, but obviously the ones he did have left behind thick fluid that caused him not to hear properly. We saw a pediatric ENT and they do hearing tests and then we had tubes put in. I saw a change in him instantly...now a year later he is completely caught up and you would have never known he was behind. Hope this helps!!!

Hi K.,

Your son is so that you are getting him evaluated! Typically by age two, children are often putting two words together, and have a rather large single word vocabulary.

I am have been a speech-language pathologist for over 15 years. As for apraxia, it is not that common, and what you typically see with that condition is a struggle to mimic sounds (apraxia is a disorder of motor planning) - not simply a limited vocabulary, or a refusal to imitate.

If you are not sure what levels of speech and language children typically produce at various ages, I invite you to visit my web site, www.startherapyprograms.com, and click on the milestones page. The information is based on research by the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA).

Good luck, and trust your instincts -- nobody knows your child better than you!

If you have any questions you would like to ask privately, please feel free to contact me at ____@____.com Regards,
S.

Speech delays can be caused by about as many different things as there are children. The speech therapist should be able to give you a better idea as to whether it's apraxia or not or what to look for. He's still really young too. Do you have any speech delays or history of apraxia in the family?

I did a ton of research when my son wasn't talking (he made tons of noises) and thought he might have apraxia as well (it sounds like my fil my have it). Turns out, he just had a delay. I asked our ST about it, she said there are definite signs of it when she works with children. It's not that common either from what I understand.

Good luck with the eval. Hope all goes well. Feel free to message me if you have any questions.