My Two Year Old Wont Talk

I had the same issue with 2 of my 4. They had a speech therapist from Early Intervention come to the house and work with them once a week. It really did help a lot. I'd really recommend having him evaluated- especially since he is getting frustrated. The tantrums reduced dramatically once they were able to communicate their wants/needs.
HIH :)

he sounds like my son at 24 months. they should have about 50 words and be putting two or three words together at that point. (I've known many who are talking in complete paragraphs at this age) I had my son evaluated and a speech therapist came to the house once a week for a yr to work with him, he made great progress!

Hi,
While you are considering why your son doesn't talk much,and hopefully pursuing an evaluation, I would ask you not to think of him as deliberately not talking. There may be a reason for him not being able to speak in short phrases or even repeat a word he has said before.

I think your best clue as to whether he is doing this on purpose or whether he is having difficulty communicating is his frustration. Think how any of us would feel if we had something we wanted to express and couldn't make it come out of our mouths?

My best to you all.

welcome to mamapedia!!!!

have you taken him to the pediatrician and have you told your pediatrician your concerns? If not - why?

Have his hearing checked.
Have the pediatrician refer you to a speech therapist.
Check with the school that you are scheduled to go to has Head Start and get him involved in head start.

My grandson knew only a few words at 2 and his pediatrician said that he could just be slow in learning to talk but she suggested that he could be evaluated either by a private practitioner or thru the school district.

His mother put off getting an evaluation until he was 2 1/2 and we're sorry that we waited so long. At 2 1/2 he was evaluated by the school district thru a program often called No Child Left Behind. The program is required and paid for by the Federal government.

There is one program for children up to the age of 3. It's more intensive and the specialist comes to your home. After age 3 it's a different program. Still good but not as easy to use.

I urge you to call the school district and get connected with the office that manages this. You can make an appointment for an evaluation. It may be that your son is just a late talker but then again he may benefit from speech therapy. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by getting an evaluation.

It sounds like you're trying hard to get him to talk. I suggest you back off. He may be resisting the pressure to talk by not talking. Thru the school district or a private therapist you will learn more effective ways of helping him. I suggest that, since prompting isn't working, you try not prompting him and see if that helps.

Hi there,
Your son is probably just on his own schedule learning to talk. You should talk to your son's pediatrician about your concerns soon. He should have his hearing checked by an audiologist first to rule out any hearing issues. Then you should consult with a speech pathologist and get some ideas.

My child did not say much before he turned two. We found out he had congestion in his ears after an extensive hearing test. I spent a few session with a speech pathologist too. He never stops talking today!
Good luck!

Wow! I felt the same way with our son! I was soo worried that he would NEVER talk! lol. But I think that some boys just take longer to talk, he sounds normal to me. Just give him time. He is only two and it seems like he is talking like any normal 2 year old boy. Do you read to him? I used to read alot to all of our children. Our son who is 9 now LOVES to read! Just give it time. I would also buy those wooden puzzles and play with them and teach them what the shapes and pictures were. The best thing that you can do is read to him as much as you can! But don't stress too much about it. Before you know it he'll be talking your ear off!

He sounds a lot like my son. He is now almost 3, but I had him evaluated at 18 months :-) Hey, I figure, why wait? Nip it in the bud!

Anyway, my ped referred us to a speech pathologist. She did an evaluation at 18 months. He tested 6 months behind, I believe, but at that age there isn't a whole lot she can do. She gave me lots of ideas and said to come back at 24 months. We did, and I think he still tested about 6 months behind. Still not far enough behind to be too worried, and again, not much she can do at that age. Back again 6 months later, and that's when she started seeing him every other week for about 45 minutes.

He's doing really well, and they have a really good relationship. He is still definitely behind where he should be at almost 3, but he is definitely making progress and I'm not sure he would be doing this well if we weren't receiving services.

Now that he's almost 3, we have begun the process in the school district, so he will begin receiving services there.

Call your insurance company and find out what they will cover - a certain number of visits, any number until age 3, certain clinics, do they require a referral from your ped, etc. Many will cover until age 3 when the school district should take over. We are very fortunate because ours will cover 60 hours in his life-time, and we have only used about 20.

If your insurance doesn't cover it, or only covers a small portion, call Early Intervention. If you can't find them or just don't know where to begin (I don't), just call your ped's office or your local school. They WILL know who to call to help you out.

He sounds like he is below age level and that's something you want to address as soon as possible, but that doesn't necessarily mean there's anything else wrong with him. Lots of kids have speech delays. It's really important to address it because, you're right, he probably really does get frustrated and can't communicate his feelings. Also, you want him to have the best chance for success in school, and that really begins now. The more he can learn and the better he can communicate now, the better off he will be in kindergarten.

Best of luck!!!

my son started speech therapy the month he turned 2 (it's been over 2 yrs & we still go 2x a week) this was the best thing we did. Get his hearing checked then start him in a program, your Pedi will point you in the right direction...

good luck :)

My son was the same at that age I came the realize he had nothing to say , by the way he is now nine and extremely gifted academically, physically, loves sports. I think he is fine I love classical music so what I would do is turn a beautiful piece of music on and he responded . Now, since he is a little older he loves Poveratti , Domingo, Caracaus Micheal Buble and on and on some kids speak others dont want to because they have nothing to say when he is ready he will ...

Has he been seen by your pediatrician or have you discussed this with them? Any hearing issues or is he having trouble understanding what you tell him or following directions? Is he "just turned 2" or "almost 3"?

If his doctor rules out a hearing problem and other medical issues, you could always get him evaluated by Early Intervention services and see if he needs any speech therapy or other help. Early Intervention is free in all 50 states and if he needs help, the sooner he gets it the better.

When was the last time you learned an entire foreign language in two years? It takes time-you have to be of the mindset that your child will talk- begin using toys and learning tools to facilitate and promote this. I bought "Sookie and Finn" for my little Grandson (turned two in November) and "Your Baby Can Read". He spells his own name, reads, understands everything, and spells many words from memory-be patient and repetitive-once they start and get a lot of reinforcement-it doesn't stop-it just grows exponentially!

It sounds like he is a little behind verbally. I just found a website that says the typical 2 year old will have between 30 and 50 words and will be putting two words together "Up Mama!" or whatever. You might want to talk to your pediatrician to make sure he is meeting his other developmental milestones---in addition to checking his hearing. My nephew was a VERY slow verbally but it ended up being nothing. But you never know so you should get him checked. :)
http://wondertime.go.com/learning/child-development/stage...

What does your pediatrician say? If there are concerns request an evaluation and/or intervention by a specialist. There is public assistance to pay for this if your insurance doesn't cover it (or if you have no insurance.)
Please check into it, early intervention, if needed, really makes a difference!

my husband was the same way, my MIL said she was not worried that he didn't speak because he heard and understood EVERYTHING. one day when he was about 2 he walked up to her and said "can I have water" THAT was the first thing he EVER really said. never even said mama or dada he just made noises, grunts, laughs, he was just on a schedule all of his own and no one was going to rush him. but If it were ME i think i would take him to see a doctor just to be 100% sure he is okay and to put ME at ease LOL

When my son was 2 he didn't speak either. He would sometimes say words, but then didn't want to repeat them. Everyone told me he was fine, don't worry, his dad and uncle didn;t speak at 2 years old either. All of that well meaning advice cost him 6 months of therapy. It turned out there was an issue and I wish I had gotten him evaluated immediately. Schedule an evaluation, just so you can be sure. It might be nothing, in which case, there's no harm done. Someone just comes to the house and plays with your son and observes him.

Good luck,
R.

Hi there,
My son had a similar situation and he qualified for services a litte before the age of 2 , so don't wait. However what I wanted to advise was something that worked for us. I purchased these speech dvd's - Baby Babble and Baby Bumble Bee Action words from Amazon (they have different levels etc). I know normally we don't want our children to watch TV at this early age, but when you are so nervous about a delay in your child, you sometimes decide to test different things to see what works. I decided to give it a shot, esp as parents had given them high ratings at the time. I played them on and off for about a month, even if he wasn't really watching them but more so just listenting to them in the background and one day he just started saying bubbles, bear, baby all the words on the dvd. It somehow stimulated his brain in the right way and things started to greatly improve from there, that coupled with speech therapy. Some of the dvd's are not so interesting for the parents, but the repetition, music, etc seems to work for us, so keep with it. This may not be right for you, but I just wanted to share what worked for me, in case it might be helpful to someone else.

My little sister had this exact problem. She wouldn't speak, and would bang her head out of frustration, throw fits, ect. My mother called the state and they sent to their home a Speech Patholigist(sp?). It didn't take long at all before she was speaking a mile a minute. It sometimes just takes a little coaxing from a professional to get them going.

I would also discuss it with the doctor as well.

One of my kids was like this.

Do you really truly 'feel' like something is wrong? If so, then tell his Dr. at his next check-up and get his hearing checked and cover all your bases just to ease your mind.

But my guess is, since he can say different words and just chooses not to, that he is fine and just not a big talker...which is fine! Like I said, one of my kids was the same way...I had his hearing screened and took him to get evaluated by a speech therapist and all that jazz...nothing was wrong with him...he was just not a big talker! Now that he is 6, I can't get him to shush it! :)

Just you wait and see...pretty soon you will be looking back and asking yourself why you ever questioned him and I bet there will be days where you even secretly wish if you could go back to the time when he was quiet! Ha!

My younger son did something similar. He said a few words, mama, dada and juice by 11 months and went silent. He had an older brother who spoke for him or he would point, say "uh, uh, uh" and otherwise let us know what he needed or wanted.

I expressed my concerns to his Pre-school teacher when he was 3-3/4 years of age. She advised me to insist he talk if he wanted a snack or a hug, etc. After several weeks of asking him to talk if he wanted something, he did start to talk one day, in full sentences, just before his fourth birthday. He talked incessantly, even during dinner. He had a lot to tell us that had been pent up all that time, we guess. He was like a Teddy Ruxpin toy, he talked so much. He is a very bright young man now who did very well in school.

Later on, I learned Einstein did not talk until the age of four.

Try not to worry. He knows how to talk. "Been there, done that" seems to be his attitude. Encourage him to talk if he really wants a banana or a biscuit.