language Delay Help

Sbrooner

Hello!...new to the board. I have a son who is 18mo. and is not saying very many words...in fact he has a hard time saying mama and dada. We are waiting to hear back from a EL specialist on when we can schedule an evaluation.He is very social, and loves other kids. ?He's very affectionate and happy, and babbles all day long. ?He also has a great comprehension - he understands what we are saying, and follows directions well, but no words. On the down side, he has terrible separation anxiety, and is extremely shy w/adults who he is not familiar with. ?Our pediatrician is concerned about autism because he really hasn't said any words, just babble. ?Anyone go through this, or know of someone who has??? ?Trying to stay positive, although it is tough!??TIA!!!?

meghans30

Sounds similar to what we have gone through with my own son. He spoke very little at age two ( maybe 10 recognizabable words) and momma was not one of them. He was eventually diagnosed with severe Apraxia of speech and through intensive therepy has  made great gains. My suggestion is to have him evaluated through Early Intervention or your birth to three program in your state. They will let you know where he stand. In my state the testing is free, even if he tests age appropriate.

BusterJess

This sounds very similar to my DS. He is now 26 months and has only 5 words. He gets speech therapy 3 times a week. As of now they assume he has verbal apraxia. My advise is call early invention and get him evaluated. It's a long road ahead until my DS will talk. I wish you luck. Send me a message if you have any questions.

newmoh529

Hi---I went through something very similar with DD. At age 2 she had about 5 words and lots of babble, sounded like a foreign language. She was very social and followed directions well, but had terrible tantrums. We figured out later that they were a result of the frustration of not being able to communicate. We were able to get an apraxia dx(mis) and bombarded her with 4 days of speech and 2 days of Spec ed per week! She is now 4 and attends a wonderful theraputic pre-school program. Her recent evals showed she is now completely age appropriate. Sometimes kids just have language delays...there doesn't have to be something deeper. A dx is only helpful in getting services. Keep that in mind and stay strong! Good luck and God Bless!

OSULori

I agree with PP...sometimes a language delay can be just that, plain and simple.  It doesn't always have to have some other, deeper cause.  I think consulting with EI like you mentioned is a great idea-they should be able to suggest where you need to go from there.  GL!

suzymarie

W. is 16 months and is similar.  We had been doing OT for fine motor, and now he has oretty well caught up in that area,so we are switching to speech therapy since he seems to be falling behind in that.  We have the teacher coming for the first time next Thurs.

 

It is very frustrating for me because I feel like W.'s comprehension is also not very good.

 

 

MichelleWP

If you're concerned, get him evaluated! But I agree that some kids just take their time.

None of my boys talked at 18 months - 2 didn't even say mama. Of the three, two of them were in a normal range by their 2nd birthday (one was reading by his 4th birthday - and he was one of the 2 who had 0 words). Brady did/does have a language delay (he started talking a little after his 3rd birthday), and is very close to a normal range expressively now at almost 5 (he still has significant receptive/cognitive delays).

My daughter has communication goals written in her IFSP and is a bit behind the "norm" but seems to be doing fine with speech at 16 months, which is surprising to me!

uhlerj

My nephew is the exact same way and he is 2 1/2 years old. (Will be 3 in June). He mumbles so it's really hard to understand him, he's extremely shy with adults and children, and has major time separation anxiety.

He is seeing a Speech Therapist (not sure how much). Not sure if it seems to be helping. I do know that when he points to something, my sister always goes and gets it for him. Maybe he just knows that he doesn't have to talk to get what he wants. Who knows.

Good luck!  I'm sure it will just happen gradually over time.

superlurker

I am an SLP grad student, so here's m input:

One key to an autism diagnosis is odd social interactions and interpersonal/play skills, which does not sound like your kiddo from what you mentioned (get screened and evaluated anyway! SLPs do not diagnose autism).  Some kids just talk later because of some personal characteristic and some kids have a language delay, which warrants intervention.  Since there is no way to tell which category a child falls into, all of them are recommended for speech/language therapy.

While you are working to get an evalution, try using some AAC strategies.  This stands for augmentative and alternative communication.  Low-tech versions of this involve communication boards with pictures that your child can show you to communicate.  This works well when you know that the child wants to tell you something, but you aren't sure what. For example, if your child has a few diffent things that he likes for breakfast, take a picture of each and have him choose from the pictures if he is having trouble telling you with words.  You could also try using some baby sign with him.  Books for this are available in most libraries.  Using sign does not prevent or slow verbal language.  It actually helps kids communicate better and earlier when there is some sort of visual aid like hand signing or pictures.  Good luck!

rinny25

superlurker:

I am an SLP grad student, so here's m input:

One key to an autism diagnosis is odd social interactions and interpersonal/play skills, which does not sound like your kiddo from what you mentioned (get screened and evaluated anyway! SLPs do not diagnose autism).  Some kids just talk later because of some personal characteristic and some kids have a language delay, which warrants intervention.  Since there is no way to tell which category a child falls into, all of them are recommended for speech/language therapy.

While you are working to get an evalution, try using some AAC strategies.  This stands for augmentative and alternative communication.  Low-tech versions of this involve communication boards with pictures that your child can show you to communicate.  This works well when you know that the child wants to tell you something, but you aren't sure what. For example, if your child has a few diffent things that he likes for breakfast, take a picture of each and have him choose from the pictures if he is having trouble telling you with words.  You could also try using some baby sign with him.  Books for this are available in most libraries.  Using sign does not prevent or slow verbal language.  It actually helps kids communicate better and earlier when there is some sort of visual aid like hand signing or pictures.  Good luck!

 

Ditto. If you can go to your local office supply store and buy a laminator the pics will last much longer. Also, if you can print onto a card stock it makes them more sturdy and less likely to ruin. One last thing, get the blue tack from the teachers section. Its like tape/glue/velcro but it won't take paint off with it. 

 If you were to put the pics on the fridge, DC would be able to point/take it off and give it to you to tell you what is wanted. When this is done, be sure to label the picture give to you. "Oh, you want (cereal!)"  We use this method in my classroom (I teacher special needs) and the amount of vocab we have gotten is amazing! 

breezy0629

One thing that was very profound to me at 18 months (DS has autism) was that the language was delayed verbally, but also the receptive (whats understood going in) was just not there. He heard the words - if I said 'spoon' he would know what OBJECT I was talking about, but he had no comprehension of words he could not see. 'All done' or 'More' or 'Thirsty' or 'want drink' were all things that he had absolutely no way of communicating (or knowing what they meant for that matter).  Now, if the juice or cup was sitting RIGHT THERE in reach, he would know he wanted it and grunt if he couldnt get it.

My son actually DID have words, but they were 'labels' (as in 'spoon') of objects he could physically see. It took him forever to say 'mommy' in any form and babbling 'about' something/someone is still not here (31 months now).

That comprehension is a key - a child's typical development will have him/her develop receptive language as a very critical phase of the language then turning verbal.

Autism is a spectrum, so there are experiences all over the place.  I will NEVER tell any mother to not listen to their gut or professionals. Please follow this lead wherever it takes you - evaluations are good things.  But, it also sounds very likely that it is a normal speech delay - just due to the individuality of the child is likely. 

 HTH