18 Month Old Not Talking... RX for Speech Therapy...

We had one evaluated at 20 months and he was delayed. The next week he started speaking in whole paragraphs. If there is not a physical issue when the ENTevaluates him then follow through with what the doc's recommend.

The tongue tied could have something to do with it and he may need speech therapy...Personally I think its too soon. None of my kids were early talkers. I think by the time they were 2 then it became non stop. The lightbulb needs to go on...My 17 month old almost 18 month old does not say much either...He's just the like his siblings. I am not going to worry until age 2.

No worries but keep an eye on it. Keep watch as you get closer to his 2nd birthday. Now if by 2 he hasnt' picked up more speech then consider the evaluation for speech.

I think it's really common for kids to excel at either 1.) verbal skills or 2.) motor skills "first" so I don't know if it's time to be overly concerned yet.
BUT--look at it this way--if he does qualify for some speech therapy--what's it going to hurt? No harm done, right? AND if it IS a speech delay, then he has gotten a nice early jump start to some help. I'd proceed as suggested by your doctor. AND never discount the "mommy gut"!

The first thing they'll do is a hearing test. After that comes back okay it's off for an eval with a speech therapist.

We started at 19 months and he has made huge gains and I'm so glad I listened to my gut. Lord knows where he'd be without speech therapy. He's four years old now and still gets therapy at school and LOVES it. Must be all the cool toys and extra attention.

Sure he might be a late talker but getting him checked out can't hurt.

Good luck!

My youngest at 2 was not saying more then Dadda..everything and one was dadda...at two.

He went at was evaluated for Occupational and Speech Therapy. He was been going to both now for almost a year....

Honestly, I think think ALL kids can benefit from Seeing an OT. They have helped him out so much. We have since come to realize that YES he does have a Sensory Processing Disorder(SPD). But he also just doesnt have the know how in him to calm down and take time to talk it out and listen.

He can talk...It is just slowing him down.

He fought, would get so angry....because he would be trying to get us to understand him and couldnt. With OT and ST..he has become a whole new kid. He can communicate what he wants...and if he cant talk it out...They have taught him everyday sign language. So, he tries to sign to me if something is bothering him big time.

Have everything be a guessing game for him. Give him choices, make him sound the choices out. Say them outloud slowly. have him repeat them back to you. Label everything and anything. When he is watching you...Talk about what you are doing...Make everything OVER DONE. This gets and keeps them interested.

I cant promise that your little guy will be talking 100% but I can tell you that OT AND ST have changed my life...as a mom, as a person...everything. I am very active with his OT. I need to see what the teacher is doing that is WORKING and we talk about what is likely going on his his brain. I go back into his ''CLASS'' about once a month just to get brought up to speed. It is nice for me too, to get to see him ''Working'' so hard:) I have gotten the skills to be a patient mom...and this is the KEY to having a kiddo with a SPD.

If he does have to do speech, know it is the BEST thing for him. It will help him open up soooo much more!!

HaHaHa....... sorry, but I had to laugh. My oldest son barely said a word until after his 3rd birthday. His job as an adult is in public speaking.

Yes, he did have ear issues and did not hear well. He had his first set of ear tubes at 6 months. He had two more sets after that. If your child has a lot of ear infections I would recommend pre and probiotics along with vitamins. Shoot me an email if you would like recommendations. Vitamins is what I do.

My oldest son didn't talk until he was two and a half. My two oldest are two years apart. Once he figured out he wasn't going to get everything without even asking he started asking.

He is perfectly normal, well as normal as any of my children can be. :-/

Oh the best way to get an evaluation is parents as teachers. I think they have that program in every state.

have you tried sign language?

I think it will all work out...some kids develop differently than others.

My daughter was using the same 10 words or so right up until her 2nd birthday. A day or two after she turned 2 though...she spoke in complex sentences! I say give him a little more time, talk to him like an adult, and constantly explain everything to him. He will get it. Don't forget to NEVER reward a grunt for something, even if you know what he wants.

You do not need a referral from a doctor. for some reason pediatricians love to say wait and see. As Leslie pointed out what a pediatrician says is normal is NOT what speech therapist call normal. 20 words at 20 months is a good guide. Call Early Intervention services or whatever it is called in your state and they will come to your house and do a free referal. My son could say ten or so words at age two and he was eligible for a therapist to come out to the house once a week and work with him for a very small fee. In my opinion whatever we can do to help our kids learn is worthwhile, why wouldnt you take advantage of the state's serices? I also like the DV Baby Babble. http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/language_... gives some ideas for what they should say by age 18 months and 24 months.

In order to encourage speaking muscles toss the sippy cups if you use them. Use straws instead. Make sure he is feeding himself, with his fingers or utensils. Sucking on his fingers when he eats is very good for speech development, so don't worry about messes at meal times, everything is washable, even a baby, right? :)
Play noise games with him and see if he'll copy you, "mamamama, dadadad, googoogoo, papapapa, geeegeeeegeee, lalalala...." Blow rasperries and do zerberts on his tummy and let him do it to you. Blow bubbles in the tub and through a bubble wand in the backyard. Teach him to blow bubbles in his milk - again, messes can be cleaned up, and "bad manners" can be corrected/taught at a socially appropiate age.
These are just a few ideas of how to get his muscles moving and keep things fun!

AAWWW R.!!!

Roman is probably fine...have his ears and throat checked first...to rule out any hearing or throat problems....but you need to follow your gut!! That mommy gut is a good rule of thumb!!!

I highly doubt he's autistic...there are some kids who don't talk much...parents do a lot to get them to talk and then one day - BAM!!! they won't stop talking!! I'll talk to my neighbor whose daughter was a late speaker - she did have some problems - but I don't remember exactly what they were....I'll PM you later when I talk to my neighbor...might not be today as she's a single mom right now (hubby is in Australia).

in my daycare, I have an almost 2yo....with a vocab of 2 words. Seriously 2 words! Occasionally, we will hear a random word here & there....but that's only in the last month.

He is from a family of 3 other children. His parents encourage his speech consistently, as do I. I believe his issues lie with his overly-emotional response to anything & everything. He (I'm sorry) witches about every single thing that happens. He drives me nuts with his crying & bawling & wailing. & here's the thing: Mom loves how he behaves! She encourages & applauds his BAD temper. She feels it proves that he is strong-willed.

DRIVES ME NUTS....how can you encourage speech when Mom is applauding the bad habits which are preventing his words? !! & I want to be very clear, she does encourage his speech too..... talk about mixed signals... & she doesn't get that she's part of the problem!

Moving on: in his case, older sister is part of the problem. She does not allow him time to verbally respond. She jumps in to show off....& that is delaying his speech. The other 2 kids are jumping in to tell her to shut up & it's distracting to the toddler! Soooo, it's this whole noisy scenario....every time Mom/Dad is trying to encourage him to speak! Talk about a circus!

Instead of pursuing testing, try to take a look at the family dynamics. What behavioral changes can you make to create a better environment for your son? Is there room for improvement? & with any testing, I would wait until closer to age 2 .....as long as his hearing is okay.

So I am exactly right there with you. My son is almost 20 mos and doesn't really say ANY words that mean anything specifically. He says "mama" to me, but he also says it generally. At our 18 mo check up, we filled out the same questionairre... I think its a general screening, so no need to keep that from your husband.My son is also very physical, can write with a pen, uses utensils, shoots a basket from 3 feet away, etc.

He understands complex statements like "Go to the living room and give this to Daddy." or "Put that back where you found it." Over the last few weeks he has started making more sounds, but for awhile it was NOTHING but "eh eh eh" and pointing.

Our pediatrician said we'll give him until he's two, at which point he should have at least 6 words. So as far as my ped. is concerned, your son is FINE.
I've also spoken with a speech therapist in my family, and he said he really wouldn't worry at this stage. Boys develop speech later and with other talkers in the family, that compounds it

Having said all that, I slightly worry. My gut says he's fine, but my heart is freaking out a little. We trust our pediatrician and we'll go with her advice and wait until he's two to take any next steps. In the meantime, she recommended we read to him a lot (which we do) and say a word and ask him to point to it. "Where is the dog?" "Where is the ball?" He can point to almost everything and knows who Mommy, Daddy, sister and Grandma are.

I think they'll both turn out fine. Keep us posted.

Considering the pre-existing medical condition, you should go ahead with the evaluation. From experience (as the school psych and admin, not as a mommy), the earlier you remediate the faster the child will catch-up!

If the offer you speech therapy, take it! Do everything the therapist suggests and talk openly with the therapist about your concerns and observations. It really does work!

As for what else you can do...
- "Force" him to speak by requiring him to say something to obtain something. It doesn't really matter what he says, but don't accept "pointing" anymore!
- Of course you know what he wants and needs, but act as though you don't! "Tell mommy what you would like! Would you like the ball? Say yes". Then, if he says something even remotely close, "Yay! Here you go. Thank you for telling mommy what you wanted. "
- Don't let your big girls "talk for him". This happens all the time when there are older siblings (especially girls). Make sure that they are asking him to respond verbally too and that they are making him "ask" for things, rather than just getting him juice b/c they "know" he's thirsty.

Good luck! Listen to your gut- moms always know when something is "off". They don't always want to talk about it or do something about it, but they know. Good for you for "knowing" AND "doing"!

My son, now 4.5, hardly said anything - OR - understood what we were saying at that age. I heard SO many people say "boys progress later don't worry, etc, etc., etc." In talking with our pediatrician his main concern was him not understanding (receptive speech) as that comes first.......So, even if a child isn't saying much at all if there is receptive speech they are not as concerned and more likely to wait a few months to see.......
In our case we were referred to the states Early Intervention program where he received speech and developmental therapy until he turned three and went into the school districts Early Childhood Special Education preschool.

I'm getting too far into this so.........I digress........my son's physical development was not an issue - AT ALL - was walking/running by 10 months, was strong as an OX, climbing stairs, etc. etc so I just kept getting looks and comments from family members that I was overreacting. Well, I wasn't - and so during the evauations they recommended the therapies in which I mentioned above. Once he started UNDERSTANDING us, not necessarily speaking, but understanding us (that receptive language) the tantrums got better - not perfect - but better.

I WOULD NOT change a thing about getting my son the help he received - I would take the rediculous comments and judgement 10 times over to see how my son has changed and grown with the help he's received.

You may see me write this over and over but I firmly believe:
You, as a parent, are the advocate for your child - no one else......people may step in or be hired to help, but you are the main advocate for your childs best interest.......If you feel in your heart and soul he needs extra help = get it for him......I strongly believe in mothers intuition.

Best of luck to you!