2 Year Old Not Very Verbal

Request a specialist
I would ask the pediatrician to set you up with an ear, nose, and throat specialist or an audiologist (depending on a history of ear infections). My son and daughter both had tubes in their ears by the age of 3. My daughter is actually going in tomorrow to have her tubes replaced from last year. The fluid just builds up and they can't hear as well, and don't pronunciate as well as they could if the eustacian (sp?) tube in the ear canal drained properly. I hope this helps. B.

Hi Jenn. Is this something that you have talked to your daughters doctor about? That you be the first step to take. Your childs doctor can refer you to a specialist if that is what is needed. This could be something your daughter simply picks up as time goes on, or it could be a speech problem that needs early invertention. But most of all it is something that you are worried about, so you should talk to your doctor for peace of mind. Some of the best and easiest ways to trigger speak is reading, pointing out the name of objects, and constantly talking to your child. I hope that some of this helps.

My daughter is three now and has an extremely large vocabulary. I have always encouraged her to use her words and I have learned some good techniques for helping her build her vocabulary. First, if your daughter points to something and says "Uh, Uh" tell her you don't know what she wants and ask her to use her words. If she keeps doing it, play like she wants something else, for example if she points to her bottle look for something around it and ask her if that's what she wants. Do this a couple of times with different things,then ask if if she wants her bottle, ask her to try to say it before you give it to her. When she says something always use her words in a sentence for example, when she says "bah-bah" you say "would you like your bottle(or bah-bah)?" Don't correct her pronunciation of a word until she is forming complete sentences, it only discourages her from talking and using her words. Also, give her things to say like, can you say "Bah-bah, please"? When she has mastered one statement slowly add more to it. Create a "can you say" game and have older siblings play too. When she says something praise her and have siblings praise her too. The more you talk to her the more she will learn. Tell her what you are doing whenever she's around.(Ex. I am folding the laundry. Now, I am folding daddys shirt, etc.) Another game to play is the "where is it game". Ask her, "where is your teddy, where are your eyes, where is mommys mouth, etc".
If she is still having difficulty verbally, you might want to talk to your doctor. If she is prone to ear infections or your family has a history of hearing problems, you might want to get her hearing tested. Also, kids develope different things at different times, some that are quick to walk are slow to talk and vice-versa. Just make it fun, mimmick her, and get everyone envolved.
P.S. READ, READ, READ...the best thing to do is read to her all the time. It encourages her to want to read, and is a great time to bond. Contact me if you have anymore questions.

I would suggest a hearing test. My daughter wasn't talking much other than a few words that she still wasn't saying correct and the doctor kept saying it was because the older kids were talking for her...but, I knew that we weren't letting them do that. I took her to a hearing doctor at Children's Mercy and found out that she had fluid behind both ear drums that the regular doctor couldn't see. She had some hearing loss due to the fluid. They did surgery to suck out all the fluid and put tubes in. Then a follow up hearing test showed she was hearing normal. We have been going to speech therapy since she was 2 1/2 and she is now 4 1/2 and doing great. Still not where the other kids her age are, but getting there.

I am not trying to scare you.....she could just not be interested in talking too much. I just wish someone would have suggested a hearing test to me sooner. Good luck. C.

Jenn,
Your pediatrician, should be on top of this. That is part of their job. Did he/she say anything about it at your daughter's 2 year check up? Did you bring it up, then? I would start with your ped, then move on to a speech therapist, if her speech is behind. But in my, not so educated (mother of 3), opinion she is probably not beind. They all do learn at their own pace and it isn't uncommon for younger siblings to be behind their older sisters or brothers.
Good Luck,
B.

I have a 5 year old son and a daughter that is almost 8. I remember my daughter tallking in full sentences by 2 and my son was not that far but I know he said quiet a bit that we could understand. I can remember with them I would talk to them non stop and anytime they got something or gave me something I would name it to them. In car rides or outings we would name things we would see. Just anything, intereact as if it was a game all th time. Even at bath time, the toys they had in the tub we would sit and name them back and fourth while they bathed and sit and name body parts... I know I did this with them from the time they could sit up...

Yes, EVERY child is different. No child does the same thing at the same time. It took me to have two kids to actually find that out. But if it would put your mind a ease I would say go to the doctor. It is not going to hurt anything to just check into it. I always say it is better to be safe than sorry. And when it comes to your child you can never be to safe. :)

God bless!
A. B

Jenn,
I have an 11yr old and 3yr old boys both w/ speech problems. Take your concerns very seriously. It's sounds like somethings not quite right. Has your daughter had alot of ear infections? Both my boys did. The problem w/ ear infections is while they are having one it affects the way they hear. Sounds are coming in garbled, so the speech comes out garbled. Call SPICE, its a program here in bl/nrml that does development screening. If they find a problem w/ you daughter they can get her started in speech theraphy in your own home. It's based on income, but I find most people qualify. Don't ignore this. My son is in 6th grade now, and even thought his speech is not really an issue anymore, it does transition into other areas like problems w/ english and spelling. The sooner you start your daughter in speech the better chance she has of catching up. Also Dist.87 Sara Raymond School is having developmental screenings really soon. I don't know if your in 87 or unit 5 but call them and they can set up or refeer you to a unit 5 developmental screening. I learned all this by the mistakes I make w/ my older son. At the time he was an only child and even though I could understand him, no one else could. I thought that if I put him in speech or in a special education programm he would have this stigma over his head all thru school. But it's not that way anymore. Plus if you catch it early enough, they might not even need it in Elementary school. I'm not trying to scare you, I just want you to listen to your insticts and I'm trying help another mother learn from my mistakes. E-mail me if you have any questions. I hope I helped.
~C.
____@____.com

Please please do not let that autism bit scare you. I see that posted a lot and I think, OH MY, we are just talking speech here. (it's very extreme and nothing to scare you about unless you are worried about many many other things). Another person had mentioned a First Steps, or in IL it's called Early Intervention. It can be cheaper than going straight to a specialist because you should get free evaluations and possibly cheaper therapy. I would definitely recommend that program as I work for one in IL and my son is also involved. Slow down your speech, use one word per her # of words (meaning if she says "milk", you say "milk please", if she says "milk please" you say "milk please mommy".) Point to your mouth so she watches you and for M,B,P run your finger across your mouth. For requests, make sure she says SOMETHING before she gets it.....even if it is a jibbersh kind of word, or just M for milk. If she says me mah, say "yes, Mom meeee" Hope those things help, the evaluations will help as well!

Check with your doctor. As in some of the other responses, history of ear infections could be the culprit. Something else, I'm not sure where you live, but here in the St. Louis area there is a free program through the school districts call ed P.A.T. (Parents As Teachers). It's available from infants all the way up to 3 yrs. old. I would start by calling the elem. school that your child would be attending, they can give you the correct number to get in touch with the PAT program. What they do, they come to your house 3 or 4 times throughout the school year (you pick the time - daytime or evening). Depending on the age of your child, they do different activities to see if they are where they should be. If they notice something they'll let you know and you can follow-up. They also can tell you where to go to get the Kindergarten screening when it comes time for that. I hope this information helps you.

I posted to a mom with a 15 month old about what she should have secure so I'll pick up from 15 months based on the chart my Speech Therapist gave me.

at 24 months she should be doing these:
* uses intelligible jargon 65% of the time
*Uses 10 -15 words spontaneously
*Vocalizes wishes and needs at the table: names deired items
*Makes sounds in babbling, but then often substitutes those sounds in words
*jabbers tunefully at play
*Echoes prominent or last words spoken
*Uses expressive vocabulary of 15-20 words
*uses jargon with good inflection and rate
*uses own name to refer to herself
*imitates environmental sounds
*imitates two word phrases
*attemps to sing songs with words
*names three pictures
*uses two word sentences
*uses nouns verbs and modifiers
*tells experience using jargon and words

The first thing you want to do is get her hearing tested. You want to know that she's actually hearing you. Then you want to clean up your own speech.
Don't run words together
Don't drop sounds like nothin instead of nothing

we started with asking our boys decision questions "Do you want Eggs or Cereal for breakfast" to encourage speaking. We read books for 20 minutes every night. Discussing what is going on in the pictures outside of the story line. Constantly narrating your daily activities using "I am..." rather than "mommy is..."

Now my experience with this was when my middle boy was 3 and the doctor said that a stranger should be able to understand 75% of a 3 year old's speech. So we started seeing a speech therapist. When the baby was almost 2 and we noticed that he was very quiet we started the process earlier. This time we got the hearing tests and had tubes put in. Once he could acutally hear then his vocabulary exploded but he's still behind.

Some quietness could be a copy of you. If you sit quietly and play then she's going to be quiet or if older siblings are overly vocal then she can't get a word in edgewise. This is our case, Ds#2 is contantly noisey Ds#3 hears me ask G to be quiet all the time and thinks talking will only make mommy mad.

We also use a website starfall.com for sounds and letter connections. The PBS station show are also good resources and have websites. Pbskids.org I would suggest Boobah, Teletubbies, Sesame Street and Caillou as places to go first. They are geared toward toddlers teaching words for everyday stuff and activities.

TV is not always mind numbing. I have PBS on all the time here. We watch things on different kinds of vehicles, science, math solutions to everyday problems, I really enjoy refreshers and it's stimulated DS#2 to learn a lot, so much that he's ahead of his class in reading and math and he's only 5.

You know what? My youngest son just turned 2 in September and when he went for his check-up the doctor told me at this age they are only expected to say at least six words.

All children develop at much different rates and unless she doesn't generally understand what you say to her, I wouldn't worry at all. It will come. I had this fear with my oldest and he is just fine. You may need to have her ears checked and things of that sort.

I actually just took my daughter to the doctor today to talk to the doctor regarding this exact same issue. My daughter turned 3 in August. She also has a thyroid disorder which has put her a little behind. I know that she understands things such as, she knows all of her letters by sight also can count , knows colors, alphabet, her shapes etc. However, the problem is my husband and I know what she is saying, I just think the other people that are not around her all of the time have a hard time understanding her except for words like NO and YES, she can say short and single words clearly it is when she tries to put sentences together. The doctor referred us to a Speech Therapist and we go in a few weeks. He said when we see the ST that they may say she will eventually get it or they may want to start working with her. He says sometimes as adults we also get sloppy in our speech (leaving letters out and syllables out & talking fast) which they pick up on and sometimes they are just repeating what they hear us say. So he said make sure when you read to her to pronunciate every sound in the word and to try to say a word and have her repeat it back to. I don't know if this helps you or not. I tried to explain this the best that I could. I will let you know the the Speech Therapist says in a few weeks. Also, one other thing that I started with my daughter when she was younger was I tried sign language with her. It seemed to help her communicate without the frustration when we were not able to understand her verbally.

My now 5yo son was barely talking at all at the age of 2, so our pediatrician referred us to SoonerStart, through the Health Dept. It is a wonderful, free resource!! They come to your home, will do an assessment, and if your child is delayed enough, will set up whatever services she qualifies for. We had a speech pathologist come to the home every other week and worked with my son for an hour, and gave me great ideas of ways to work with him. And again, it is a free service! It serves children through the age of 3, and as my son was about to age out of the program, assisted us in making the transition to the services offered through Jenks Public Schools, even went with us to the assessment at the school with the speech pathologist there. I highly recommend utilizing this service.

I have a almost five year old girl that had the same problem. I waited however to get her tested utill she was 3. I wish I had not waited. She was in speech therepy all last year for her "developmental delay" I feel if you get your daughter tested now she can recieve help and have improvment by the time she is ready for kindergarten. Morgan my daughter does not need speech any more and is in a preschool class and will be ready for kindergarten with no extra help for the delay she had. I know your daugher will be fine. Just don't wait too long to get the help she may need.

My foster daughter turned two in July also and although she says about 30-40 words, she is enrolled in Sooner Start - the Zero to Three program in OK. I would suggest you contact the program in your state. They will come out and do an evaluation to determine if there are any issues that need to be addressed. If she qualifies, they will set a time to visit as often as need determines to work with her and you on improving her speech. They may also be able to provide a hearing screen to make sure that's not the problem.

Don't wait!!! Seek help! Don't feel bad for getting help for your child. You are the only one who knows your child. My son did not even say "momma" until he was 2, and everyone kept saying, 'don't worry, he'll talk when he wants to.' He would just grunt. It was awful. There are free programs that can get your daughter speech therapy if that's what she needs. The sooner you start, the sooner she will respond, which lessens your anxiety. My son did eventually have the 'bloom' of speech, but I think without the speech therapy, it might have come much later.

From a mother with a son who has autism:
Does your child have any of the signs for autism? For example: ***

Research now suggests that children as young as 1 year old can show signs of autism. The most important thing you can do as a parent or caregiver is to learn the early signs of autism and understand the typical developmental milestones your child should be reaching at different ages. Please look over the following list. If you have any concerns about your child's development, don't wait. Speak to your doctor about screening your child for autism. While validated screening for autism starts only as young as 16 months, the best bet for younger children is to have their development screened at every well visit with a highly validated developmental screening tool. If your child does have autism, early intervention may be his or her best hope.

Watch for the Red Flags of Autism

(The following red flags may indicate a child is at risk for atypical development, and is in need of an immediate evaluation.)

In clinical terms, there are a few “absolute indicators,” often referred to as “red flags,” that indicate that a child should be evaluated. For a parent, these are the “red flags” that your child should be screened to ensure that he/she is on the right developmental path. If your baby shows any of these signs, please ask your pediatrician or family practitioner for an immediate evaluation:
· No big smiles or other warm, joyful expressions by six months or thereafter
· No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles, or other facial expressions by nine months or thereafter
· No babbling by 12 months
· No back-and-forth gestures, such as pointing, showing, reaching, or waving by 12 months
· No words by 16 months
· No two-word meaningful phrases (without imitating or repeating) by 24 months
· Any loss of speech or babbling or social skills at any age
*This information has been provided by First Signs, Inc. ©2001-2005. Reprinted with permission. For more information about recognizing the early signs of developmental and behavioral disorders, please visit http://www.firstsigns.org or the Centers for Disease Control at www.cdc.gov/actearly.

Common Characteristics of Autism
While understanding of autism has grown tremendously since it was first described by Dr. Leo Kanner in 1943, most of the public, including many professionals in the medical, educational, and vocational fields, are still unaware of how autism affects people and how they can effectively work with individuals with autism. Contrary to popular understanding, many children and adults with autism may make eye contact, show affection, smile and laugh, and demonstrate a variety of other emotions, although in varying degrees. Like other children, they respond to their environment in both positive and negative ways.
Autism is a spectrum disorder. The symptoms and characteristics of autism can present themselves in a wide variety of combinations, from mild to severe. Although autism is defined by a certain set of behaviors, children and adults can exhibit any combination of the behaviors in any degree of severity. Two children, both with the same diagnosis, can act very differently from one another and have varying skills.
Parents may hear different terms used to describe children within this spectrum, such as autistic-like, autistic tendencies, autism spectrum, high-functioning or low-functioning autism, more-abled or less-abled. More important than the term used is to understand that, whatever the diagnosis, children with autism can learn and function productively and show gains with appropriate education and treatment.
Every person with autism is an individual, and like all individuals, has a unique personality and combination of characteristics. Some individuals mildly affected may exhibit only slight delays in language and greater challenges with social interactions. The person may have difficulty initiating and/or maintaining a conversation. Communication is often described as talking at others (for example, monologue on a favorite subject that continues despite attempts by others to interject comments).
People with autism process and respond to information in unique ways. In some cases, aggressive and/or self-injurious behavior may be present. Persons with autism may also exhibit some of the following traits.
· Insistence on sameness; resistance to change
· Difficulty in expressing needs; uses gestures or pointing instead of words
· Repeating words or phrases in place of normal, responsive language
· Laughing, crying, showing distress for reasons not apparent to others
· Prefers to be alone; aloof manner
· Tantrums
· Difficulty in mixing with others
· May not want to cuddle or be cuddled
· Little or no eye contact
· Unresponsive to normal teaching methods
· Sustained odd play
· Spins objects
· Inappropriate attachments to objects
· Apparent over-sensitivity or under-sensitivity to pain
· No real fears of danger
· Noticeable physical over-activity or extreme under-activity
· Uneven gross/fine motor skills
· Not responsive to verbal cues; acts as if deaf although hearing tests in normal range.
For most of us, the integration of our senses helps us to understand what we are experiencing. For example, our senses of touch, smell and taste work together in the experience of eating a ripe peach: the feel of the peach fuzz as we pick it up, its sweet smell as we bring it to our mouth, and the juices running down our face as we take a bite. For children with autism, sensory integration problems are common. Their senses may be over-or under-active. The fuzz on the peach may actually be experienced as painful; the smell may make the child gag. Some children with autism are particularly sensitive to sound, finding even the most ordinary daily noises painful. Many professionals feel that some of the typical autism behaviors are actually a result of sensory integration difficulties.
There are many myths and misconceptions about autism. Contrary to popular belief, many autistic children do make eye contact; it just may be less or different from a non-autistic child. Many children with autism can develop good functional language and others can develop some type of communication skills, such as sign language or use of pictures. Children do not "outgrow" autism but symptoms may lessen as the child develops and receives treatment.
One of the most devastating myths about autistic children is that they cannot show affection. While sensory stimulation is processed differently in some children with autism, they can and do give affection. But it may require patience on a parent's part to accept and give love in the child's terms.

***I know that was a lot of information, but I just want you to be autism aware. I would be happy to talk with you via private email, or anyone else who is having the same issues.

S.

My son will be 3 in January and he has been seeing a speech therapist for a year now. When my son was 18 months old, his doctor referred us to First Steps (a state run program that provides therapy free of charge). First Steps did an evaluation and determined that he was only at about a 10 month level. His speech therapist thinks that he will "catch up" and be on track with other kids his age. I would talk to the doctor and have them refer you to a speech therapist. What state are you in? I am in Missouri and I know other states also have First Steps. If you have any other questions, email me at ____@____.com can also email me if you would like me to email you about some of the activities that the therapist does with my son.

she has older sisters. Sometimes that could be good and sometimes that could be bad. The older sisters know's what she wants and either get it for her or even say it for her. I don't know if that is what is happen. My mother had that problem with my older sisters. June would talk for Michelle. The only thing is it will come with time. I know as a mother of three girls we know what our kids want before they even say sometimes. But It sounds like you are doing great with her on telling her what things are. I would try to get her to say what she wants before you give it to her. Give her a few trys and she will pick up on it. At this time I wouldn't worry.

Try reading to her. My lil boy is 2 also and he seems to be understanding more and more words.

By this age, she should be speaking in simple sentences and should have a vocabulary of several hundred words. It sounds like you are doing a wonderful job exposing her to language, but she may need a little extra help. To contact a speech-language pathologist for an evaluation, you can do several things. One is to contact your local school district and find out who provides your 0-3 speech services. If you are in Missouri, the program is called First Steps. If you are in Kansas, the program used to be called Birth to Three, but I think that has changed. Your local school district can help you out. Another option is to talk to your pediatrician to find an out patient speech therapist. You can also go to the speech-language pathology website, www.asha.org, to search for a speech therapist near you. School based services and 0-3 year services are free and insurance will cover services in an outpatient setting. I always encourage parents to get an evaluation if you are concerned. As for things to do at home, Mom, keep talkin'!! Read, Read, Read. I also tell parents (and I did this at home with my kiddos) to buy a basic sign language book and use signs along with verbal language. You do not have to be proficient in sign language to give your child the basics. Good luck on your search! Sounds like you are a great mom and doing just what you should be.

M. (and, apparently, your mamasource speech therapist:-)!
Hope I helped!

Jenn-

First and foremost, call the doctor. If the doctor is resistant and says it will come in time, don't stop there. At that point push for her hearing to be checked. They'll probably make you go to a pediatric audiologist, but it will be worth it. If it's not her hearing, call your School District and ask for the Parents as Teachers program. They're wonderful! I had all the same concerns about my daughter, so we contacted PAT. They come to your home, meet you and your child, then set up a time for the next visit, where they do a screening. This tests the child's abilities and lets you know what areas the child is behind or ahead. IF there is an area your child is behind, PAT has all the resources to let you know where to go next. If it's speech therapy, or it's just you sitting down with your child more, or if it's something more severe, they can help you with all of it. AND the best thing about PAT is that it's free.

A.

I have two kids that go to therapyworks (91st & memorial) for speech therapy. They're great. If your concernd about her speech make an appointment with her doctor and ask for a referral for a speech therapy evaluation. Hope everthing goes well.

I understand where you are coming from...I have two boys, one in kindergarten, and the other in pre-k, and both are in speech. Their teachers sent home a letter in case I wanted to have my 2yr old daughter checked for speech. There is a screen for sucess, thru wichita schools, and connecting point, that screen children fro 0-5, who may have difficulties. There are upcoming screening dates...Nov. 2nd, and Dec. 17th at westlink Church of Christ, 10025 W. Central, and Nov. 3rd and Dec. 8th at WSU-Speech and Language Facility at 5015 E. 29th St. North. You can call for an appointment or for further information at ###-###-####. It is free for you. Good luck!

I would suggest contacting our state's early intervention program which is called SoonerStart. It is a free and voluntary program. The number to call is ###-###-####.

My son has been in speech therapy since just before he was 2. (He'll be 3 in Feb.) We work with Parents as Teachers, and thru them we got involved with FirstSteps. He has since been diagnosed with sensory issues as well as speech, so he gets therapy for both. They come to our house, too, which is very nice.
If you think there is a problem, then don't hesitate to get your child checked out. The sooner the better with kids, right?!
My son is a totally different kid these days, and I'm so glad I didn't "wait and see".
(Also, have you tried teaching her sign language? That can be very helpful, and kids pick it up fast. It can cut down of the frustration levels in your house.)
Good luck, and keep us posted! {{HUGS}}

J.

hi jenn. my little girl has a speech delay as well, but every week she gets better. after she turned 1 she started daycare and that's when alot of ear infections started to occur. we finally got tubes in her ear this past april and recently we have been meeting with a speech therapist to start therapy, but i'm starting to think that she don't need the services at alll. i got a liitle concerned this past summer and talked with her doctor. she referred me to a therapist and for the past couple of months, we have seen a big improvement without the help of a therapist. my little girl is almost like yours. she knows exactly what she's doing. if she wants something out of the fridge she goes and get herself, but she doesn't let us know. she is very smart, its just sometimes she can't communicate to us. someone told me that after they turn 2, their speech just takes off. her specch is improving and i think she will get there on her own. i hope this little bit helps

Jenn,
Your daughter may not be talking because she has older siblings talking "for" her. This is often the case with younger children. This is so hard to avoid, but it does delay speech. If you are here in springfield, mo then i would suggest calling the MSU speech pathology department, they do therapy free of charge. The people who are giving the therapy are getting a degree in that, a friend of mine is a speech pathologist and would suggest this. Also, have you had your child's hearing checked. My son had bad ear infections until we got tubes and i really believe his speech was delayed because he could honestly not hear what we were saying properly. Also if you have not check into Parents as Teachers it would be worth your while also. Just call your local school system and they will get you in touch with the right people. Hope some of this helps. Good luck.