My daughter will be 2 in March. She babbles a LOT, but really doesn't say many clear words. She might say a total of like 5 words, although she has a lot of different variations of her babbled words. She is an extremely happy kid though, absolutely loves to be tickled because she loves to laugh. But, because she's not talking, she's so far behind other kids her age. When she wants something, I either just know, or she just doesn't seem to bother. I never know when she's thirsty on her own, I just supply her with something to drink when I think she might be thirsty. I always try to put a word with an object. She knows to say "hello" when she's holding the phone, although it's still not a clear hello. A couple of months ago, on 2 separate occasions, both me and MIL heard her say "what's that?", but haven't heard it since.
She also doesn't do any pretend playing. She will play with toys, and play with us, but I've never seen her pretend play like other kids her age.
Also, other kids her age are starting to know numbers and colors...well, I guess the first step would be talking before telling me if she knows colors and numbers.
I keep wanting to believe she's just a late talker, and when she starts, she will really start. She was a late walker, didn't do it til she was 16 months, but once she started, she was a pro in no time.
I guess I just want to know if anyone has experienced this, or know someone who has? Sorry for the book!!
Thanks so much for all of your responses. I called Early Intervention today, and am waiting on a call back from them to set up an appointment. A couple of months ago, they came out to my house for a PRE-evaluation. They said that her babbles were a good sign, and left it up to me on whether to continue at that time. I decided to wait, since my son had just been born a week or two before that, so I had my hands full. So, I waited, and nothing really changed. I guess I needed to be pushed to call them again, thanks for that! :) I guess I've been living in denial for awhile now, and am ready to get help for her.
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S.A.
answers from
Houston
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T., You did not say what area you live in, but most school districts offer a free evaluation for children who may have delayed development. If that is the case, then they offer free therapy to help the child begin to get back on track developmentally. Call your local school district office and ask to talk to someone about early childhood intervention. If your little girl is actually delayed, the sooner you start intervention, the more successful you will be in catching her up. Good luck!
S.
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D.B.
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Houston
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My son is almost 19 months and he does not say a word. Occasionally he will "hi." We think we hear other words from to time to time, but he does not repeat them. When we know he wants something we repeat it over and over. When he wants milk we say milk, do you want milk, yes you want milk and variations. Sometimes we get a nod of the head or frustration. I know children learn through repetition. Lately I have been trying to use signs. Since we have had no improvement we went to the state. We are going to start working with a teacher this week.
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L.G.
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Houston
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My son was speech delayed and still has speech problems. He's 8 y/o and is doing good in school. I would check with his dr and ask him for a referral to go see a speech therapist. I didn't want to go that route either but I did and he is doing well. Also check with the school she would be going to and see if they have a speech therapist. My son start public school at 3 years old and was in a program called PPCD.
Do the regular stuff- reading to her, coloring with her, talk to her about everything you are doing ie I'm putting the clothes in the washing machine and the soap, Are you thirty____ Here's some juice... what do you say... thank you... and so on. My little girls are totally different too they both talk up a storm but I have notice that my 2 y/o has a great memory and knows her numbers and letters whereas my 3 y/o has to be told everything to repeat all the time.
Children learn at different times and the one thing I have learned is just try to be happy and make everything positive. Don't ever compare her to other children. And just love her.
Hope this helps,
Leti
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C.A.
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Houston
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Hi T.,
Have you talked to her pediatrician about this? If not, do so soon. They may want to refer her to a pediatric speech therapist. If you live near Kingwood I know of a place that has a good one. You can email me privately for the information.
Good Luck,
C.
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S.A.
answers from
Houston
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Hi there T., i didn't want to give you any advice or anything i just wanted to let you know a story we have in the family. i had an uncle that didn't hardly ever utter a word as a toddler. the family got really concerned about him until one day they were telling the mailman about their concerns. the mailman was surprised because, he said, "why he was just out here the other day talking up a storm". So i guess the lesson from that is, just because they're not saying the words doesn't mean they don't know them, it just takes the right motivation sometimes :o)
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T.W.
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Houston
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Hi T....my 3 1/2 year old had a similar problem. For us, the first step we took was taking him to an ear, nose, throat specialist to make sure there wasn't anything wrong with his hearing. From there, Christopher had a hearing test (normal)and an evaluation from a speech pathologist. It was found that he had a language delay so we began speech therapy in June 2006. When we started, he spoke very little. Lots of one word things but he rarely completed an entire word..dropped endings and things like that. Now, he speaks complete sentences and talks all the time. He still goes to therapy but the improvement is amazing. So my suggestion would be to have your daughter tested and go from there. I would also recommend that you look into and Early Childhood Intervention program in your area. ECI is a program to help children that may have developmental delays and the services they provide are free if your child qualifies.
