My granddaughter doesn't really talk yet. She is 20 months old, should I be concerned?
D. I would not worry to much, my daughter started talking at 21 months and has not stopped since!! She has a wonderful vocabulary and you would never know she was a late talker!!
D.,
Not necessarily. Does she understand what is being said to her? And can she communicate in other ways? If not, you may want to ger her evaluated. In TX, we have free early childhood intervention programs that are free for children 0 to 3 years old. You might check to see if that is available where you are.
Hope this helps!
Victoria
Talk to your son or daughter about having her tested - she may have and underlying hearing problem or a speech delay. Every state has a program called Child Find whose mandate it is to identify and treat kids with delays early, long before entering the school system. There are 2 parts under the law - Part C covers kids birth-3 and Part B covers kids 3-6.
It's definitely worth it to contact them. We had our son tested for hearing problems, behavior development and speech development for no charge at all.
My daughter is 21 months and has a vocabulary of about 500 words its seems on a good day, whereas my friend has a 2 year old who barely speaks 10 words, others are right down the middle. Dont stress too much. Try to make her ask for things in order to get them. It may facilitate a little effort on her part. I'm sure she will start talking soon.
Hi there. My first was a late talker, too. She only had a couple of words at 20 months and really did not start talking till 2 months before she turned 3. However, I could tell that she understood us, could follow instructions, and communicating in other ways (i.e. baby sign). If your granddaughter doesn't respond to you when you call her name, she may have a hearing problem. Professionals will also talk about autism, but there are many other signs (i.e. lack of affection, repetitive behaviors, won't make eye contact, strange playing habits). If she is not exhibiting these types of behaviors, the likelihood is that she is just a late talker. Some late talkers are very smart people. In fact, I'm convinced my older daughter did not speak because she wanted to make sure she was going to do it right the first time!
Here is some more reading on late talkers and some activities you can do to encourage your granddaughter to speak more. Of course, if instinct tells you or her parents that something really is wrong, they should take her to her pediatrician.
Toddler Not Talking - http://infanttoddlerdevelopment.suite101.com/article.cfm/...
Helping Toddlers Learn to Talk - http://infanttoddlerdevelopment.suite101.com/article.cfm/...
Speech Delay Warning Signs - http://infanttoddlerdevelopment.suite101.com/article.cfm/...
Good luck!
I would get her checked out - my daughter wasn't talking by 18 months and she qualified for state funded speech therapy. Contact FDLRS.
Does she walk? In my experience kids usually do one or the other first but not both. My child did not walk until he was 18 months but was talking sentances at a year. His grandfather told me to look down the street and see if I saw anyone crawling to work! As long as she is doing one or the other you have nothing to worry about.
She should be putting two words together in small phrases starting at 18 months if she was a 40 week baby. More milk, Daddy car, things like that. If she is not, have her evaluated by a speech/language pathologist just to check. Sp/lang is the basis for all future learning. Sometimes when it comes in late, it doesn't come in properly. Also have her crawl alot, that will stimulate her brain to produce language.
My son did not start speaking until 27 months. He understood us and did use pointing and grunting to answer questions. He was our first child and spent a lot of time one on one with me during the day. I didn't know I should be asking questions such as "What kind of juice do you want?" instead of "Do you want apple juice?". I asked mostly "yes and no" questions so he didn't have to use words. Don't worry too much just yet. I don't know your granddaughter's specific situation so she may just not need to use words to get what she needs/wants. I hope this helps you feel a little better.
does she use a pacifier? it can delay speech...
Hi D.,
My name is M. and I'm a speech language pathologist up in Jacksonville. 24 months is sort of a "red flag" milestone if a child doesn't talk. There is some good information on the American Speech Hearing Assoc. website. Go to ASHA.org and click on public. My first step would be to have her hearing tested. There are different exams to test general hearing vs. being able to hear and understand speech. Also, if she points and "grunts" and gets what she wants that is easier and she won't use her words. Hope this helps!
Not necessarily. There is a wide range of normal. My first child talked at 9 months. My second child barely spoke until 3. We started to get concerned and people began hassling us to get him looked at. But he did start talking, and talks fine. He's 7 now and has no problems. Here is what the pediatrician said (the only one not hassling me): As long as she is babbling and stringing a few words together, she's probably fine. i.e. "dog big", "water cold". Her vocabulary should consist of at least 20 words, including words like mama and dada. Also, see if you can get her to stick out her tongue. Being tongue-tied can delay speech. She should begin to put together phrases by 3, "the water is cold". You can also talk to her, give her simple commands and see how she responds. If she responds appropriately then you know she understands fine. We came to the conclusion that our son simply didn't feel like talking. As I said, he's perfectly fine.
