Toddler Not Talking

Two things:

1. Health realted - NAET.com for allergy eliminations. Sometimes allergies do cause behavoiral problems.

2. Prodigy & Advanced Children Books from Amazon.com, Crystal & Indigo Children books from Amazon.com

Be well.

N.

Very normal for the youngest child. They don't have to talk because the siblings help bring them toys... they can get by with pointing and grunting. No need to worry, in terms of speech, till almost 3.

do the other kids talk for him? That is the 1st thing that comes to mind

Contact your local Regional Center as soon as possible. it is free, they will evaluate your son and if necessary provide a speech therapist(at no cost to you until he is 3 years old). They will arrange the most convenient option for you, including coming to your house. I use the North Valley Regional center and they are great. If there is any diagnosis it is better to treat early. Good luck.

Look up First Five in your area and you can get a free developmental check up. They can help you know how to work with him to help him develop in that area. At two it is a bit of a concern but not huge. He is communicating he just gets away with not using words since he is the youngest would be my guess. My cousin said her son didn't have any words until 2 and then he gained 3 to 4 a week for the net six months. Kids go in spurts and all are different- it may be he is more focused on learning his gross motor skills or something else right now. My first son learned gross motor skills really fast and was slower with the fine motor skills. My second son was faster with the fine motor skills and slower with the gross. So don't worry too much and find some ways to encourage him to use words. Good luck!

My son wasn't talking much at age two either which prompted me to start asking questions. Many people told me that it was because he was a boy and he would start talking later, but I was really concerned when I heard several other 2 year olds (boys included) talking a WHOLE lot more than he was. I contacted the Regional Center which was free and did several tests to determine what was going on. They found that he had a speech delay. The regional center only assess children up to age 3 so if you decide to go, go soon. After age 3 you transition to your local school district (which may be less efficient at getting a diagnosis). You can also ask your pediatrician, but mine wasn't the one who actually
suggested I go even though I brought up my concerns numerous times. Anyhow, my son is now 4 and has started talking a lot (for him), although he still is not at the same place as others his age. He receives speech therapy & goes to preschool half-day through our school district (all for FREE). The number for the Regional Center in San Diego is ###-###-#### or their website is www.sdrc.org. It may be worth looking into. Hope this helps and hang in there! Blessings to you too!

Hello C.,

I have a similar case but my boy is 4 now and he is going to special speech education, he started going when he was 2 1/2, we took him to the Dr. and he said that sometimes is normal some kids take longer than others. When he was a baby he suffered from a lot of ear infections so also the Dr. said that also that affects them. So at school he went thru a kids Psychologys, she did a lot of stuff with him ask him colors, shapes and stuff just to see if he would understand which he does but he points at everything and he has his own signs to ask for stuff. They told me that he has something that is called Aprexia, is that the brain is not communicating with his mouth. Now he has being going to school for almost 2 years and he is making a lot more sounds he doesn't talk yet but I pray to God that he will soon.

You should check with your Dr. to check what he said I wish you good luck and hopefully he is just taking a little bit longer to talk. Just be very patient with him because they get very frustated when we don't understand them, and the last thing you want is for him to be unhappy.

He could just be a late bloomer. I would encourage him when he grunts etc. by saying "we use our words, do you want the cup? or the cookie?" etc. But I would also encourage you to have his hearing checked. My nephew passed his hearing test at birth but had speech delays/problems and was found to have degenerative hearing loss when he was about 2.5 years old. He was only hearing about 30% of what "normal" people could hear and some tones/frequencies he could not hear at all (like the F and S sounds). He now wears hearing aids and is able to hear in the normal range (he is now 8 years old) and has caught up to his classmates in speech and language development. We are all very fortunate they caught the hearing problem at 2.5 or he may have had more permanent problems with his speech etc. Good luck to you and your family and son-- hopefully it is nothing, but it is better to be sure.

I would tell your pediatrician- make a special appointment just for that.

C., mother of 3, sleep consultant, sleep blog writer www.lullabyluna.com

Hello, First of all, have you had his hearing tested? That being said, it may just be that he will talk when he is ready to talk. Our youngest son watched everything and didn't talk early like all of our other children did. He is now thirty-one years old and you would never have known any time in his life. He became very articulate. Our oldest grandson was also late talking. He really didn't need to talk. He had a lot of us grownups taking care of every one of his needs. He is now in the gifted and excelled program in his middle school, getting almost straight A's and on the honor roll. He is also very articulate. I wouldn't stress about this yet. If he is developing well in other areas, then maybe he is just taking it all in.
Good luck with your precious family.
K. K.

please call the regional center in your area and ask for an assessment. It might be nothing but just in case better to be safe. A 2 yr. old should have 50-100 words and if there is a delay let's get him some help. Please feel free to email me back.

Penny Amic
CEO Special Beginnings, Inc.
An Early Intervention Network

I didn't read the other reponses, but this was TOTALLY our second son. We called him our "mute boy", because he rarely said a word, and would only grunt and point, no matter how we responded until he was about 2.5 or 3 years old. We would literally sit there in front of the fridge, while he pointed to things and grunted, and be like, "You have to USE WORDS to tell us what you want", but he would get so frustrated and end up crying. Needless to say, we decided to just let it be, and figured eventually he'd start talking, hopefully...
And sometimes he would finally say a word for the first time, and say it consistently for a few days, and then never say it again, it was very worrrisome.
We had him evaluated at a special needs center and they didn't feel he was on the autism spectrum, thank goodness, even though we had our suspicions.
Lo and behold, the kid finally started talking eventually and now talks so much sometimes I have to tell him to settle down and wait his turn (he is 7 yrs.) :)
And the other thing was he was real slow to acquire physical and cognitive skills, so we were worried about that too. Guess what? He was scholar of the year in his class this year, and is as good as kids several years older than him in baseball (not to brag, just to make the point, that he was a late bloomer, and is now very advanced), and also plays piano very well.
He is also very loving and sensitive to other people's feelings, which for such a difficult baby and toddler, is so wonderful for us. So you just never can tell what they will turn out like.
But I'm sure people have recommended having your son evaluated just in case, which I would do... it won't hurt.
And I would read the book, "Late Talking Children" by Thomas Sowell. Good book for sure. Our son was definitely processing all that time, and turned out just fine.
God has a unique plan for everyone :)

C.,

It could be the fact that he is the youngest of 3 and has no need to talk. If all his needs are met when he screams and grunts or makes noises. What is the point on talking. If you are worried, talk to your Ped and see what they say and/or get him evaluated. Good luck.

Have the pediatrician refer you to a speech therapist for evaluation and you can monitor his speech development to see if he needs intervention of some type.
good luck, Deb

Hi C.,

If your son has only the one word in his vocabulary, I would get him checked out by the pediatrician, first, and request a consult with a speech and language pathologist. It's true he may be just a late bloomer, but if there is a real speech delay, especially a neurologically based one, or a hearing problem, early intervention will serve him best.

It used to be that speech services were available for free to preschoolers through the public schools, but my experience is from 14 years ago, so this may have changed. However, CSUN has a superb speech program for very little cost -- far lower than a private therapist and the practice cutting edge therapy (they do a lot of research on speech therapy there, too).

Not being able to communicate can be very frustrating, especially for a toddler. He know what he wants, but he can't get you to understand him, so he screams. If no real delay is diagnosed, you might try learning baby sign with him to communicate better.

I hope everything works out for you!

Hi C.,
I wouldn't say you have anything to worry about necessarily, but you could have him evaluated for speech delay by the regional center in your area. They may recommend therapy and if so, it's free. My son's been receiving in-home therapy for about a month now (he's only 21 months) and I'm truly amazed at his progress. Good luck!

Hello C.,

My name is L. and i'm a mother to a beautiful 2 years baby girl who will be 2 in July. I had the same concern coz she has 10 words at the most when i've seen other 2 years old talking in scentences and that rang the bell. I talked to her pediatrician and she recommended me to have her evaluated via the regional center and after a month they set an appointement to have her assessed and they said she was perfectly fine , we just need to work on speech. we have our next appointment in a week with a speech therapist and he will see her once a week.
I'm very relieved now coz i know she is perfectly fine , we just need to work with her on her speech which i'm sure she will pick up on soon.
I'd recommend you to do the same and good luck.

I just went through this with my son - he turned 2 in April and up until about May he didn't really talk very much at all just maybe a word here or there. Then all of a sudden it's like a lightswitch went off in his head and I can't get him to stop talking now! He can sing the complete alphabet, count to 20, name every part of his body and so much more. All of that in just over a month! I know it can be concerning when your kid isn't talking yet (especially when you see other kids his age talking already!) but seriously every child develops at their own rate. If you're really concerned about it you can ask your Dr about getting a refferal to the Regional Center and they will actually send someone out to your house once a week to work with you and your child to help develop his speech. Good luck!

well I have found that the first born talks MUCH earlier than any of the following, and the boys tend to take longer in general but give them a sibling to help translate what they want and it could be closer to 3 before you start hearing "alot" of talking. Relax, if it is a big concern, then take him in to see your ped. If not, then sit back and relax, as you have found out once they start there is no stopping them;) my second son (third child) did not talk until he was well over 2 1/2, closer to 3. He is in 2nd grade now and getting all A's. So it does not have anything to do with how smart they are or if "anything is wrong" with them, we all walk to a different beat. Your little one is still young, don't stress now, you will have enough to stress over soon enough! Good luck!

i only have one son..i was worried too at that age..then my friend kept saying wait til about a week after he turns 2 1/2..just wait..so..i waited..and yep..he started to talk more..now he's over 3 and he's totally talking..i used to play him dvd's that were all about learning..like Brainy Baby and Bee Smart Baby..you can rent them on Netflix

I wouldn't be too worried, my nephew did the same thing. He has two older sisters, and he didn't really start talking until he was about three, and he still doesn't talk much. I hear this happens alot when it is a younger child, especially if the older sibblings talk for him.

I would definitely make an appointment as soon as possible with the pediatrician to discuss your concerns. Ask the pediatrician for an evaluation to rule out developmental delays, including speech problems. This should be covered by your insurance, as long as the primary doctor makes the referral.

In the meantime, at home I would try to work with him as much as I could. When you notice that he wants something, if he can't name it, you need to name it, so that he can begin associating words with objects. One of the ways my child began talking more was watching educational shows like Sesame Street and Word World on PBS. sing to him, read to him, maybe have your older children read to him. Just continue to interact with him as much as you can.

Very best of luck to you,
J.

Hello C.. My first son went through the same thing. He grunted when he wanted something and if I didn't understand him, my daughter would interpret for him. I realized later how bad that was, not letting him have his own voice and relying on his sister to do the talking for him. Doing so really hindered him from being able to say what he wanted to say . He didn't talk until he was a little over 3 years old. He's fine now, will talk your ear off if you let him :)

I would suggest you contact Regional Center and request a developmental evaluation. Your son may qualify for speech therapy and if he is able to get services now he is very likely to catch up and possibly surpass where he should be for his age (being the little sponges they are and all). If you wait until he's three then you'll be dealing with your school district and that can be a pain. Good luck and I'm sure your little guy will catch up very quickly!

I am a speech language pathologist and I would suggest you call Regional Center to get an evaluation. Your school district will not get involved until he is 3. Pediatricians don't always have the best, up to date understanding of speech/language development. Please don't listen to those who say, "My child didn't talk until he was 3, 4, 5 or whatever"...that's not typical. Often, people wait and miss out on crucial time for therapy. If he only has 1 word and grunts most of the time, that's not typical.
REgional Center is free!! What have you got to lose? NOTHING! but so much to gain!!
Good luck!

C. G

I had to force my son to talk, he grunted all the time. He was about 3 yrs old before he really began to talk up a storm. I caught him playing with his cousins and he was talking clearly to them so I had to make him to talk when he wanted something. I don't want you to become overly concerned, but I would highly recommend checking with your pediatrician to rule out any medical problems, some of the disabilities can cause speech problems. I know much of this is alarming, but be sensible and calm as your son will need you to be strong for him as he is so young and this probably cause him frustration when he tries to talk and the words don't want to come out properly. Encourage him, praise him when he says something new and again see your pediatrician for any medical problems that might be behind this reaction or behavior. Make him speak when he wants something, observe him when he is playing for talking with the other kids he is playing with. You will get good and bad advice from everyone who responses, and many ideas won't work. You will cope sufficiently when the need arises. I hope this helps.

Hi C.,
Sometimes the youngest kids in the house talk later because everyone just gets them what they want when they scream. Does he understand everything you talk to him about? Does he get the things you ask him to get or point to pictures in books when you ask him to? If so, he is probably just a late talker. My husband didn't talk until he was almost 3 years old because his older sister understood all his grunts and would get him what he wanted. He said he didn't feel like talking. When he was 3 he started talking in full sentences.

See what the pediatrician says at the 2 year check up. You probably have nothing to worry about but it's best to see what the doctor says.

Good luck!

Call your school district. They can tell you were to go for free help and are amazing. They will do the testing of sight and hearing and test him with words that he does know. To see how best to help him.
good luck he'll be fine, the earlier the better.

J.

It is worth getting it checked out. First discuss it w/ your pediatrician. Get a referral to an audiologist to make sure his hearing is normal. (Hearing problems may be temporary, but get it checked.) Then you may be evaluated for speech therapy. Some kids don't talk because they aren't ready yet, while others may have a medical reason. The key is to find out what is going on. Most situations can be remediated and the issue resolved by early elementary. Semper fi!

Contact your Regional center asap. He may be fine, but it is best to start therapy at a younger age if it is needed. My son was considered a "late talker" but he had over 2 dozen words that he used consistantly by his second birthday.