16 mo : no talking yet?
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consumer62 ...@yahoo.com
Hello All I have a 16 month old . He walks and immitates a lot of things ( like recently he started "typing" on the PC keyboard and pretends to move mouse and looks at the monitor.
Well having said that all he says is "da-da" , duck ma-ma ca-ar, etc.
and all the babbling. but he does not speak anything more that these words...
I am getting worried. Any help >?
"Circe" guav...@yahoo.com
> Well having said that all he says is "da-da" , duck ma-ma ca-ar, etc.
> and all the babbling. but he does not speak anything more that these
> words...
> I am getting worried. Any help >?
FWIW, that sounds a lot like my oldest son. I believe he had the bare minimum of 10 words at 18 months. At 20 months, the snowball started rolling. He went from 10 to 50 words seemingly overnight. By 22 months, he had several hundred words and quite a number of two-word phrases. By 24 months, he was up to full sentences. At the age of 3, he shocked fellow shoppers in the grocery store by saying when his shoe kept falling off, "Mommy, my shoe's not cooperating!" And now, at not-quite-8, he speaks more like a 10-11 year old and has recently qualified for the school's gifted program. Clearly, there was nothing wrong with him.
From a clinical perspective, what's usually looked for when it comes to referral for a speech/language evaluation is a minimum of three words (that you recognize as words with meaning, even if others don't understand them!) at 15 months, not including the words "mama" and "dada". It sounds to me like your son may be pretty close to that. But if he's not or you are still concerned, by all means, contact your pediatrician and see about getting a referral for an evaluation by a qualified therapist. Early intervention makes a world of difference for kids with developmental delays of all kinds.
(I also have an almost-6yo daughter with S/L and motor delays who was first evaluated at 14mo, so I am well-acquainted with the whole early intervention system and a firm believer in it.)
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Be well, Barbara
"HCN" h...@nospam.com
It is still early, but here is a chart to help you see what normal development is: http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/child_hear_talk.htm
Sidheag McCormack avoid.spam.sidh...@yahoo.co.uk
How much does he understand? My 19mo has no really unmistakeable words at all yet (with generous interpretation, we have mummy, daddy, no, bye, "appyappyappy" which seems to mean "please Mummy sing "If you're happy and you know it"!, and something which may mean dog and/or duck), and I'm on the edge of my seat, as it were. However, there's clearly nothing wrong with his understanding - he can follow one and two step instructions, answer yes/no questions of some complexity, point at almost anything I can think of in pictures, he's beginning to understand colours and even numbers, he can put cogwheels together, he can control the DVD player, he can recognise his own name written... I could go on. He's due a routine checkup at 22/23 months, and my current plan is to talk about it then if he hasn't had a language explosion in the meantime, and otherwise try not to worry about it. It is hard though.
Sidheag DS Colin Oct 27 2003
"KR" kay...@yahoo.com
I wouldn't worry at all. Our daughter only said a few words up until a couple weeks ago, she is 19 months now.
Her only words for about 6 months were mom, dad, and she could make many animal sounds. Just yesterday she learned 3 new words. Trust me, when it starts, it will happen fast! She says please and thank you now, too cute!
I wouldn't worry until around the age of 2, then I'd maybe ask a professional. He is obviously demonstrating that he can copy your actions! We found animal sounds really fun to teach and she loved learning them, I think that's when it really clicked in that she could copy what we say!
Steve hamm...@fake.com
Boy, that's the truth!
My 24 mo turned two on Monday. His vocal skills kicked into gear in the past two weeks. It's amazing! -- about as much fun as those first steps while teaching him to walk. He progressed from single word babbling (only 10 recognizable by me) to a much larger vocabulary and broken sentences.
The cotton balls are gone. He understands me. I understand him.
He gives a whole new look now - he's looking back right into my eyes. Quite amazing. Sad too for some odd reason. I liked the mime games, being dragged by the finger to see something, etc.
I'm no expert, but I think these things go in stages. If it keeps you up at night, by all means go for an evaluation with your doctor.
I was a bit worried about my son but everyone told me it was normal and kids develop at different rates.
Jeanne bridgeman...@comcast.net
I was told not to worry. FWIW, DS is 24 months old and while he does have phrases now (what sounds like to us, "I donno", "I got id", "Up please") he was pretty similar to your son at 16 months. The big breakthrough was a weekend in Chincoteague (he was around 20-21 months old) where he learned to say "hor-ess". I think after that, he tended to pay more attention to what we were saying and repeating words.
Jeanne
usenet ...@yahoo.com
Why are you worried? Sounds pretty normal to me. I have noticed that the more I read to DS (also 16 mos) the quicker he picks up words.
Still, he only says about 8-10 words routinely: Ma-Ma, Da-Da, ba-ba, Dog, Tree ("chee"), apple ("ap-po"), orange ("onga"), fish ("sh!t"), shirt ("sirrr") and shoe. We don't correct his inappropriate pronunciation. I wouldn't be too worried, if I were you, yet.
-L.
"toypup" toy...@sbcglobal.net
DD will be 16 mo in a few days. She says "ma," "da," "ta-tu (thank you)," "bye,"chooos (shoes)," "juice," "dah (dog)," "nah (no)." I think that's it.
lindseyfox lindseyfox.1qc...@news.parentingbanter.com
i babysit for a 16mth old little girl and she just babbles nonsense not even da da.
i would not worry this is normal
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lindseyfox
"turtlechaser" turtlecha...@qwest.net
My 19mo old had 2 words at 15 months, "Go" and "uh oh." I had his hearing checked but he is normal. I still felt he should be saying momma and dada at least so I contacted the Birth to Three program. They evaluated him in all areas including speech, cognitive, large motor skills. They found his speech to be that of an 8 month old and hooked him up with speech services. Every other area he was completely on target (and a year advanced in motor skills). He's been in speech therapy for 2 months and his language has exploded. The best thing about this program is that it is free. Early Intervention helps decrease the need for services later.
Our family doctor didn't think we should worry about his speech delay, however it was causing increased frustration and behavior problems. Now that my son has more language, he's able to articulate his needs better. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to hear him scream "NO!
MINE!" By 18mo, your child should have 10-20 words and put 2 words together like "mommy bye-bye" or "want juice." They should also be able to follow simple instructions like "get the ball." Since the Birth to Three program is a free service, it doesn't hurt to call and ask questions. I believe most States have this program.
"Cathy Weeks" kathys...@weeksfamily.net
There's totally no need to get worried. My daughter went from zero words (not even mama and dada) at 18 months to speaking in full sentences by age 2 - and people told me she spoke more like a 3-year-old. If he seems to understand what you say, then don't worry at all. My little brothers were the same way (started talking at 18 months, full sentences by age 2).
I had a friend whose child didn't speak until 2.5, really. She'd say a new word ONCE then never again- she seemed to learn by listening. Then at 2.5 she started talking in full sentences.
My stepson's other sister just turned two, and she has lots of garbled words and a few phrases and simple sentences, but she's obviously a very bright child, though her verbal development is pretty far behind both my daughter's and their brother's (who was a fantastically early talker).
Kids develop in fits and spurts at the right time for them. Don't worry!
Cathy Weeks
"Cathy Weeks" kathys...@weeksfamily.net
My daughter had zero words at 18 months and spoke in full sentences by 24 months - she exploded all by herself - there were times where I was recording 10-15 new words per *day*. Are you sure he wouldn't have done the same? It seems to me that the explosion could have been coincidental with the therapy.
Cathy Weeks
"Circe" guav...@yahoo.com
While the improvement in turtlechaser's son's language skills could certainly be the result of the "language explosion" that often happens in kids between 18 and 24 months, the speech therapy he's getting isn't likely to be doing him any *harm*, either.
With early intervention services, you can't really go back and test whether any particular child would have turned out okay without those services. So, if a child who gets early intervention turns out okay, it's hard to know whether it's because of the services or whether the child didn't really need them. But it's pretty clear that, statistically speaking, kids who qualify for early intervention services do better if they get those services than if they don't. IOW, early intervention doesn't do any harm and probably does a lot of good. It's just that it's difficult in any individual case to judge whether a delay would have resolved itself or whether it's a symptom of a larger, underlying issue that won't go away and does need intervention.
Frankly, I would *never* tell a parent who is worried about his/her child's development to ignore those concerns unless it was absolutely obvious that development was proceeding normally. In the case of the OP's child, it appears that his language development is borderline, at best. That warrants concern and possibly an evaluation. There's no harm in the evaluation or intervention if he qualifies, even *if* there's a strong likelihood that things would turn out fine without it.
I speak from painful experience. When my daughter was a baby and not progressing in gross motor skills, I allowed my concerns to be allayed by a lot of people in the online world who said they thought she was just on the slow end of normal and I shouldn't be concerned. Well, I should have been concerned and, while I can't really blame people who didn't have all the facts for saying what they did say, I wish at least *one* person had told me that I ought to have her evaluated because it was so clear that something didn't seem "right" to me. And while it's impossible for me to go back and replay the situation, I do know that she finally started to crawl at 17 months just two weeks after starting physical therapy, when I hadn't seen any sign that she was even *trying* to crawl up until then. So am I a believer in early intervention services? You bet your bippy I am. And I'd encourage any parent out there who feels that something isn't right about his/her child's development to get an evaluation. It can't hurt and it might help--a lot!
Sorry if I seem to be going after you personally, BTW. I'm not. I'm just *very* p***ionate about this subject. My daughter still has developmental delays in auditory processing, motor planning, and regulation (possibly due to a sensory integration dysfunction--we've never had a clear diagnosis), and it frightens me to think what kindergarten would have been like for her if she *hadn't* been getting intervention and therapy from 15 months onward.
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Be well, Barbara
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Be well, Barbara
"Cathy Weeks" kathys...@weeksfamily.net
No, I didn't take it personally (you do a pretty good job of expressing yourself) and you bring up some very valuable points. Thanks.
Cathy Weeks
"Cathy Weeks" kathys...@weeksfamily.net
Sorry to reply to my own post.... I want to apologize if I came across as callous about your concerns. It just seemed strange since I've known so many babies who said very little before 18 months and who were motormouths by 24 months. Anyway, I'm sorry.
Cathy Weeks
toto scarec...@wicked.witch
I have to agree.
With dgd, we had a child who stopped babbling and the pediatrician was not worried. It turned out that she had fluid in her ears (even though her hearing tested as normal - we think she was hearing as if she was underwater). She did understand speech, btw, but this affected *everything* including hating swings (which she developed at the same time she stopped babbling). She never did crawl and has no upper body strength. She walked late too. Speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy all helped, but an earlier diagnosis would have been much more helpful. Her speech is now above age level, but she is still getting OT for her upper body strength and sensory issues.
With dgs, we are seeing no speech, but the ears seem to be ok.
It could easily be at this age (14 months) that he is concentrating on motor skills, but he is doing speech therapy and we are trying to teach him signs. He is responsive and alert, but doesn't even wave bye-bye. He doesn't say mama or dada or any words we can figure out. He recently learned to play peek-a-boo and he seems to respond to words, but it is hard to tell if he understands because he is so busy crawling and learning to walk and getting into everything. I don't think the speech therapy will hurt even if he is just going to spurt at a little later age.
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Dorothy There is no sound, no cry in all the world that can be heard unless someone listens ..
The Outer Limits
"Circe" guav...@yahoo.com
One of the reason's I'll always kick myself as a parent is for not getting help for my daughter when she was younger. I will never know how much of her current language and motor planning issues are due to delayed gross motor development in infancy (these things tend to go together). Even though she went through all the gross motor stages (i.e., she crawled, then walked), she went through them 6-8 months later than most kids and only with a lot of therapy. If she hadn't been delayed by that much, however, I can't help wondering whether we'd be seeing her auditory processing and motor planning issues being as dramatic as they are now. I'm not saying they'd be gone altogether, but they might put her only a few months behind the curve rather than a good 8 months to a year behind her peers.
So, anyway, earlier is better is now my mantra. When my third child didn't crawl or pull to standing by 9 months, I had him evaluated and got services through the same 0-3 program that served my daughter. Fortunately, with him, it turned out to be nothing (by the time he was 15 months old or so, it was apparent that not only did he not have a motor delay, he was actually motor-advanced!) and he'd have been fine one way or another, but I'm not sorry I got those services for him. If it *had* turned out to be more serious, I couldn't have blamed myself for not getting help for him as soon as I saw the signs.
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Be well, Barbara
"turtlechaser" turtlecha...@qwest.net
to teach him signs.
We have been using baby signs with my son since birth and he has WAY more signs than words. The speech therapist reinforces signing while teaching him words. We help reinforce signing by repetition. The sign for "more" is touching fingertips together for example and while giving him fruit chew snacks, I'll only give him 1 at a time and when he tries to grab another, I sign and say "more." I also bring his fingers together to help him feel the sign. He can now sign: more, all done, eat, drink, MINE, bye-bye, open, no, yes, up, please and thank you. I have found his signing has really helped increase his understanding of language in general. His words at 19mo are: momma, dada, ball, go, uh oh, bye-bye, bubbles, no and mine (sounds like maaaa but when he signs it and says it you know). Try this link for video of baby signs: http://www.signwithme.com
"Buck Turgidson" jc...@hotmail.com
We had the same thing with one of our twins. He didn't say much until about 28 months. One problem he had was chronic ear infections, some asymptopmatic. So he wasn't hearing very well. They stuck a tube in his ear, and his hearing improved, and now he won't SHUT UP!!!!!
We were worried, too. But we had 10 months on you.
I'd watch it, but don't over-do the worrying, given our experience.
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