2 year olds speech ,should i be worried

ds is 2 this month and was wondering how developed his speech should be ..

a nurse was filling out a form for us and nixon was jabbering away .. there was a section on the form about speaking english and i made a joke about how nixon can speak jibberish but not english .. she looked at me then at nix and fired a heap of questions at me ... and then said , bring him back next month and we'll get a referrall to a speech therapist :o .. WT

he can say heaps of words but he cant say them properly , the only ones he can say clearly are : mummy , daddy and NO !!

but the rest are all muddled , only dh and i can really understand .. and i have never heard him put 2 words together .., its almost like he just cant say many words , not from lack of trying, but he just cant seem to pronounce things right ...kwim


so my question is how much does you toddler speak and how clearly , and should i be worried ...

I personally wouldn't be worried.. If you weren't worried before hand then try and relax.. by all means take him back even just to get peace of mind but I bet in the next month or so he has a massive word explosion!!

I probably wouldn't be worried either. DS speaks really well for his age - and everyone who meets him comments on that fact - so I would assume that most kids don't really start talking - like really talking, not just jibberish (I say DS speaks Chinese most of the time ;)) until maybe 2 and a half? I know from all the other kids I've met, I still can't understand what they are saying at 4!!! LOL

If it didn't worry you before - and it took one persons comments to worry you - then I would think that you know your son better than that person.

However, having said all that - it never hurts to get peace of mind - IYKWIM?

I wouldn't be worried. T is the same. J was talking heaps better at 2, so obviously they are all different. But the carers at day care think T is fine for his age so I'm not worried and I don't think you should be either.

DD3 hardly spoke at 2 either, i had people comment on it all the time, i wasn't worried she just didn't have much to say.... And now she is making up for it :o she doesn't shut up hehe She only said Mum Dad and No also so try not to worry

Dont worry, but do get him assessed if you and his daddy are not understanding him very well. My DS finally got assessed around 2 - 2.5 yrs and it was when the therapist asked me do we as parents understand over or under 50% of what he says? That I realised we understood less than 50% - and by that age thats not so good. The therapist can tell if he needs it or not, some kids are hard to understand but are making the right sounds for their age, mine wasnt . They concluded he needed help said they would wait till he was 3 yrs to start, as anything before was too tricky for the kid etc. Ds spent 2 yrs with therapy and has made a big difference for him and for us and others understanding him.:D Its great now he is at school he knows how to self correct alot too.

my nephew didn't really speak anything understandable at 2, and in the last 4 months (he will be 3 next Feb) you can't shut him up!! We used to get my niece to interpret if his mother was at work or shopping etc.. I would be inclined not to worry as he is talking, just not in a language that most can understand yet.. ;)

Ashton is 2 in 8 days time and only says Mum and beep beep clearly. He has been on the waiting list for a speech therapist for a few months and we should be getting seen to very soon. We have also had our other 2 boys do intensive speech therapy, with Kameron still having severe delays in one area at the age of 7

ETA - It doesn't hurt to have him go through an assessment, it is really only play based. I wish I had done Kameron alot earlier, but like you thought there was nothing wrong with him and he'd be talking soon enough. It wasn't till we hit Kindy that I realised he had issues.

Okay, well he is not within the expected range of ability for a 2 year old which is probably why your MCHN wants him assessed by a speech therapist. A 2 year old is meant to have a minimum of 20 clear words and be starting to link 2 words together (most have more than this).

This does not mean you have cause to worry however!

My DS had an assessment with a speech therapist after his 18 month check because he didn't have 5 words. I took him myself because I didn't want to torture myself wondering. It turned out that his understanding etc were perfect but for whatever reason he just wasn't communicating, so the speechie gave me some exercises to do with him to see how he went. This was very reassuring for me - the way the MCHN carried on about it, it really got me concerned. He just had his 2 year assessment and he probably has about 70 words and is just starting to link 2 words together, so still below average, so to speak, but within the range, so no more talk about speech therapy. I never took him back after the initial assessment, haven't had to.

There can also be a genetic factor involved. If you or DH were late talkers - then your children may be. I and my siblings didn't speak till well past the age of 2 - so my mum was very disparaging over the notion of speech therapy because it was never raised as a problem with her!

Definitely get him assessed, even if it is just for your peace of mind. Far better than wondering if you should worry or not. Then, if there is an issue, at least you are onto it asap. Your MCHN might also want to schedule a hearing test as well - that's the easiest thing to rule out.

Hi hun,

If I were you, I wouldn't be worried, though I might still go to a speech pathologist, jic. It can't hurt, kwim??
Anyhow, here's some info I have collected for work.....

18Months
Has vocabulary of approximately 5-20 words
Vocabulary made up chiefly of nouns
Some echolalia (repeating a word or phrase over and over)
Much jargon with emotional content
Is able to follow simple commands

24 Months
Can name a number of objects common to his surroundings
Is able to use at least two prepositions, usually chosen from the following: in, on, under
Combines words into a short sentence-largely noun-verb combinations (mean) length of sentences is given as 1.2 words
Approximately 2/3 of what child says should be intelligible
Vocabulary of approximately 150-300 words
Rhythm and fluency often poor
Volume and pitch of voice not yet well-controlled
Can use two pronouns correctly: I, me, you, although me and I are often confused
My and mine are beginning to emerge
Responds to such commands as "show me your eyes (nose, mouth, hair)"


**Just remember that those milestones for 24mths are for the year your baby turns 2, not for when he turns 2, so by the time he's almost 3 he should meet those criteria, kwim? Thant's why I included the 18mths too, cause Nixon isn't quite 2. As long as he meets the criteria for 18mths and is working on the 24mths, I wouldn't worry.
HTH!!

Jack is 2 and 9days early august he only said a handful of words but int he last month holy moly the words this child will say is amazing...I wouldn't be worried...

My son was the same until about 3 when he knocked our socks off and went for long sentences and is always correcting his own speech. If he can't pronounce something he'll keep repeating it until he gets it right! His speech is at time better than my daughters who is 6 and has always been very advanced in the speech department!
All children are different and 2 is still young he has plenty of time to develop his speech!

I personally wouldn't be concerned but if your worried about his speech then have the check done!

Snoopea

thanks for you replies everyone , i think he is behind a bit , going by what kellie said...
but im not going to worry just yet until i get him assed , but speech therapy aside , what else happens to a kid with poor speech , does it mean their reading a writing suffer ..

he is good at motor skills , so i guess he just has to catch up in the intelllctual dept..

My DD didn't say 5-20 words at 18months she only said 3 words when she was 2 and is now 5 and is learning to read really well and can write.

My DD1 was talking non stop at 2 but DD2 is a very one word type of girl and she has just turned 2.. I did find that one day all of a sudden all these words just came out and i was like OMG. Maybe one day Nix will just blow your socks off

I do find though that when i try to concentrate on DD2 speach.. DD1 likes to say everything for her

I'm going to go against the grain here and say to follow through with the assessment and see what the outcome of that is. As a mum to a 4yo who is now in speech therapy I regret not doing something about it sooner instead of just palming her lack of talking off as just being slow to talk. Plus waiting lists are very long and the longer you put it off, the longer it will take to get some therapy happening if he needs it (which he may not, that's the whole point of having an assessment done) not to mention the longer it is left, the more intensive any speech therapy will be to correct it. Another thing is if you get onto it now, by the time he starts pre-school/kinder he should be on par with his peers and there wont be that obvious difference in speech ability.

Like Kat said, it's made very fun for the kids and it's very much play-based and most of the time they dont even realise that they are being made to do it kwim?

As for the speech issues and reading/writing development, my DD is well above average in that area. At her last assessment her speechie told me that she would be able to cope with starting school next year at 4.5 and do well, even though she isn't starting till 2010. She can also write her own name and read a little bit too (most of the reading has come from her 'homework' from speech therapy where we sit and practice what we've done in her therapy sessions) so even with speech issues, it hasn't held her back at all and she is very advanced in those areas for her age.

Lea, it would depend on what the problem is, if it's a problem with how he uses his tongue, then I would say no it wouldn't effect his cognitive (thinking) processes, but if it were a hearing problem, then possibly it would cause he can't hear to learn things, then it could be a problem with how he processes language, so it would be his thinking processes that is the problem, affecting his language....there are so many things it could be!

Have you had his ears checked lately? Maybe he has a problem hearing?

And that info I gave is just a guide, there is always going to be children at both ends of the scale, maybe Nixon is just at one end of the scale. Don't get too worried about it, he's only a baby still, and if he does have a problem you have caught it early which is great! Don't stress! Just get he assessment done and go from there.

Here's some more infor I have......


Developmental milestones include:

At 15 months:

he has a spoken vocabulary of approx. 10 words

At 18 months:

he will 'talk' to himself and others as though he's holding a conversation
he can follow a simple one-step instruction
he is developing a vocabulary that will contain appox. 50 words by the time he is two years

By two years:

he can use words to communicate most of his needs
he can construct longer sentences that use more precise language
he may stutter when he's excited and rushing to communicate
he can follow a more complicated two-step instruction
he will know and be able to sing familiar songs and nursery rhymes
he is starting to use words that express emotions

What can I do to encourage his language development?

Talk to him! The only way for him to learn to communicate effectively is if you communicate with him.
Point out and name familiar objects and encourage him to copy your pronunciation
Don't correct every word he says - this is an exciting time of learning and he may become discouraged if you are always 'teaching' him.
Read books with him. Point to the illustrations and name objects. You can also ask him questions about the story - you'll have to give him the answer but he'll quickly learn what you are asking him.

Signs that suggest a developmental delay in a 1-2 year old:

he doesn't babble often
he isn't attempting to communicate using meaningful words
he doesn't listen when you talk to him
he plays mainly silently
there is little or no response when you talk to him
Isn't able to point to objects when they're named
Uses signs, grunts or gestures only when he wants something

All children are different and develop at different rates, so don't be overly concerned if your toddler is acquiring new skills at a different rate to those around him. But if you are worried about his development or it seems to have stalled or be going backwards, talk to a health professional.

(information from kidspot)

Lea, to clarify, I think you should have the assessment. But I don't think you should worry. Even if he is delayed, speech pathology can really help if you start early.

In the meantime, you can help him to improve his vocab by encouraging him to use different words, and longer phrases. For example, if he says "milk" try to get him to say "milk please" and keep repeating that phrase. When he gets that you can lengthen it to "milk please mummy" and then "may I have some milk please mummy" etc. Even if he can't say the different words or longer phrases, keep repeating them yourself. He will get there.

GL hun. I hope the assessment goes well.