Daughter is a late talker?

Question

my daughter is going to be 2 at the end of August and the doctor said she is behind on her talking. she only says about 10 words and not together is there anything I can do to help her along?

Answer 1

I totally agree with MMM. have your daughter checked by the local early intervention /birth to 3 program. Here in Ohio it is free for all children who have a need for the resources. When my son was 2 years old he only said about 10 words and no 2 word combinations. I took him for a speech evaluation and he failed it. they gave me a list of speech therapists for me to choose from. I had to call 3 before I found one who could take us, but she is great. She does flash cards and play therapy. Within 2 months he had gone from 10 words to 50 words, and after 5 months he started talking one day. His enunciation still leaves a lot to be desired, so he may quailfy for special ed preschool services when he turns 3.

One of the things that helped my son was watching educationsl shows on PBS. He watched sesame street  and dragon tales and superWhy? and stuff like that. We realized about 2 months into therapy that he knew his ABCs, so we ran with it...we did ABC activities so he got practice saying all the sounds. If you send me your home address I can send you copies of pages from an apraxia workbook that my son does for homework...I have about 12-15 pages of easy pictures for them to name.

it sounds counterproductive, but sign language is a great tool to help these kids. The have an immediate way of communicating thier needs...and the words they learn to sign are some of the first they learn to say. I didn't believe it when someone told me, but it is true. My son signs and talks at the same time...when he says "milk" he signs it at the same time!

Answer 2

First steps is great. It's free assistance whereas your insurance may not cover speech therapy. My daughter will be 28 months at the end of this month and since her eval. at 26 months, she has picked up 4 new words. So her total vocab at almost 2 1/2 is less than 20. She doesn't use words, but she can speak just fine. She counts, etc. The problem with first steps is even though it is a good program, there are so many other people that are taking advatange of it that you will have to wait. They can do your eval. real soon, but it's been over 2 months since my daughters and there is STILL not a speech therapist that is available for us. I figure by the time there is, she'll be caught up. What the drs told me when they did the eval was to get with your daughter in front of a hand held mirror or some kind of mirror and YOU make a sound and let her watch you, then encourage her do make the sound while she watches herself. They will also evaluate her cognitive skills, motor skills, gross motor skills, etc. just to make sure something more serious is not going on. Good luck and DO look into First Steps, but you have to act quickly because once they turn 3, First Steps won't help them anymore! Good luck once again and try not to worry too badly. I would also suggest taking her to an ENT Specialist to have her ears checked thoroughly.

Answer 3

i would contact the local elementry school and ask if they know someone in your area that does the birth to 3 program.they willl come to your house and work with your childs development and show you how to work with her when they are not there.

Answer 4

Yes, go to the school district and get information on their First Steps Program. They should send a speech therapist to your house for either free or for a cheap rate. If the doc says she needs it, and writes a letter for you, you should be accepted. It's a great program.

Answer 5

these are probably all pretty obvious to you.. but we narrate everything we do practically and we look at books and ask him to say words and find things in the pictures... we sing songs..  he suddenly started saying a lot of words close to 2years old.   now he's quit a talker even though we dont understand what he's saying at times and he gets frustrated.

Answer 6

My son sees a speech therapist through the government program called Early Steps.  It's free and not dependant on income.  He had about 10-15 words only at age two--now we're at about 50 (he's 2 and 1/2 now).  He has a developmental disorder called apraxia.  Go get the Early Steps evaluation--find out and put your mind at ease.  The speech therapy really works and it's fun.  My son loves his therapist.

Answer 7

As a speech pathologist, I would suggest asking the doctor about your state's programs to get speech/language/hearing evaluation and therapy.

For home activities, you are her teacher/model.  Get some of the first word baby books from the library, and label everything.  Any utterance or gesture she makes, try to attach some meaning, then model a one or two word phrase that has that meaning.  If she points at her sippy, trying to get you to give it to her, you can say, "Sippy?  You want Sippy?  OK.  Here's Sippy.  Yummy Sippy."  Very repetitive and inane  to adults, I know, but she needs to hear it frequently.  Talk, talk, talk, and try to keep what you say to her in sentences of under three or four words.  You want to speak to her in a level that is just above the level she is at.

I've attached a link to the American Speech-Language Association, which is the certifying organization for speech pathologists.  It has lists of typical accomplishments for certain ages (milestones) as well as suggestions on what to do if you are concerned.

Answer 8

Have you had her evaluated to see if there is any kind of developmental issue? My daughter was behind on her speech as well, and the doctor gave us a referral to a speech therapist. Probably all states have early intervention programs for things like that.

What did the doctor suggest? Did they give you a referral, or did he/she just remark that your daughter was a little behind?

There are things you can do, but from experience, I can't say that it has that much effect. I honestly believe it's a developmental thing, like a switch, you don't have that much control over. I spent about a year and a half freaking out because my daughter said about 10-15 words at age 2, and no phrases at all. She was evaluated and they said there was nothing wrong with her. And then, I swear to god, in the span of a week she just started putting complex thoughts together. It's really like a switch or something.

So , yea, get her checked out. And if there is nothing the therapist finds wrong, then I bet you she'll just catch up at her own pace.

Answer 9

Definitely go to your local elementary school and schedule an appointment with the speech therapist. It's free, and open to children younger than school age. Definitely do this. Don't try to go it alone.

Check out some online resources for talking to your daughter about speech issues. I don't know how you should approach it, but I'm sure it's like anything else that might make a child self conscious. And don't let it become a control issue. If you try to bribe your two year old to talk, she may withhold words as a form of having control over her own life. Get to a speech therapist now so that you can learn not only the physical exercizes, but also how to help your child emotionally.

I'm so glad your doctor is encouraging you so early. They miss speech issues so often. I know so many kindergarteners who are just now getting into speech classes, when they could have had help years earlier.

Remember to celebrate your child's strengths. Come up with a good reply for when people bring her speech issues up in front of her. If a neighbor says, "Is she talking yet?" you could say, "Oh, Susie and I have tons of laughs all day long. Thanks for your concern."

Good luck!

Answer 10

Continue reading to her and talk to her more often. Children learn through imitation so keep blabbing away to her. If the doctor writes a referral for a speech therapist, make the appointments and they should really help. The therapists are trained to help and can pinpoint what the problem is.

My son was a late talker. (Short sentences didn't begin to show until after 3 1/2) There was nothing wrong with him. Some people just develop language skills later than others.