My daughter will be 2 next month and she still hasn't spoken....?

Question

I have been reading to her since she was a few months old. She understands some things like "high five", "put in bin", "hold mums hand" etc, but she has not said a single word. She makes squeaky noises and laughs and things, but no words, not even any babbling or 'baby talk'. SHE IS ON THE WAITING LIST TO SEE THE SPEECH THERAPIST, but just curious if anyone has been in a similar situation. The other thing is she gets really obsessed with things, like picking flowers. I'm really hoping it's not autism but... what do you think? Thanks in advance :)

Answer 1

Have you tried spending more time with her, talking to her ect. when i say spend more time, i mean spend half the day with her. Take her out. invite a friend and have a talk in front of her. babies learn to talk by listening to others.

Answer 2

My Daughter was the same way she is almost 3 now and what we did was we took her into the doctors and when they looked in her ears she had an ear infection and we didnt even know it.... so my husband and i decided to get tubes put in her ears and now she talks like gold..... hope my words help you in your situation....

Answer 3

Ummm, I think kids start speaking at a very early age with the simplest of words (and some not even words)

I'm pretty sure if you let your child interact with other children, she will come out of her shyness cocoon and conform you with nonstop talking  

Answer 4

My son hardly said anything when he turned two years old. I always heard my in-laws brag about other children and it drove me nuts, nevertheless I kept chatting with my son and once he started he just kept learning and learning. He is 2 and a half months and with the help of flash cards, first word books, and exploration of things he likes, he can now speak in short sentences and has learned shapes, animals, colors. My advice be patient do not get down on other people's opinion.  

Answer 5

woww.  I dont really know where to begin.  At the age of two a baby is at least able to babble and say very common phrases.  It might not be autisim but it could be some speech disorder.  Speak to the speech theripist and ask him his/her opinion but dont worry to much.  I knew a baby who began speaking at 2 and a half but with slured words but he came out to be fine so just be patient

Answer 6

This sounds so much like my 35 month old son!  My son was diagnosed with autistic features (PDD.NOS) at age 9 months.  I don't know if your daughter is PDD.NOS or not, she could be, but perhaps not.  If she is on the autistic spectrum  it is very mild.  My son has always obsessed about particular things, makes squeaky stimming noises, and has understanding of rote things that you are describing.  He did not babble at all at 2 yrs.  He has been getting speech since 18 months.  Now at 35 months his vocabulary is about 50 words, and he can put 2 together so its about 24 months for expressive language, the receptive language is much lower.  The speech that he does have is clear.  Try to get her to make some sounds.  We model it, when the little boys want something and encourage them to say mmm for more (the baby who is 23 months) and the 35 month old says it.  If my sons don't say it within a few moments we have them sign it, hand over hand if need be.

Answer 7

My friend has a boy who is now 3 years old, he was born 5 weeks premature, and he did not say a single word until he was about 2 and a half.

She was so worried he was never going to talk, and he was slow at other things too(didnt walk until 2)

She went to a pseech therapist and they said there was nothing physically wrong with him.

He finally started talking and now he is 3 he says beer, bum mum, dad, jice and some other words

He is way behind in terms of other children his age, but he is such a sweet boy and he will catch up eventually

I'm sure your child is not autistic and will be just fine. The fact that you say she laughs at things, and follows commands, indicates that she is not autistic and does not have a hearing problem.

Answer 8

DOC ASAP EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR IT DON'T WAIT  

Answer 9

First of all, many people here have answered this as if you didn't indicate, in all caps, that you are taking your child to a speech therapist ASAP -- which is silly of them -- so they can knock that off.

Second, for the people who are apparently trying to alarm you by saying "YOU HAVE TO TAKE HER TO A DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY", "I don't know where to begin", etc., that is also ridiculous, so I hope you'll just ignore all that.

Third, the fact that your child understands you is a great sign.  You know she doesn't have a serious hearing problem, so you can rule that out immediately.

Fourth, lots of kids don't talk until they're after two, and frequently those are the ones who start talking in sentences, with practically perfect pronunciation, before all of their peers.  So that may be happening with your child as well.

Fifth, the books I've read on this would advise you to take her to a doctor / speech therapist for evaluation -- which you are already doing -- but also say that usually there's nothing wrong, and the child is just waiting longer to speak than some other children.

And finally, if your child interacts with you, looks you in the eye, smiles, etc., she's not autistic, and, as someone else stated, it is normal for toddlers to focus intensely on activities and objects since they are learning about them for the first time and their awesome brains are literally cataloguing information about what they're doing and seeing.  So that's fine!

In summary, your daughter is probably totally fine and normal, but it's a good idea to have her evaluated just to confirm this (as you're already doing) -- and she in fact may start speaking at a more advanced levels than her age-mates once she does start speaking.

I hope this was helpful!

Answer 10

hmm, there could be abillion reasons for this. Don't worry many children are late for talking and other things, simpley take her to a doctor

Answer 11

You don't describe any other behaviours that suggest autism.  The language thing and the squeeks can indicate autism but there are other indicators of autism too that wouls usually be present also.

Obsessions are common in toddlers.  It's just that autistic kids don't grow out of them.

I thought my son may be autistic (the he was the opposite with speech and communication - little proffessor sounding) but it turned out that he had ADHD which is about regulating energy levels and emotions and filtering out stimulus(and the obsessions and impulsive noises).

She's two though!  They vary so much in normal developement.  My Aunt I am told, didn't speak a work until she was 5 and then she never stopped.  

It is suggested that two year olds starts putting two words together and she is clearly understanding two words put together from a communication point of veiw.

Have you tried baby signing.  I worked in a nursery where there were a few children with downs syndrome so we all used makaton (like baby signing) and taught it to all the children and they all loved it.  So did we.  It may give her the confidence to communicate.

You can also start with sounds.  While playing encourage verbalisations by modeling them.

Eg.  playing tea set,   SHHHHHH  as you pour

farm animals   animal noises

water going down the plug hole G G G G G

walking with the push chair  WEEEEEEEEEEE  as you go round the corners or down a hill (park too)

Me and my son do this all the time (he is 10) but we just do it because we need to impulsively make noises lol.  It is surprising how many daily activities can be accompanied with appropriate verbal noises.

The noises are not strictly communication so she may join in and it gives her an opportunity to try the sounds out which will be helpfull practice for when she is ready to try words.

I hope you don't have to wait long for an appointment it can be worrying if you have a concern and you have to wait for help!  I'm sure everything will go fine.

Many children choose

Answer 12

she really needs to see a doctor