Do I need to be concerned about my 2yo?
every child is different. i am sure this doctor means well, but he doesn't know your son as well as you do. he is a clinician making a judgment from a chart and an examination.
you said you are "not sure" and draw on your own experience with your other children as a yardstick for measuring this child's development, and i see nothing wrong with that.
my son started reading at 18 months and his pediatrician wanted him to go to a child psychologist to get his IQ measured and put him in an accellerated learning program, but we didn't want that. he was happy just being a little baby.
several times we didn't take doctors' advice on other matters, which proved to be very wise.
encourage play and activities to simulate your child's vocabulary. yes, they say children should have a certain number of words in both their passive and active vocabularies by certain ages, but i don't know, i think a loving, involved parent can do just as much towards helping their child flourish as a so-called expert. if you do take your child to a speech therapist, ask them pointed questions about what they would teach him, etc.
did your doctor use the word "autism"? if he did, ask him why he suspects that. they can't just toss out words like that and not take the time to explain it.
good luck with your little one.
My son just passed 19 months and says about 5 words.
He can identify animals, pictures, etc. even picks the book he wants us to read with him. So don't be concerned.
Children grow at different paces.
Try more social interaction with children his age.
Even if he just observes at first, one day it will all come together and he'll surprise you. I know mine did.
every child is different, so you might not want to assume your second son will follow with first son's speech development.
can he follow 2 step instructions? like, 'walk to the toy box and put your toy away.'
does he listen well or seem to have a hearing problem?
do you speak in complete sentences with him? some parents use only one or few words when communicating with their toddlers instead of using sentences.
I found this that may be helpful also.
Seek an evaluation if a child over 2 years old:
* can only imitate speech or actions and doesn't produce words or phrases spontaneously
* says only certain sounds or words repeatedly and can't use oral language to communicate more than his or her immediate needs
* can't follow simple directions
* has an unusual tone of voice (such as raspy or nasal sounding)
* is more difficult to understand than expected for his or her age. Parents and regular caregivers should understand about half of a child's speech at 2 years and about three quarters at 3 years. By 4 years old, a child should be mostly understood, even by people who don't know the child.
don't force him to speak, but you can play word games with him while playing. playing with little animals, use words to describe the bear as he's walking across the floor, look at your child and use a 3 or 4 word sentence, the bear is walking.
then ask him, what is walking? playing games like this is fun for him and helping him at the same time.
I would ask your doctor what his concerns may be. I have really not known many doctors to prescribe speech therapy at two, so I would try to find out more what his real concerns are. best to you and your little guy!
I found this link that may be helpful.
http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/b … talk.html#I agree completely. I went through the same problem with my own child, though it was her teacher who pointed out the problem. My first reaction was the same as yours: I didn't want my child 'labeled'. But I still got an appointment with a speech therapist to evaluate my child, and as it turned out, she was perfectly alright. Now she speaks Urdu, English, Spanish and is learning French too!
Wishing you all the best with this... it's a difficult thing for any parent, but stay strong and I'm sure you'll be able to make the best decision for your child.
Some great advice here, especially from cosette and RebekahELLE.
Also, how old of a 2 year old is your son? I think there's a big difference between 26 months and say, 33 months.
My daughter started speaking relatively early, but girls are supposedly more verbal than boys and they tend to speak earlier, so that might be a factor. Also, maybe your son doesn't feel the need to use words at this point because you tend to all his needs without him having to ask for it? It can happen to parents who have older kids because they are more experienced and can tell what their baby needs before the baby asks for it.
So, spend your time talking with your son. Read lots of books together. Narrate the things you're doing together.
By the way, didn't Einstein start speaking at 4 years old or something?
So, as long as your son can follow simple instructions and doesn't appear to having hearing problems (and other things Rebekah outlined), I wouldn't worry too much about it! Not sure if this made sense, but I hope it helps some! it's understandable to have some fear or apprehension when you don't know what it all means, but I would try to talk with your doctor again to see exactly what concerns prompted him to refer you to a speech pathologist.
did he see an oral problem? I would ask him to clarify for your own understanding.
also, did he refer you from his office or do you need to find your own? it may take longer if they have to refer back to the doctor for your child's files.
this is what you could expect from some info I found online;
In conducting an evaluation, a speech-language pathologist will look at a child's speech and language skills within the context of total development. Besides observing your child, the speech-language pathologist will conduct standardized tests and scales, and look for milestones in speech and language development.
The speech-language pathologist will also assess:
* what your child understands (called receptive language)
* what your child can say (called expressive language)
* if your child is attempting to communicate in other ways, such as pointing, head shaking, gesturing, etc.
* sound development and clarity of speech.
* your child's oral-motor status (how a child's mouth, tongue, palate, etc., work together for speech as well as eating and swallowing)
If the speech-language pathologist finds that your child needs speech therapy, your involvement will be very important. You can observe therapy sessions and learn to participate in the process. The speech therapist will show you how you can work with your child at home to improve speech and language skills.
often knowledge dispels fear. an evaluation may be able to ease your concerns. I hope you will pursue something, and encourage him when he does use words.Yep, as many say - leave the kid alone, he is most likely OK. If he is not OK you will deal with it when it becomes obvious. My middle one did not speak till almost three, and now at six he is probably the most talkative kid around - in two languages.
One of observations that I made is that kids at that age don't talk if they don't need to. In other words if you understand their sounds and signs and satisfy their needs without them having to talk - they won't talk. They just don't feel the need for it.
So I would advise not to push him to talk, but to create for him frequent situations when he feels the need to talk to explain what he needs/wants.If you do decide to go for speech therapy, don't worry about it. It's quite painless.
My son was in speech therapy from the time he was 3 until the age of 19 when he graduated from high school. Not only was his vocabulary limited but he mispronounced many words and sounds (he still has difficulty with R at the beginning of some words) and he struggled with (I think this is right) pronouns. He would say things like "Wait me" "Me ike iyneappa oo" (me like pineapple too). The speech therapists took the time to correct all the mistakes and taught him to listen to himself speak so he could catch his own mistakes and correct himself.
Early intervention is key to success. Good luck!parents do this often, especially when you are home with your child most of the time. in the classroom, when children point, I simply say, I'm not sure what you're pointing at, can you tell me?
sometimes 2's grunt because they don't have the language abilities yet. if he's responding to someone or something, at least you know there's some form of comprehension.
reading books can help so much. I can't emphasize enough how daily reading to your young child will help them not only with language and speech, but with comprehension and focus and his attention span. if you have a library near by, frequent it often and make friends with whoever runs the preschool story hour.
both pointing and grunting are precursors to talking. I'm glad you have an appointment. early intervention can and does help and often catches a problem before your child enters school. be sure to let us know how it goes. you're being pro-active and that's a win-win for all involved!
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