Delayed talker

madeinamerica

My 15 month old son doesn't have any words yet. Lots of sounds but no actual words. Our doctor is concerned and has recommended we see an audiologist and a speech therapist. She has ruled out autism from observing him. We live in the US at the moment and I'm not familiar with the system here. I'd love to know how this would be handled in Ireland so I have something to go by. If your little one was a bit delayed with words, I'd really appreciate hearing your experience. Thanks!

How Strange

It might be good to get his hearing tested but I can't really see what benefit a speech therapist would be. I think my two were saying hiya at that stage and not much else. If speech therapy is free then take it but unless an underlying hearing problem is diagnosed I can't see what the benefits would be. If he has a soother take it out during the day and talk to him all the time (which I'm sure you do!) but talk in a very descriptive way like oh look x I'm putting on your shoes and socks now, I'm washing your hands with soap and water etc etc. Also reading books is great which I'm sure you do anyway as well.

If he was still at the same stage at 20-24 months I'd be concerned but not yet as long as hearing is fine.

What I found on my two is that they have big bursts of language so it seems like overnight they go from no words to lots and it'll stall again for a few months and there'll be another burst of words and language skills.

Sorry just to add, his sounds are words and its your job to decode them 😀 In my opinion your doctor seems very quick to diagnose. He's only just turned 1. If I were in your position if say to the doctor to give it another few months and you'll revisit the suggestion of speech therapy at that stage if he/she still has concerns. Our phn wanted to refer my daughter for speech therapy at 24 months as she said she should be clearly pronouncing her words by that age. I knew enough to know what's bs so I politely declined but said I'd come back to her in 6 months if I had any concerns. My daughter would buy and sell you and would talk the birds out of the trees so she's doing just fine.

contrary_mary

It also seems very young to me at 15 months to be worrying. I think here they say they "should" have 6 words at 18 months - however my PHN has said that where I live they usually try to do the "18 month" check at around 22 months as so many kids aren't talking by 18 months but have come on in leaps and bounds by 22 months, so it prevents unnecessary referrals etc.

At 15 months my DS certainly didn't have any meaningful words as far as I recall - just the usual babble.

fro9etb8j5qsl2

At 15 months my fella only had 'dada' 'mama' and a noise that he made for 'cat' (that actually sounded nothing like cat at all). He started to get better and babble more at around 18 months. Phn wasn't worried at his check up, the only suggestions she could offer was limit the use of the soother, talk more to him about what you are doing and if he is looking for something, encourage him to say the word rather than just point at the thing he wants. He has come on in leaps and bounds the last 2 months and has a good few words now. I agree with how strange about having to decipher the noises. There's a lot of noises my little boy makes that I understand the meaning of even if they don't sound much like the real words.

dori_dormer

My almost 22 month old has a speech and communication delay. He still has zero words. We are in Germany where they don't do anything regarding speech til 3. Ireland they start the process at 2. I happened to stumble upon an American speech therapist and am having him assessed. She says Americans start the process at one yr old. Just different countries, different systems.

The speech therapist will send him for hearing tests, check for tongue ties, autism signs etc. she'll then just give you skills to encourage speech. Like always talking to him, starting baby sign language, being very animated, some small 5 minute a day repetitive exercises. It's no harm to go and learn these things. He could suddenly start talking tomorrow! But I like to be prepared.

comongethappy

Hi MIA, to be honest I think he's a bit young to be worried, but no harm in getting his hearing checked.

As others said, you will have a better idea around 18 months if you need to be concerned. Is your doc also taking on board the fact your son was born a bit early?

The only intervention I am aware of is that my nephew was sent to an early start school around 2.5 because he had severe delays and was only really grunting then. He is 7 now and a chatterbox!

CaraMay

In my experience, doctors are woefully under educated in diagnosing autism. I'm not saying that to scare you, I'm just saying they are not good at it. My son has asd and 4 doctors told me I was doting and that there was nothing up.

Get started on the speech therapy as it can't hurt. Keep an eye on him and go to actual asd professionals if you have further concerns.

Mink

My guy was only coming out with a few first words at 18mths, by 2 he only had about 10. Phn referred for speech therapy, he's only ever gone in for a few assessments as he was making progress and the SLT didn't feel there was a need for therapy as such, just exercises at home.

He's nearly 3.5 now and he's still about 6mths behind his peers but making progress all the time.

There's no harm in seeing an SLT but I'd leave it til 2 at the earliest, probably nearer 2.5 for a boy. Whatever therapy they do with kids is done in a fun way so he'll enjoy it either way most likely. Just don't let on to him that you are worried at all and don't talk about it in front of him.

CaraMay

Mink sorry but I don't agree with you. It's no harm going to one or two speech appointments now as they will check for non verbal communication etc, if they are happy that he is developing his pointing, joint attention etc then it would be fine to hold off for another while. If there is some issue, it's way better to catch it at 18/24 months than 30/36.

How Strange

I'd recommend to keep your expectations of a 15 month old realistic. Their verbal skills are definitely very limited. Every child develops at a different rate and ruling out deafness or some obvious issue I'd be inclined to leave well enough alone until 18-22 months.

evolving_doors

Most SLT's probably wouldn't engage with a child until potential hearing issues are ruled out first.

Nursery rhymes are great, if you can get one in their ear then eventually leave out the last word and see if the child fills in the rhyming word.

Lucuma

dori_dormer wrote: »

My almost 22 month old has a speech and communication delay. He still has zero words. We are in Germany where they don't do anything regarding speech til 3. Ireland they start the process at 2.
.

Dori is that anything to do with being raised bilingual do you think? My dd is in childcare in a different european language all day and then english obviously with us in the evenings and weekends.

I agree about the nursery rhymes. I sing the song about ''see the bunny sleeping, but it's nearly noon'' with my 15 month old's toy bunny that she sleeps with and she has now started to pre-emt the lively bit of the song and she starts saying ''Hop, hop'' before I even get to that bit. She loves it.
She doesn't have many words at all compared to kids that are immersed in english all day every day I think

Oh and yeah to the OP - my SIL is an SLT and she's very anti-soother, think it interferes with their language development if they're going around with it in during the day

fro9etb8j5qsl2

I agree that nursery rhymes are brilliant. Our fella loves shouting THE THE THE THE when he wants me to sing the wheels on the bus and E-I-O when he wants old mc donald. Do they count as words though, if the child is just imitating the sound rather than understanding the word? It's probably a silly question but it's something I always wondered.

CaraMay

I find the jolly phonics songs great. They are learning the phonetic Phanerozoic plus there are actions to it.

dori_dormer

No it's not a bilingual thing sadly, we only moved here when he was 17mths and had no words up to then either. He's in a bilingual nursery. He doesn't communicate well at all, so we've worked on sign language and actions a lot as a first step. Getting him to copy us with 'head shoulders knees and toes' ' wheels on the bus' etc. same songs over and over again. He's really coming on with it! He doesn't point either or show us what part of him he's just hurt etc. it's more an overall communication issue. He can't even call one of us if he needs , just cries. No mama, or dada. His hearing and comprehension is great though, so we are hoping it'll click soon and he'll catch up eventually!

Pink One

Just keep yapping and yapping to them all day long. Narrating absolutely everything you're doing even if it's the most mundane task such as putting dirty laundry into the washing machine. I took every opportunity to sing nursery rhymes from an early age too, we were like the Von Trapp family. I found music classes fantastic for speech development also.I read books and books to my child too.15 months is very young but it's the age when they're really absorbing language. I would be from the anti soother school of thought. I never gave one to my child and I often get comments about how clear her speech is. Past a certain age and all they're are doing is stopping children from practising their sounds even if it's goo goo gah gah. Just my 2c anyway.

madeinamerica

Thanks for your replies! I appreciate your different experiences.

Before the doctor's appointment, I was of the opinion that he was a bit behind other kids but it would just come in time. Also, a few things might account for it like he is not in a creche, myself and his dad aren't the biggest talkers either, and his dad was a late talker. I've since looked up a few things on speech and language and it is one thing that comes up on a lot of lists as a possible concern, no words at all by 15 months.

He'll probably say his first word the minute I hang up the phone, but I'll make the appointments and get him checked out anyway, no harm. A friend here told me that the 'Early intervention' program that the doc recommended is pretty good here as she knows a few people who used it. Sure if it is nothing then they'll reassure me of that, and if there is something we can get cracking. I am just thinking that if I didn't get it checked and he still wasn't talking by like 24 months I'd be kicking myself I didn't do something earlier, you know?

Thanks again for your posts

73trix

madeinamerica wrote: »

Thanks for your replies! I appreciate your different experiences.

Before the doctor's appointment, I was of the opinion that he was a bit behind other kids but it would just come in time. Also, a few things might account for it like he is not in a creche, myself and his dad aren't the biggest talkers either, and his dad was a late talker. I've since looked up a few things on speech and language and it is one thing that comes up on a lot of lists as a possible concern, no words at all by 15 months.

He'll probably say his first word the minute I hang up the phone, but I'll make the appointments and get him checked out anyway, no harm. A friend here told me that the 'Early intervention' program that the doc recommended is pretty good here as she knows a few people who used it. Sure if it is nothing then they'll reassure me of that, and if there is something we can get cracking. I am just thinking that if I didn't get it checked and he still wasn't talking by like 24 months I'd be kicking myself I didn't do something earlier, you know?

Thanks again for your posts

My little guy has 3 words at 14 months but imitation /gestures are not great. The gestures show a lot of understand at that age.

madeinamerica

Hi everyone

This was posted by a speech therapist in a moms google group I'm part of and I found it useful:

https://www.linguisystems.com/pdf/Milestonesguide.pdf

Dr.Winston O'Boogie

Our son was born late July 2014 and babbles constantly but hasn't really formed a word yet. The odd mama and dada over the months to no one in particular, and he's repeated a couple of words we have heard (or so I thought). So now t over 16 months should we be worried?

Myself and my partner weren't before, and I still am not really, as he's highly responsive to everything and definitely hasn't a problem with his hearing (he would look over if you called his name for instance). I always had in my mind around the 18 month mark before I would fret over the fact he wasn't speaking, as as everyone knows each baby develops at different rates.

Is this not a more than frequent occurance that babies around this age haven't spoken properly yet?

dori_dormer

I think it is quite normal, which is why in ireland they wait til the two year mark. My boy is still the exact same as yours is now at 22 mths though. He's been the same since about 15 mths too.

How is your boys overall communication? That's another indicator of progress. Does he point to animals or cars on the street? Does he moo or point to a picture if you ask where somethign is?

We are currently focusing on my boys physical communication. Pointing to things, as well as him looking where we point. Singing head shoulders, knees toes, wheels on the bus etc. sign language. Also animal noises, cars zoom, fire engine nee nawh etc. these all come before real words usually, so we are focusing on them, and will worry about words when he has a better grasp of the basics.

It's a lot of focus and repetition but you can see the progress already!

madeinamerica

Dr.Winston O'Boogie wrote: »

Our son was born late July 2014 and babbles constantly but hasn't really formed a word yet. The odd mama and dada over the months to no one in particular, and he's repeated a couple of words we have heard (or so I thought). So now t over 16 months should we be worried?

Myself and my partner weren't before, and I still am not really, as he's highly responsive to everything and definitely hasn't a problem with his hearing (he would look over if you called his name for instance). I always had in my mind around the 18 month mark before I would fret over the fact he wasn't speaking, as as everyone knows each baby develops at different rates.

Is this not a more than frequent occurance that babies around this age haven't spoken properly yet?

Hey Dr W, I can't give you a specific answer for your little guy as, you are right, all kids are different and of course I'm not a professional, but I will point you to the advice from the Irish HSE which I just found tonight:

http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/publications/Children/cfyb6months2years.pdf


See booklet page 44 for 'Your child’s speech and language
development': (I say booklet page, as there are two booklet pages on each pdf page, if you know what I mean)

By about 15-18 months, your child may (notice they say 'may' and not 'should'):
• Say 6 to 20 recognisable words and
understand even more words
• Practice the new words that they
learn as well as sing tunefully to
themselves during quiet times, such
as when they are lying in bed
• Join up words now, such as ‘goodbye’
or ‘all gone’
• Say ‘thank you’ if they hear you say
it often to them

Booklet page 54 for 'Possible signs that may suggest your child
is not developing as expected':

-Is not starting to speak at least 15 meaningful words by 18 months


Hope this is useful to you as a starting point.

My fella would have to have a fire under him to get 15 meaningful words by 18 months! I'm sure he'll be grand but I'm just taking the opportunity to get him checked out.

madeinamerica

dori_dormer wrote: »

I think it is quite normal, which is why in ireland they wait til the two year mark. My boy is still the exact same as yours is now at 22 mths though. He's been the same since about 15 mths too.

How is your boys overall communication? That's another indicator of progress. Does he point to animals or cars on the street? Does he moo or point to a picture if you ask where somethign is?

We are currently focusing on my boys physical communication. Pointing to things, as well as him looking where we point. Singing head shoulders, knees toes, wheels on the bus etc. sign language. Also animal noises, cars zoom, fire engine nee nawh etc. these all come before real words usually, so we are focusing on them, and will worry about words when he has a better grasp of the basics.

It's a lot of focus and repetition but you can see the progress already!

Thanks for the advice dori, lots of useful bits for me to try.

Can you tell me where you heard the 'wait till 2 yrs in ireland' info from? It would be great to know info from a few sources, thanks.

Millem

Hi OP, I am terrible I can't remember how many words my boy had at a younger age! My PHN insists on doing the 18-24 month developmental check at 18/19 months. I thought she was mad and couldn't understand why she wouldn't do it nearer to two as no way would my son have 60+ words, be able to put two words together etc.

Anyway I had told her he had maybe 30/40 words...she said that was grand as he was only 19 months. She said that was perfect, the main reason for the developmental test apparently is to check for signs of autism. I have noticed major developments in the last few weeks with his speech...he has Defo much more than 60 words, he puts two/three words together, is starting to dress and undress himself, wipes himself, can tell me when he has done number two etc.
Amazing things can happen in the space of a few weeks

Diamond Doll

Millem wrote: »

Hi OP, I am terrible I can't remember how many words my boy had at a younger age! My PHN insists on doing the 18-24 month developmental check at 18/19 months. I thought she was mad and couldn't understand why she wouldn't do it nearer to two as no way would my son have 60+ words, be able to put two words together etc.

Anyway I had told her he had maybe 30/40 words...she said that was grand as he was only 19 months. She said that was perfect, the main reason for the developmental test apparently is to check for signs of autism. I have noticed major developments in the last few weeks with his speech...he has Defo much more than 60 words, he puts two/three words together, is starting to dress and undress himself, wipes himself, can tell me when he has done number two etc.
Amazing things can happen in the space of a few weeks

My boy the same age does none of that. I'd say he has maybe 10-15 words, but most of them aren't very clear, and he's definitely not putting them together yet. We did have the latest PHN check and she referred him for speech therapy, but didn't seem overly concerned. He does seem to have decent comprehension etc, and is a very huggy happy friendly little dude, so I don't think there are concerns about autism. He's just not a big talker right now I guess!

Shop40

Hi OP,
My son who is 3.5 has been receiving S&L for a while now because of a severe communication delay. Autism hasn't been mentioned, he's been sick on and off throughout his life and it seems that this has knocked him back. MRI scan was clear etc. The S&L has been great though and I would say his comprehension has come on in leaps and bounds in the last few months. It was very poor before! Comprehension is very important. Speechwise no clear words yet, lots of gobbledigook!
I would say at 15 months, yes it is very early (and I have nephews who have had a handful of words at 2.5 and are now chatterboxes), but you have absolutely nothing to lose, and can only gain by getting the advice of a professional.
Just some tips from what I've learned:

Get down to eye level
Keep language simple, one-two words "door", "door open" etc
Emphasise the first letter of the word "bbbbb bus"!
If you're looking through a book, say "over" every time you turn a page
Follow your child's lead, do what they are interested in
When you are feeding the child/child is eating, say "mmmm", they should repeat eventually
When you do something e.g when I race a toy car for my son and he wants me to do it again, say "again????" and hold back until the child makes a sound.
Last tip- if the child needs help, wait for eye contact and a sound. Hold back until you get this(unless child gets very very frustrated).
Some of these tips are for later than 15 months, but just a couple of things to keep in mind for the future.

Good luck, I'm sure it'll work out fine.

CaraMay

There seems to be a lot of myths about how autism presents itself. Many autistic kids speak but have sensory issues and impaired social interactions - it's called aspergers. As well as that many asd kids are smiley and cuddly. It's called a spectrum as no two kids have the same issues.

A phn can't indicate if there are signs of asd as they are not qualified to do that. It really irritates me when parents tell other parents not to worry about asd. Our hse psychologist told us they reckon it's 1 in 20 boys, many not diagnosed.

If parents have concerns at any age then it's best to get them checked out. EArly intervention is the key for any issue and waiting 6 months / until they were 2 (as I was told and regret listening to) can waste very valuable months.

Bottom line is for parents not to listen to people who are not qualified to comment and to go with your gut. Best to err on the side of caution.

Millem

Diamond Doll wrote: »

My boy the same age does none of that. I'd say he has maybe 10-15 words, but most of them aren't very clear, and he's definitely not putting them together yet. We did have the latest PHN check and she referred him for speech therapy, but didn't seem overly concerned. He does seem to have decent comprehension etc, and is a very huggy happy friendly little dude, so I don't think there are concerns about autism. He's just not a big talker right now I guess!

Diamond the things she was really looking for was his social interactions not speech! She did make a big deal about getting him to build little wooden blocks for some reason!

Caramay I absolutely agree PHN are not qualified to assess. Also agree how there are an awful of kids who have slipped through the net.

CaraMay

Millem wrote: »

Diamond the things she was really looking for was his social interactions not speech! She did make a big deal about getting him to build little wooden blocks for some reason!

All she's doing there is checking his basic motor skills and ticking a box on her form.

yellow hen

I personally probably wouldn't have been too concerned about speech at 15 months but now I'm at the stage where my 33month old don is likely to be diagnosed with ASD. In hindsight, I'd probably watch him a bit closer for the following:
-Pointing and getting my attention to look at something
-Progression in whatever words he had (rather than loss which is what happened with us)
-General social skills (eye contact, ability to engage him by calling his name)

But as others have said, none of us are experts so I would wait and talk to someone who is.

yellow hen

Shop40 wrote: »

Hi OP,
Just some tips from what I've learned:

Get down to eye level
Keep language simple, one-two words "door", "door open" etc
Emphasise the first letter of the word "bbbbb bus"!
If you're looking through a book, say "over" every time you turn a page
Follow your child's lead, do what they are interested in
When you are feeding the child/child is eating, say "mmmm", they should repeat eventually
When you do something e.g when I race a toy car for my son and he wants me to do it again, say "again????" and hold back until the child makes a sound.
Last tip- if the child needs help, wait for eye contact and a sound. Hold back until you get this(unless child gets very very frustrated).

Really good tips here. Thanks