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Early Childhood Intervention
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Speech Delays and Language Concerns
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Questions & Answers - Speech & Language Concerns
My son is 33 months and I have noticed he isn't
speaking as much as children his age and younger. He still babbles a
lot. He says around 60 words and 7 2-3 word phrases. Most words he will
only say once, maybe twice and then doesn't say them again and you can't
get him to repeat words that you are saying. He will only answer
questions if his answer is no. If you ask him to identify something such
as a body part he doesn't want to do it. He is very active and doesn't
want to stop long enough for you to explain anything to him, like "I
want you to ...".
In the past week he has began to sit down and let you read to him but
mostly he just wants to play with the book. When he wants something he
will just stand there and babble talk until you get up to see what he
wants. I'm taking him to the pediatrician tomorrow but would also like
to know your thoughts and let me know things I should talk to the
pediatrician about.
Thanks for your question. From what you have told me
I would recommend that you ask your pediatrician for
referral information to the early intervention
provider in your area so that your son can receive a
speech therapy evaluation by a licensed speech
pathologist. It sounds like your son has a lot of
single words in his vocabulary which is a good
start, but you aren't hearing them consistently and
he is not attempting to repeat new words for you. I
am glad he has a few 2-3 word phrases already, but
by 33 months he should be using primarily two and
three word phrases (for example "me want milk",
"daddy go work", etc) more so than single words and
his babbling/jargon should be minimal.
By age 2 1/2 we generally like to see a vocabulary of at least 50
words, and that list should increase weekly, so that by age three a
child has 100 or more words. Saying "no" to most questions is fairly
typical for children at your son's age, even if he really means yes. He
should also have begun to ask you some "wh" questions such as "where
go?", "what that?" etc. It sounds like your son is extremely active and
since speech is also a motor task involving complex movements of the
tongue, lips and jaw, sometimes children who are putting all their
energy into gross motor activities (running, jumping, climbing) are
quieter during play or talk less or later because all their motor energy
is going to one place-physical activity.
You can start offering him choices during meals and playtime to
encourage him to use words instead of just babbling or pointing to get
wants and needs met. For example, at dinner ask "Do you want juice or
milk to drink?" If he is not yet saying either juice or milk, you can
accept him pointing to one or the other and then put it back into a
sentence for him "You want milk to drink for dinner tonight". Whenever
your son says a single word, always expand on that word for him so he
can hear it in a simple sentence. For example if he says "ball", you say
"You threw your red ball". Being a good speech role model is always
helpful.
If there are words your son cannot yet say,
and you see him pointing or gesturing for
things, you may want to think about building in
a few simple sign language signs into his
vocabulary, especially if he gets frustrated by
not being able to tell you what he wants. Using
signs paired with a word helps young children
learn new vocabulary words before they can
physically say them. Once children have mastered
the spoken word the sign typically fades away. A
speech therapist can teach you a few simple
signs if this would be helpful to your son. If
he is not yet pointing to body parts or
following through with simple directions such as
"Bring me your shoes" or "get the book and put
it on the table" then your son may also be
having some difficulty with receptive
language-either understanding it or processing
what is said to him. We do not start to look at
articulation (clarity of speech) until a child
turns 3, but by age 3 we like to see children be
understandable by adults and other children at
least 80% of the time.
Since your son is already nearing preschool
age, I would definitely try to get an early
intervention speech evaluation or a private
speech evaluation set up for your son as soon as
possible to assess his expressive and receptive
language skills and determine if he is eligible
for therapy.
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Questions & Answers - Speech & Language Concerns
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