Speech Delays and Language Concerns

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My 15 month old does not speak at all. He doesn't even really say mama or dada. If he does, it's usually dadadada. He has gotten a few bumps on the head and a month or so ago a baby gate gave out and he fell down the steps causing an egg on the head. On occasion if you ask him, he will point to his belly or mouth, etc., but in the past few weeks he has completely stopped that and shows no interest in learning anything at all. I know he should have about 3 words in his vocabulary including momma and dadda but he doesn't have anything, just endless babble and pointing and getting frustrated. Should I be worried? He is my first and only child and I don't really want him to get behind especially in the communication area.

By 15 months we would look for a child to be saying "mama" and "dada" specifically to refer to parents, and perhaps the use of one or more word approximations, such as saying "ba" for ball, or "uh" for up. If not saying words other than Mama and Dada, we would want a child to be using a nice variety of consonant-vowel combinations in babbling, and be using some inflection/variation in his voice. Perhaps even more importantly, if a child is not using true words yet, he should be using gestures such as pointing to get wants and needs met. So if his cup is on the table he is pointing and babbling at it to let you know he wants a drink, even if he can't say "cup" or "drink" yet. For kids under about 18 months we look for what is called the "intent to communicate" more so than the number of actual words they have, meaning if a child using a combination of gestures and babbling vocalizations to indicate wants and needs and participate in back and forth social interactions with their family. At 15 months a child should also be showing an understanding of common words and actions, such as when you say "where is Daddy?", "where is the ball?" or "get your cup" he looks toward the familiar person or toy. Or if you say "wave bye bye" he does or "patty cake" he claps his hands.

It sounds like your son is babbling and pointing, but since you mention he is frequently frustrated by not being able to communicate, I would definitely seek an early intervention speech evaluation to rule out any early concerns. This way, if the speech therapist tests him and finds he is showing a delay he can begin to receive therapy to help him catch up.

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Back to:  Therapist Questions & Answers - Speech & Language Concerns

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