18 months - no words

My son isn't saying any words and he is 18 months old. My daughter is probably up to 10 words now. The peditricitian wants is recommending I send him to "Help Me Grow" early intervention program. The whole thing makes me worried! Anyone have any similar stories / sitatuions?

 

I posted a while ago with similar concerns about Max. Elliot is like a parrot and is excellent. Max is now trying to say words but his pronunciation is terrible as yet! He definitely understands as much as Elliot but isn't quite there with the words yet. Lots of people said if he understands everything then not to worry - an really I'm not - he is getting there - just a little slower. Does you dd understand what you are saying?

 

As an early childhood educator...it would atleast go and have an evaluation to determine if there is an issue or not. They can do soo many things to help youngsters ....I bet it is very scary. Thinking of you.

 

I'm not an expert in this area but will tell you my nephew barely said any words before he was 2. It was like he was holding it all in or something. Now he is going on 10 and is one of the smartest boys I know. I would go for the evaluation. As mentioned above, they can do so much now for children and helping them develop their speech.

 

I would have the evaluation done. My boys are now 20 months and didn't have words at 18 month either. I wasn't concerned-still really am not-as they understood EVERYTHING we said to them. But they said nothing. They said mama and dada, but not in the right context. NOW they do though! It's great! Anyways...

They now have a few words... Nicholas can say "mama" "dada" "ball" and "more." As well as "NaNa", "No" and "NoNo." Anthony can say "mama" "dada" and "ball." Is it because of speech? Ehh...maybe. I just think personally when they are ready-they will start talking. But the speech certainly doesn't hurt, that's for sure. And it's nothing to be ashamed of, etc. It's a great service-it's free, or relatively inexpensive-so take advantage of it!

 

One of my girls, almost 21 months, goes to speech therapy weekly. She understands everything and signs, but is frustrated b/c her twin is a chatterbox. I am learning techniques we can use at home. I did not talk until I was 2, so at first was not worried, but since she is showing so much frustration, I think the therapy is a good idea.

 

My boys are 18 months old and only say mama, dada ect. They were evaluated by EI and each have the speech of a 10-month old.

They have speech therapy once a week. They each spend an hour with her. It's only been two sessions so I have not seen any improvements just yet.

My pedi was not concerned. She said most boys are delayed in speech, plus they are twins.

To get them evaluated does not cost a thing. They have to be at least 30% delayed in order to get therapy. The cost of therapy is based on your household income along with your insurance.

 

I would agree with the other posters too, it cannot hurt to have him evaluated. My DS was evaluated for struggling to crawl and did not qualify for services but I was glad I did it, because they looked him over for physical, speech,etc. My BF's 7 year old son did not talk until he was 2 and he is one of the most intelligent boys I have met, so it could be your DS is waiting until he feels comfy with it, but evaluation will not hurt at all. Good luck and let us know how you make out!

 

You'll feel so much better after you get a professional opinion. My doctor wasn't happy with the our language at our 18 month appointment (maybe 4 words for one - 6 for the other) and said he would check again at 24 months before sending us to therapy.

 

There is no downside to having an evaluation done. If he needs speech, then he will get the therapy he needs. If he doesn't, you will have the peace of mind to know that you checked and he is OK. I had Jon evaluated at 20 months. He needed to score 14 months or below to qualify, he scored 15 months. She told me to check back in 3 months if he didn't have any improvement, he started talking more, so I didn't follow up. Fast forward a year, he had his tonsils out at just over 3, and was doing a weird tongue thrust, so I got him an independent eval, because I figured it was something that could be easily fixed and not a huge deal. Well, I was sort of right--the tongue thrust was no biggie, BUT we discovered a HUGE deficit in expressive speech (he did have words, and used them, but couldn't express himself, especially when upset or agitated). It turned out that the behaviors we attributed to him just being an active boy, was really him lashing out due to frustration at his inability to express his wants and needs. He ended up placed in the preschool disabled program for speech.

One and a half years later, he was dismissed from the program to go to K with no services. Testing showed him to be "an extremely gifted" child. My point is that a speech issue has nothing to do with intelligence, and it is nothing to be scared or afraid of. Good luck!

 

I had this issue at my girls 15mth appt. Samantha was saying words but Addison wasn't. She sent us to the ENT to have her hearing checked. She passed her newborn exam and never has had an ear infection. At the ENT they said her hearing wasn't great in her left ear. Long story short (after a couple months of diff. treatments) she had tubes put in her ears and was literally saying new words within 2 days. I definitely think you should have an evaluation to cover your bases

 

My boy had only one word at 17 months - dada. I called ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) and set up an evaluation and from the time I set the appointment, until the day they came (2.5 weeks later), He had about 10 or 12 words and surpassed his sister. It was crazy! They did not end up qualifying for any speech therapy! I never thought it could happen that fast, but it did! So, don't get too discouraged yet!

 

My one twin says about 3 words and she seems to understand somethings, sometimes I think she just pretends not to. The doctor wasnt' concerned at our last appointment. He said sometimes they are just "thinkers" and dont' want to do something until they get it just right. She tends to really examine a toy from all angles and really has a sense of focus. I've also read that each child has a set pattern of "myelination" or covering of the neurons in the brain. It is only as these neurons become myelinated that they are able to send messages more quickly. I'm just hoping my two are slow myelinators. I think I'm going to wait until closer to 2 yrs of age to get any further treatment. But that is just my choice it is harder for me to go to a ton of doctor appointments.