Speech, so when do you worry?

I just read a post in First Year about a 7 month old who is talking. Yes, 7 months. I know, I keep reading "Don't worry, language really takes off 18-24 months". I have been reassured by EI that signs count, too, and they do know a good number of signs and pick those up rather quickly. But here at 17 months, Bea can say cat, that(dat), hi, bye, and shoes. Ainsley says cat, that, and hi. I heard a 13 month old say "thank you" the other day. Sometimes I feel like mine are so behind in language, like I'm doing something wrong. I talk and sign to them all the time. Even with signing, Bea signs stuff wrong a lot (like clapping her hands for "cat", she does baby and bear the same, stuff like that). Ainsley does "cat" and "doll" on her forehead, what's that about?

Anyway, sorry for rambling. Just wondering when I should really be concerned about speech.

 

I just read a post in First Year about a 7 month old who is talking. Yes, 7 months. I know, I keep reading "Don't worry, language really takes off 18-24 months". I have been reassured by EI that signs count, too, and they do know a good number of signs and pick those up rather quickly. But here at 17 months, Bea can say cat, that(dat), hi, bye, and shoes. Ainsley says cat, that, and hi. I heard a 13 month old say "thank you" the other day. Sometimes I feel like mine are so behind in language, like I'm doing something wrong. I talk and sign to them all the time. Even with signing, Bea signs stuff wrong a lot (like clapping her hands for "cat", she does baby and bear the same, stuff like that). Ainsley does "cat" and "doll" on her forehead, what's that about?

Anyway, sorry for rambling. Just wondering when I should really be concerned about speech.

 

I was told not to worry until 18 months, but I got an EI eval at 14 months and had Andrew in speech therapy around 15 months. I think it doesn't hurt to get an eval! Do you have access to EI there?

 

We were told 2 years old. At their 2 year checkup out pedi sent Dustin for a speach eval due to the fact he only said about 5 words.

 

At 17 months ours didn't say much more that what yours are saying. We are now a couple of weeks shy of 2 and DS has about 35 words and DD has about 50. They pick stuff up every week. Honestly, don't stress too much every kid develops at their own pace.

 

NEVER compare your babies to others or even with each other! They are all different and some just don't have a whole bunch to say.

I started worrying with my 6 yr old @ 24 months. He did not say anything at all!

No, I would not worry at 17 months and your little ones sound like they are doing great!

 

My mum got me a copy of "What to Expect - the Toddler Years" (which I ended up giving to the op shop because it seemed to take itself so seriously - sorry to any devotees out there!). But it did have an awful lot on speech and from what I remember, at 18 months anything from 6-50 words places a child above the 75th percentile (for what that's worth). My girls had about 45 words at 18 months, but not consistently (I, too, got a little concerned and started writing down any new words I heard, and some, we only heard once and then not again for months). Now, at 2 2/12, they're putting between three and six words together in sentences and I'm happy with how they're doing. But my friends' twin daughters, who are 10 months younger, are saying nearly as much as my two! So it does seem to vary hugely; my little niece said about three words at 17 months, and is now a card-carrying member of the "story-writing club" for gifted readers and story tellers at her school.

I reckon a speech evaluation would get you the nitty-gritty of your daughters' language development. There are receptive language tests they can do, I understand, even at 17 or 18 months, and it could be that your little ones are taking in everything and storing it away, ready to describe particle theory to you as soon as they turn two!

Good luck!

 

Mine did not talk, AT ALL, until 25 and 27 months. And then they exploded, and now they are advanced, Olivia in particular. I never had them evaluated. My dad talked late, my mother's brother talked late, my second son talked late (my first son talked early). Since I have been around a lot of highly articulate people who were late to talk, and since they clearly could understand me when I gave them instructions, I just waited, and sure enough, they caught up.

 

I had Jon evaluated at 21 months because he only had a few words. We had just completed a 6 months speech study, and Marc would fill the page daily with the words he said, and Jon would say around 3 words a day. At that point EI found a slight delay, but not enough to qualify for services. His speech did increase at around 2, so I didn't call back. He also had a marked increase in speech around every 6 months after that. Fast foward to around 3 years old. He had his toncils out and started doing a weird tongue thrust thing, so I brought him in for an independant eval. Turned out he has an expressive speech delay, BUT what qualified him for special needs preschool was that he was having behavior issues as a result of the speech problems.

The reason I say all this is because a big factor is, are they frustrated by their lack of words? If they are frustrated, get another eval. If not, I would wait. According to my friends ped, frustration at not being able to communicate is more of a problem than just not having words.

 

I have to agree with the other ladies on not comparing your child to others. My miracles jut turned 4 in October. Our daughter Kendall was always advanced but our son "seemed" to be way behind her. We contemplated speech eval quite a few times but man oh man has he exploded and come into his own. We just did not want to throw in that added pressure. Kids do develop at their own pace. Personally, please no one take offense, I think 17 months is too young to determine - again - just mho.

Another thing with twins, if one is the major talker (like dd was), the other feels like - why should I talk? They still get all the benefits (treats or whatever). That is how it was with dd and ds. He was the physical one and could move things out of the way and such for her but she was the talker. Now - you would never know - he is very articulate.

Anyhow - hope this helps and good luck

 

quote:
Do you have access to EI there?


Ainsley is currently in EI for gross motor delays. At her last re-eval (14 months) she was not considered delayed enough in speech to qualify, but the coordinator comes out once a month to see how she is doing. Last month, she said if her speech hasn't significantly picked up by the next eval (20 months), she will probably qualify.
With Bea, I thought she was going to start talking, but she seems to have slowed down with that. I'll ask if I can have her evaluated too if she's not making much progress.

quote:
NEVER compare your babies to others or even with each other! They are all different and some just don't have a whole bunch to say.


I try not to compare, but I also just don't know sometimes what they should be doing, so I look at other children around their age and see what they are up to.


quote:
The reason I say all this is because a big factor is, are they frustrated by their lack of words? If they are frustrated, get another eval. If not, I would wait. According to my friends ped, frustration at not being able to communicate is more of a problem than just not having words.


Bea can get across her wants most of the time with pointing and "eh eh" or signing. Ainsley does seem frustrated at times, she also doesn't seem to understand what I am saying a lot. She can't follow instructions like pick up the cup, give this to Mommy, etc. I'll ask about the receptive speech the next time the EI coordinator is out. Ainsley actually has more signs than Bea, but hers are more identifying objects (dog, cat, flower) type of thing than communicating needs.

 

My kids are late talkers, and although they have not "taken off" necessarily, they each know a few words (Hannah knows more, and combines them). BUT, they come from a family of VERY late talkers. So we are just waiting patiently!

It is frustrating, isn't it?

 

I agree that if you are worried, call your local EI adn explain your concerns. It will at least give you more concrete info to base your concerns on and they can help.

I am also concerned with my 2 and their speech. My first two spoke really well really early. They both spoke 7 word sentences by 24 months. Had a ton of words by 18 months.

My twins are saying mama, dada, and uh-oh. That's it. They have refused to sign. They look at me signing and if it is what they want they will get excited but will not repeat the signs. My dd is already in PT and the Thereapist thinks that she is a bit behind becaseu she is working on her physical stuff right now. That doesn't really explain Kyle's lack of words.

I am planning on haivng them evaled soon for this. I will not wait until they are 2 years old and have a ped recommend it becaseu by then they are really significantly behind. It can't hurt to be proactive. The worst/best thing they will say is they are fine and don't need follow up at this time, right?

For me the important part of speech is not that they won't catch up (I believe they will eventually), but the frustration they will have in trying to communicate in the mean time. That is why I want it addressed ASAP.

 

If you are concerned, call. Honestly, waiting to 2 isn't necessary. My older son got evaluated at 16/17 months, I forget, and started therapy..two times a week. He still needed services at 3 and is now in the preschool program in our district. He finally caught up. I still think he isn't quite up to other kids we know, but he is caught up, based on standardized tests. It took THAT long to catch him up. He was only delayed in expressive language.

Now Logan has been in EI for gross motor since 5 months. There was a lapse in services and we just did a full new eval. I figured his speech was behind but surprised, to some extent at how far behind. At 17 months he is coming out 10-11 months.

It is not too early to call. The earlier you get an eval, the better. To wait until 2, would have meant Aidan was that much more behind. His frustrations came out in various ways. None that were really obvious at the time. BUT, by getting him in before he was 2, he just got 6-7 months more of service AND it still took until 3.5 to catch him up. So to me waiting, when you are worried isn't doing anyone a benefit.

 

I totally think that if you are feeling concerned, you should talk to EI, especially since you already have a relationship with them.

That said, YES, what is considered "normal" is totally all over the board -- we literally only had ONE word when my girls turned 18 months, "kitty," which they had been saying for almost 6 months. But nothing other than that. Well, by the time we actually had their 18-month pedi appointment, which was about 10 days after they turned 18 mos, I was able to tell the pedi they each had 8-12 words! (Which, BTW, the pedi was totally pleased by.) And it has really exploded from there.

I stopped tracking about about 40-50 words, but I just did a quick tally, so I'm sure I left off a bunch of words I didn't think of off the top of my head, but I came up with 130 words, including over a dozen in Spanish (their daycare provider speaks Spanish to them and they are picking it up very quickly). So it totally can just explode almost overnight -- that's more than a word a day that they're picking up since they started talking, and it's in overdrive right now. They are both starting to put 2 and occasionally 3 words together, and it's just coming along in leaps and bounds every day.

If I were you I wouldn't be concerned about it right now, but it's never a bad idea to have it checked out. I think the receptive language is probably a bigger issue at this point, but as far as expressive language goes, I don't think you have anything to worry about yet.

 

If it is any consolation our kids our the same age and saying about the same amount of words. Kelby says, dog, hi, whats that, mama, dada, bye bye, and book.

Kaylee on the other hand says mama and dada, hi. I think she says that for whats that. She is now starting to wave bye bye and kinda says it. I think she is behind because she always says doooooooo or ehhhhh for something she wants.

I am not concerned yet, but if it doesn't pick up I may get an eval. I wouldn't worry about it so much yet. I guess the reason I am not concerned yet is because if I say something, Like go get me this, she goes and knows what it is. She can also point to all of her body parts, so maybe the language is coming later. Who knows.

 

My pedi kept telling me to wait until 2, "if he's not saying 6 words by 24 months, then we'll worry". Well, I was worried before, and rightfully so.

At 21 months, I found twinstuff which told me to follow my instincts. With the places to look listed, I was able to make an appointment and found that my 21 month old son was at a 12 month old level. I'm still upset at that doctor.

At any rate, "go with your instinct" you know them best. If they can come out and do another evaluation, then that's the best thing at the time. If they don't see a need, but you still do, then get some books and help them in ways that you can.

 

kelly - mine are talking a ton, but they still do lots of signs "wrong" - e.g., cameron signs cat by his ears. so just wanted to assure you that even mine, who are talking great, don't "get" all the signs right. it's great that they are signing so much - i think the speech will catch up in no time (mine generally say and sign the word together if they know the sign and that often helps me know what they are saying).

 

we had an EI speech consult and if you already have delays it is easier to qual. for speech, so we are having a supplemental eval done before our IFSP period is over. The ST said 10 words by 18 mos. and that it is hard to qual before 18 mos if the receptive language is good. So have the eval done and get more services!! I am . I just think if the services are out there I might as well take advantage!!!

 

quote:
Originally posted by ruthjulia:
kelly - mine are talking a ton, but they still do lots of signs "wrong" - e.g., cameron signs cat by his ears. so just wanted to assure you that even mine, who are talking great, don't "get" all the signs right.


That's good to know, thanks! It's cute and kind of funny the ways they both do "cat", which is their favorite word/sign. They love the cats and get so excited when one comes near.

 

I wonder this too. Mine are 14 months and I feel like they should be talking more than they are. (Apparently I talked before my first birthday -- so, naively, I expected my kids to do the same.) They have almost no recognizable spoken words -- every once in a while we think we hear one, but they say it for a day or two and then never again. They only have about 5 signs, too -- milk, more, drink, bye-bye, and daddy -- plus they use "milk," "more," and "drink" almost interchangeably whenever they want something. I figured I'd try not to worry until at least 18 months.

But at any rate, don't worry about them making the signs wrong. Think about how toddlers pronounce spoken words. If we only gave them credit for having a word if they pronounced it perfectly, their first "real" word would be at the age of 3.

 

We did a speech study from 14-20 months or so. A "word" is defined as a consistant utterance. For example if they say "Geg" (my boys name for Greg from the Wiggles--that was a word. If they say "ba" when they want a drink, that is also a word.

 

My identical twin boys are 16 months and I wonder sometimes if they are saying enough, too. They say "mamama" for me and "dadadada" for my husband and "bababa" for the bottle and binky and the other day the one said "Na" for his sister Natalie and they both mimick the word "no" when I tell them no. I do not sign with them-but they make their needs known by complaining or going to the gate in the kitchen if they want a drink or food. They wave bye bye, play peek-a-boo and follow one step commands. Based on what I am reading it is probably too soon to be worried, huh?