Melinda Said:

2nd birthday next month & still not talking?

We Answered:

Hi, I work with children aged 2-3 and quite a few of my children still don't speak.
Some of them like your son has very good understanding of the world around them but appear to be too lazy to talk, either that or older siblings normally talk for them.
We had a Speech and Language Therapist come in one day to observe a few children and they also went to their homes, we got a lot of feedback from them and activities to do with the children to induce talking.
It did wonders for some of them and their speech really took of but then again some of them are still struggling.
Just give him time, it will come to him when he's ready. Just constantly talk to him, pointing things out and give him so much praise when he does start to talk.
Good luck!

Ramona Said:

What are some reasons for speech delay?

We Answered:

Hey sweetie. I haven't seen any Qs from you in awhile. Thought maybe you'd disappeared. (I like to keep up with the moms I know from here who have little ones close in age to my Avary - she's almost 21 months). Anyway, I responded to a quite similar question last night or the night before so I'm jsut going to cut and paste my (rather lengthy) answer from there here - hope you don't mind. :>)

Here was the Q: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;…

Here is my answer:
First of all, you are not doing anything wrong. Just the fact that you are on this board asking this question tells me you are a very involved and concerned mother so relax. Second, as I'm sure you've heard hundreds of times in the past, every baby develops at his or her own rate. My daughter is almost 21 months old and there are babes in her playgroup that say many words at 12 months and others that speak hardly at all and when they do it is extremely difficult to understand what they are saying - all are in the range of normal, however.

My daughter (again, almost 21 months) speaks very well. She even constructs sentences instead of just repeating phrases or parroting back what I say. For example, she started saying "I love you" over the summer. Now, just a few days ago, she started replying to my "I love you monkey la-la (her nickname) with "I do too mommy." It's the funniest thing because no one says that to her. In fact I'm pretty sure no one has ever said that to her. They say "I love you Avary." Since all babes/toddlers are different, it's difficult to say if what works with one child will work with another but I can tell you what I've done with my daughter.

I am a single mom and due to an Army-incurred disability, I can not work so I am at home with her 24/7. Needless to say it can get a little lonely sometimes so I have found myself (from day one) chattering away to her as though she were my best friend and understood my every word. I also taught her quite a bit of sign language as I said the spoken words when she was much younger (I think I began that when she was around 4 months old). She was an early starter and I have just always continued talking to her... A LOT! :>) I think the more you speak to a babe throughout the day/evening, the more they pick up, understand and eventually speak. For example, when I am cleaning the house I tell her what I am doing as I am doing it and even make up silly little songs about the activities I'm doing. Or when I give her a bath I say "OK, now we need to clean your arm, give mommy your arm" and she'll give me her arm - that way I know she understands exactly what I'm saying. Eventually she would repeat "arm" with a big grin on her face as she lifted her arm for me to wash. You get the idea. It was funny, a few weeks ago I went shopping alone, while my mom babysat my daughter, for the first time in a very long time. I found myself having to hold my tongue on several occasions because I started talking to myself, LOL! Or at least that's what it looked like. I've gotten so used to speaking most of my thoughts and verbalizing my activities aloud that I feel strange when I can't. It was then that I realized I sounded like one of those characters on a soap opera who talks aloud to the air so the viewers can hear their thoughts. You know what I mean right? Like how there is always some stupid person speaking aloud about how she hopes her target just drank the poison she put in their drink and just then the wrong person (of course) walks in just in time to hear her saying it and you are thinking to yourself "wow, this is so stupid. No one talks aloud to themself like that. Well, that's me now. LMAO!

So my point is, just talk to her. Talk about everything and anything. Read books with pictures so she can put a picture to the word and understand what it means. Animal sounds are another great way to get her talking. You know, "what does the cow say?" "What does the pig say?" That sort of thing. Repetition is great too. And depending on the weather, take a field trip. THere is nothing like the real thing to get a little babe excited and talking. Bring her to a farm to see the animals in person, or to a museum or aquarium. Don't worry if you think she's too young to enjoy the experience. Babes are like little sponges at this age. They take in so much and learn tons every day - it's quite amazing if you think about it. Does she get a chance to play with other kids that speak? Being around your friend's son would probably be great for her. Babes love to mimic each other too. And by the way, even if they look like they aren't "playing together" at this age it's completely normal. Most young toddlers haven't developed the social skills yet to play together with other children; but the more they are around other tots their own age, the quicker they pick up on everything.

There's also strong evidence to support the fact that often babes will focus on one area more than others, depending on their individual learning style and personality. For example, perhaps your daughter is very mobile and focusing a lot of attention on walking or learning to run, or maybe she loves to play with her crayons and draw and is focusing attention on that. A lot of experts believe that some children get so into learning a certain task that they completely ignore another milestone (like speech or walking, etc.) while they focus all their at

(Huh? Look at that. I guess my answer was too long or something because it ended right there.) I think what I was going to say was "while they focus all their at..." ...tention on that skill they ignore another milestone, like speech. That woman's baby was only 14 months old but I think the answer is about the same. If Ava's hearing is testing fine and she acts "normal" in all other respects, I don't think you really have anything to worry about. I can imagine it is frustrating, especially if she is in a playgroup with other kids that speak a lot. Just hang in there and talk her ears off. Eventually she is going to start babbling away - and trust me, when that happens you are going to be missing the days of silence, LOL! (Nah, just kidding. Every new word is precious.) Good luck. Hope this helped some.)

Byron Said:

4 year old speech delays.. wondering what might be the cause?

We Answered:

Most of the time there is no known reason for speech delay or a developmental language disorder. Moms often beat themselves up over either problem, when there is no blame at all.
See your school district and apply to Head Start. He is elegible because of the speech issues.

Miguel Said:

How do i get my 28 month old to speak?

We Answered:

When babies learn to talk there are two things going on - speaking and also language acquisition.

Don't worry too much about him talking, he will talk soon.

Rather, talk to him a lot. Talk to him all day long .... keep up a running commentary about what you are doing, what you are seeing - everything.

When you get him out of his bed in the morning say "Good Morning, it is a lovely day outside, shall we peek out the curtains to see if the sun is shining today?"

Talk about anything and everything!

Travis Said:

what to do about my sons speech, is he just a late talker?

We Answered:

Isn't it wonderful being a parent.. It doesn't get any better as they get older.. lol

Babies haven't read the text books so they just develop at their own speed. Your son sounds normal to me.

We worried about our eldest when he was young. We were worried he wasn't developing his speech properly. He grew out of it. He sounds perfectly normal now. He has been offered a place at Cambridge Uni so it didn't do him any harm. Yours will probably be the same. :-)