2 year old who doesn't speak- discipline- wont sit in time out

I need advice and I was hoping I could ask you girls for help.

my 2 year old doesn't talk yet. Long story short, he got tubes put in and couldn't hear prior to 15 months in 1 ear. We missed EI by 7 points and have been seeing a speech pathologist twice a week through our insurance for 2 months now.

My question is about discipline though. My son is a big hitter, pulls my hair and just gets nasty. I do time outs every time he hits. They worked well until he learned how to get down. Or he'll stand up on the chair which isn't very safe. If we put him on a spot on the stairs or floor... he just walks away. I've tried putting him in the sitting position on the chair over and over again. and over and over. He screams his face off, but yet he won't sit. He's just so persistent.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do?

I feel like his tantrums and him freaking out in timeout are escalated because he can't talk. But I don't want him thinking that any of his behaviors are okay. I also don't want to go easy on him because he can't talk, although I understand his frustration.

help please. advice please.

2 year old who doesn't speak- discipline- wont sit in time out

When was he last evaluated by EI. I would reach out the them again as if he has hearing issues and is not speaking at all by 2 he should qualify.

I do not have much advice on discipline. It is very hard. Our DD didn't speak until after 4 years old and it was a nightmare. We mostly did redirection and praised her when she did the correct thing. Time outs did not work and it was more trying for me then for her. If she hit someone we would say no and show how to do "nice" and then just move her to a different activity.

Do you do any signing with your DS or use PECs? They really help out when a child is non verbal and a lot of their tantrums are from not being able to communication. The signing or PEC cards help them out in letting you know what they need/want. Your speech pathologist should have started you on one of though routes while working on the language.

Re: 2 year old who doesn't speak- discipline- wont sit in time out

2 year old who doesn't speak- discipline- wont sit in time out

It does get easier but it was very hard when she was younger. She is 7 now and doesn't shut up so things do change : ). I think you still need to reprimand him but he most likely doesn't understand...I would say a firm NO and then redirect.

Look up pec boards on line and there are a ton. They are basically little picture the kids can point to when they want to communicate. You can also make your own by taking pictures of things in your house such as the potty or his favorite snacks. My DD still loves to sign. There are a bunch of apps on the Ipad that t teach it as well.

Re: 2 year old who doesn't speak- discipline- wont sit in time out

My DS stays in time out, but it's my typical 2 year old who doesn't. I used to sit in time out with her an ignore her, but honestly I think all that taught her is that she will get 1:1 time with me if she acts out. I just setup the pack n play a few weeks ago. When she hits, I put her in there for time out. I have to say it seems to be working. I left it up for 2 weeks, we used it 2 or 3 times and then I put it away. When she acts up, I open the closet and threaten to set it up again. Seems to be working.

Re: 2 year old who doesn't speak- discipline- wont sit in time out

it took three timeouts of over an hour of putting DS back into timeout to learn that his butt is staying in timeout.

If DH puts him in timeout he will get up and walkaway.

Re: 2 year old who doesn't speak- discipline- wont sit in time out

Re: 2 year old who doesn't speak- discipline- wont sit in time out

Keep up the timeouts. My friend used to put her son strapped in a highchair for timeout because he would not stay in his chair.

Make sure you walk away, ignore him when he is being punished. Hopefully when he gets more words, he will not act out physically as much.

2 year old who doesn't speak- discipline- wont sit in time out

DS turned 2 in Sept. He's been seeing ST since June. He now has a vocabulary of about 15 words. He acted out a lot. I did a lot of redirection. I feel like I did not sit down for 6-9 months. Since he has gotten more words his acting out has calmed down a lot. When he does act out I always talk to him about it but all I get is a blank stare. I never knew what was normal 2 year old behavior and what was not.
Did you ask the speech pathologist you are seeing for any advice? Ours gave me some great tips for dealing with outbursts.

I also agree with PP about PEC boards. I didn't use them but when I starting asking DS to show me what he wanted things started to get better. Our ST showed us only 2 signs and we still use them. More and done were enough to get the point across usually.

Message edited 12/18/2013 9:29:11 PM.

Re: 2 year old who doesn't speak- discipline- wont sit in time out

Hi! I am a professional in the field you can FM me if you have any questions! The first question i would ask myself is what is actually causing these behaviors. (Saying he is frustrated isn't specific enough) for example if he is trying to get your attention or trying to ask you for a desired item you can work on ways to get him to communicate these things. Hopefully this will decrease the behavior.