Question for those with late talkers...20 mths or over.

If you had a late talker when did they say their first word? Was it on their own or did they have speech therapy?

Rylan is 20 months old and still hasn't said anything. I had him evaluated at 18 mths but he didn't qualify. I'm going to have him evaluated again at 24 mths if we still have nothing.

I'm just wondering how late is "ok"? I'm getting a little nervous and worried but when should I be extremely concerned?

Re: Question for those with late talkers...20 mths or over.

not sure...but at 24 mos, he only had 7 everyday words and maybe 60 one hit wonders that we neve heard again.

Re: Question for those with late talkers...20 mths or over.

My nephew did not talk until after his 2nd birthday and when my sister had him tested at 24 months he qualified for speech services. At 7 years old he is still receiving speech services in school, but it's mainly for grammatical errors that have not corrected themselves. Other than that he is a perfectly normal speaking kid who was able to catch up with his peers by the time he went to school.

eta: he said a few words around 12 months and then just stopped talking. at 24 months he had no words at all.

Message edited 12/3/2009 9:49:06 AM.

Re: Question for those with late talkers...20 mths or over.

I started my son in private therapy at 18 months after he did not qualify for EI at that time... he had zero words and even his babbling was limited. (he didn't qualify because his receptive language was strong)

About a month or two into therapy, which was 3x a week, he said "mama", "daddy", and "up". It progressed slowly like that until a little after 2 yrs old, when I feel he really took off.

Today he is 3 1/2 and outside of a mild articulation problem that I still take him to therapy for, you would never believe he had a delay. He tells stories, makes up jokes, chats nonstop, tells me all the details about his mornings at school. His nursery school teacher told me he is actually one of the most verbal children in the class. Good luck!

Re: Question for those with late talkers...20 mths or over.

DD#1 did not talk until around 24 months. She had no intervention. She just started talking one day and it was a huge word explosion in a very short period of time. She is almost nine and still hasn't shut up The Dr was not going to do anything until she was over 2 years.

Re: Question for those with late talkers...20 mths or over.

Thanks guys. I'm not going to do anything until the 24 month eval. If I knew there was a definate problem I would go privately but don't want to pay a $30 copay each time if he's just a late talker.

It's starting to get a little frustrating for both of us. I sometimes feel like he's the only one not talking at his age

Re: Question for those with late talkers...20 mths or over.

honestly, does he understand everything you say?
does he follow directions?

I admit I was shocked mine was a late talker. Nothing but attention and stimulation given to this kid...singing, reading all the time...he is such a smartie, I had no idea what the hold up was.

He just wasn't ready. One morning he just woke up speaking and never stopped.

We started speech at 25 mos.

Even now he is a kid of little words, unless around the right crowd...he's just a quiet guy.

But still soooo smart.

Re: Question for those with late talkers...20 mths or over.

DS didn't talk until age 3, but he has speech delays and we are working on it. BUT DD didn't really start to talk until around 20 months, but her language exploded at age 2 with sentences and everything. It is considered "late" when they turn two and there are still no real words.

Re: Question for those with late talkers...20 mths or over.

Posted by Janice

honestly, does he understand everything you say?
does he follow directions?

I admit I was shocked mine was a late talker. Nothing but attention and stimulation given to this kid...singing, reading all the time...he is such a smartie, I had no idea what the hold up was.

He just wasn't ready. One morning he just woke up speaking and never stopped.

We started speech at 25 mos.

Even now he is a kid of little words, unless around the right crowd...he's just a quiet guy.

But still soooo smart.

Re: Question for those with late talkers...20 mths or over.

He said mama and dada (with understanding) around 18 months, but that was it. By 21 months he added bump to his words. I had him evaluated at 21 months and he did qualify.

You can try again now if you want to--I think EI told me we could have DS evaluated again in 3 months if he didn't qualify, though I'm not sure if they meant 24 months which was 3 months for him.

DS didn't really start adding more words until very recently, after about 2 months of therapy.

Re: Question for those with late talkers...20 mths or over.

My DD talked early but my BIL didn't talk until he was three and my MIL was an elementary schoold teacher. This was way before there was anything like EI. He is now a successful Naval Architect with a very active social life. Some kids just talk late. As long as he understands everything at this point, I do not think you need to worry.

I would work with him on language skills. Read books, Dr. Suess is great for languge flow. Talk to him about everything all day long. Sing songs and nursery rhymes. Give simple instruction and show him how to follow it, for example get the book (show him how you get the book and hand it to him and ask him to do it in return.)

Re: Question for those with late talkers...20 mths or over.

Jack only said Dada for what seems like ages. Then he started to get speech at around 19 months. After that his vocabulary increased every month. Now at 2.5 he has a ton of words and strings two/three together at a time. What he does not have is the spontaneous conversations that I see other kids his age having which is why I'm hoping he'll qualify again when they re-evalate him.

Once Rylan turns 24 months, if he doesn't have any words (even if he only has a few words) I would def. have him evaluated again. EI will do wonders for him and he may qualify because they have a whole new set of standards!

I know how frustrating it is for him (and you) when he can't get what he's trying to say out, or get his point across. It is sooooo hard!

Re: Question for those with late talkers...20 mths or over.

22-23 months...he said mama/dada and door.

Now he is really taking off w? his talking...30 months old...

Re: Question for those with late talkers...20 mths or over.

Posted by DmarieK

Thanks guys. I'm not going to do anything until the 24 month eval. If I knew there was a definate problem I would go privately but don't want to pay a $30 copay each time if he's just a late talker.

It's starting to get a little frustrating for both of us. I sometimes feel like he's the only one not talking at his age