Toddler speech

Babybump87

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When did your toddler begin to recognise between mummy daddy nanny etc .

DS is 21 months and is behind with his speech yet to say a proper word did say something that sounded like dad a few months back but nothing at all since !

When we say for example where’s daddy he doesn’t know I find this a bit concerning because both my girls know this from around 12-15 months ? And one of them was also behind with speech and went to a SLT.

He babbles an awful lot and has good eye contact and very good understanding will follow simple instructions .

Just wondering when your child was able to point to mummy daddy etc when asked. I’ve been told that boys are slower with their speech multiple times even before DS was born!
 
Is this something you practice with him? Maybe he just hasn't done it enough? Maybe you could play hide and seek or where's daddy/mommy peekaboo games to help him learn.
 
Is there any particular reason that you haven't had him evaluated for speech services? I'm a big advocate for early intervention services.

My son just started saying mommy a couple of months ago, he's 3.5 years old. He clearly understood that I am "mommy" since he was one-ish. You could tell him go find mommy or where is mommy and he would go to me or he'd look at me. What I started doing was playing in the mirror because he likes mirrors. I point to him and say his name, then I point to me and say my name. But we do it in a very sing song way. I agree with PP, I started being careful to say "where did MOMMY go" vs "where did I go". We started pointing and naming people in family pictures. He may not say it right away, but I'm sure he's listening and processing and one day he'll surprise you.

But if he is still predominately babbling at 21 months and has only a small handful of words, I would really encourage you to look into a speech eval and getting him expressive speech services. My son made minimal progress from 18m-30m because it took forever to get him evaluated and find a therapist, then the pandemic hit and they stopped in person speech services (even though it's medically necessary). But in the last 6 months that he's been getting his 1-1 speech again, his speech and social skills have exploded. This is definitely something that benefits the kids long term to have addressed now versus waiting until they are in school.
 
Is this something you practice with him? Maybe he just hasn't done it enough? Maybe you could play hide and seek or where's daddy/mommy peekaboo games to help him learn.

We do all these on a daily basis yes . He loves peekaboo
 
Is there any particular reason that you haven't had him evaluated for speech services? I'm a big advocate for early intervention services.

My son just started saying mommy a couple of months ago, he's 3.5 years old. He clearly understood that I am "mommy" since he was one-ish. You could tell him go find mommy or where is mommy and he would go to me or he'd look at me. What I started doing was playing in the mirror because he likes mirrors. I point to him and say his name, then I point to me and say my name. But we do it in a very sing song way. I agree with PP, I started being careful to say "where did MOMMY go" vs "where did I go". We started pointing and naming people in family pictures. He may not say it right away, but I'm sure he's listening and processing and one day he'll surprise you.

But if he is still predominately babbling at 21 months and has only a small handful of words, I would really encourage you to look into a speech eval and getting him expressive speech services. My son made minimal progress from 18m-30m because it took forever to get him evaluated and find a therapist, then the pandemic hit and they stopped in person speech services (even though it's medically necessary). But in the last 6 months that he's been getting his 1-1 speech again, his speech and social skills have exploded. This is definitely something that benefits the kids long term to have addressed now versus waiting until they are in school.

Couldn’t agree more with everything you said . DD1 went to SLT for immature speech . So I do have some insight into how it all works. We do the same thing with the mirrors as you did with your son and when DH is leaving for work we wave bye bye and I will say something like dada’s gone to work .

I’ve not been able to get him face to face assessed like I did with DD1 because of the pandemic . Like you I feel early intervention is a must but I am so frustrated at the lack of support because of the pandemic. I spoke to my HV a few months ago and she wasn’t concerned at all . I’ve since spoke to a SLT at our local children’s centre and DD1s old SLT . I’ve just last week also spoke to my HV again and she basically said she can’t refer him to SLT until he’s 2. DD1 went to a signing and signing 10 week course (she was around 2 1/2 ) she then had 1-1 and both DDs went to all kinds of playgroups and music groups but obviously DS hasn't been offered this and no playgroups are running . I’ve got a phone call with a SLT in two weeks . This call is to replace the face to face assessment he would have had , had there not been a pandemic . I feel I’ve tried to seek help numerous times but obviously they are only willing to do so much .

Finding it so frustrating . I’m following all the advice I was given with DD1 and implementing games etc.

I really just want someone to assess him face to face but that’s not going to happen!
 
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He listens to everything , I can say to DS sit down I will put your shoes on and he will sit on the stairs . I will say close the door and he will close the door . If I ask if he wants to go out he will go to the front door and try to open it , So he clearly has good understanding .
 
Hugs. That’s really hard. I know our district just started doing evaluations. I feel you. I was crying and fighting for my son’s speech therapy and he already had a treatment plan. Idk your local laws but is there an advocacy program you can search out? Idk about toddlers but in elementary school here you have x many days to evaluate. Even if it is a pandemic because it’s a medical necessity. But even if you can’t get in right now, it sounds like you’re doing everything you can at home hugs
 
Hugs. That’s really hard. I know our district just started doing evaluations. I feel you. I was crying and fighting for my son’s speech therapy and he already had a treatment plan. Idk your local laws but is there an advocacy program you can search out? Idk about toddlers but in elementary school here you have x many days to evaluate. Even if it is a pandemic because it’s a medical necessity. But even if you can’t get in right now, it sounds like you’re doing everything you can at home hugs

I fought hard for DD1 to get SLT the number of drop in clinics I went was hard . I’ve been assured this time it won’t be like that !!

I feel like certain things can and should still take place . Surely someone can assess him from a distance while he’s playing ?!!

Nothing at all until they are 2 in my area . My local play group does a musical session which Ive managed to get him a place on via zoom thankfully starting this week ! They also do a targeted SLT group but obviously it’s closed but his name is down for the first session when they re open .

I can only do so much to help him which frustrates the life out of me because we all want to do more for our kids but I’m just not a SLT!

I’m just going to continue with what I am doing and now that DDs are back at school I can give him 1-1

Thank you , you always reply with such depth and knowledge xx
 
Bit late to the party, but has his hearing been checked more recently? If he's understanding other instructions but can't seem to tell the difference between mummy, daddy, nanny, all of which sound similar it could be a hearing issue?
My experience is that boys are not slower, it's actually quite a damaging stereotype as people tend to ignore things saying "oh its just because he's a boy"
 
Bit late to the party, but has his hearing been checked more recently? If he's understanding other instructions but can't seem to tell the difference between mummy, daddy, nanny, all of which sound similar it could be a hearing issue?
My experience is that boys are not slower, it's actually quite a damaging stereotype as people tend to ignore things saying "oh its just because he's a boy"
Oh gosh I am sooooo sick of hearing it’s a boy thing . Boys are slower !! It’s so damn annoying and frustrating now ! He actually hasn’t had a hearing test but I assume he can hear just fine as if I whisper or call him from another room he can hear me ? I will be seeking a hearing test anyway and SLT require them to have one before attending and sessions!
 
My brother was 4 before his loss of hearing was picked up on, that's the only reason I thought of it at all really, but with him my mum thought he was being rude and ignoring her so I'd guess if he's hearing whispers etc then it's probably not that.
 
My brother was 4 before his loss of hearing was picked up on, that's the only reason I thought of it at all really, but with him my mum thought he was being rude and ignoring her so I'd guess if he's hearing whispers etc then it's probably not that.
Yeah it’s something we are going to get checked out 100% anyway so thank you for mentioning it! X
 
Good luck, I hope you get to the bottom of it whatever the cause
 
Yay! Great update! It’s all building blocks, so that’s awesome you’re seeing progress!
 
Yay! Great update! It’s all building blocks, so that’s awesome you’re seeing progress!
Thanks Dobby I’m just glad I’ve started to see a little something we can now build on as you say! X
 

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