Daughter cant talk

DVardysShadow

tiamai_d wrote: »

I was talking about Makaton which has been designed as a language aid as opposed to BSL which is a language in it's own right. I'd mentioned that in a previous post and was adding to it.

You are quite clear about the distinction and in one sense you are right, that BSL is a language, in that it will have books which record its grammar and vocabulary quite formally [I would imagine]. Whereas Makaton [http://www.makaton.org/about/about.htm] is designed with a much more limited remit from what I can see.

Harking on about Pinker, I am quite convinced from his writings, that in the hands of children Makaton would quickly develop into a full language in a very few years and become adequate to describe anything within their experience.

In the situation you are using it for, plainly it is not a full language, but for the small set of people in your family who use it alongside speech, it will be very definitely a part of language

zenmaster

I saw this article about it the other day.

DVardysShadow

zenmaster wrote: »

I saw this article about it the other day.

Interesting that 'No' features as first word for a few, but not 'Yes'

tiamai_d

DVardysShadow wrote: »

You are quite clear about the distinction and in one sense you are right, that BSL is a language, in that it will have books which record its grammar and vocabulary quite formally [I would imagine]. Whereas Makaton [http://www.makaton.org/about/about.htm] is designed with a much more limited remit from what I can see.

Harking on about Pinker, I am quite convinced from his writings, that in the hands of children Makaton would quickly develop into a full language in a very few years and become adequate to describe anything within their experience.

In the situation you are using it for, plainly it is not a full language, but for the small set of people in your family who use it alongside speech, it will be very definitely a part of language

Oh yes, while DS2 has only just grasped the concept that he has to use these signs (Makaton), his 'language' from about 18month/2 years has been a combination of made up signs, actions, mimes and gestures. The one that sticks out is when he told me, after I said that his little sister looked just like him, 'she doesn't look like me because her hair is short and mine is long'. He said this by gesturing no (head shake and No! face), pointing to little sister, and then miming hair clippers cutting hair (complete with buzzz sounds), pointing to little sisters head and finally pulling at his own hair.

They find a way to comunicate! :rotfl::T

MadDogWoman_2

weenickieS,

My DD is 3 in April too! Her speech is behind some of her peers - the HV is ringing in April to check how her speech is as it wasn't good enough at her 2.5 year check.

DD started using Makaton herself after watching Mr Tumble as Tia said she used it and aid to make her wishes clearer to.

At her last HV check they weren't happy with her speech and said that they will do a follow up check at 3, her speech has come a long way since October but I still consider it behind some of her peers.

This is despite attending a 2 toddler groups a week since birth, lots of being read to and nursery rhymes.

On the flip side she did walk at 11 months and is an independant little miss.

So do try not to worry she will get there, and as others have said as long as she has understanding her speech will come.

MDW

VeganClaire

Make sure her hearing is checked and get a SaLT assessment. If you can do a HANAN course - they are really good for ideas on how to envourage your child to speak, SaLT teams often offer this or similar courses. You don't need to wait until nursery for a referral to SaLT team, your health visitor or GP should be able to help you make a referral now. If you have a sure start centre they may also have a SaLT team.

Ican is a good resource of information for parents. They have online resources that include ideas of games etc you can do with your child to encourage her language development.

Don't worry about the signing it won't stop her talking, but might help her language development.

NoAngel

My nephew is Six and can hardly talk. He can just about make himself understood, but his 3 year old sister is much easier to speak to. Part of the problem is glue ear, so definately push for a hearing test.

I would say that he's come a long way since he started SALT and did really well at nursey in comparison to staying at home or being with a childminder. I think your healthcare professionals will hang on a while before they intervene though as they may be just a late starter.

My sister gets educational supplies such as puzzle books, story books on CD etc to try and help him on his way

DVardysShadow

tiamai_d wrote: »

Oh yes, while DS2 has only just grasped the concept that he has to use these signs (Makaton), his 'language' from about 18month/2 years has been a combination of made up signs, actions, mimes and gestures. The one that sticks out is when he told me, after I said that his little sister looked just like him, 'she doesn't look like me because her hair is short and mine is long'. He said this by gesturing no (head shake and No! face), pointing to little sister, and then miming hair clippers cutting hair (complete with buzzz sounds), pointing to little sisters head and finally pulling at his own hair.

They find a way to comunicate! :rotfl::T

That is quite a complex thought for a little one to express! I can understand that it could be too much to hope that it would be verbalised. In a sense, probably the ability to have the thoughts is outstripping the ability to say them - and it may be that things which are in reach of actually saying he thinks are too trivial to be worth saying?

[Well done you for understanding]

tiamai_d

DVardysShadow wrote: »

That is quite a complex thought for a little one to express! I can understand that it could be too much to hope that it would be verbalised. In a sense, probably the ability to have the thoughts is outstripping the ability to say them - and it may be that things which are in reach of actually saying he thinks are too trivial to be worth saying?

[Well done you for understanding]

His problems are physical, the muscles in his mouth are just not able to form the shapes needed to produce words, so everything is slurred. He can't change from one syllable to the next either. But his understanding of complex ideas is very advanced for his age (5 in April, 6 months developmental delay in other things).

Blackpool_Saver

See your GP and get a private referral to a paediatrician, don't wait until NHS times kick in, get moving on this now.