Daughter cant talk

nikki702

My daughter was the same, when she started nursery she couldn’t talk she would just say mum and nan or she would just point, it didn’t worry me too much until I realised that other children at nursery were talking A LOT!

I went to the GP and told him I was concerned about her, although I knew she could understand everything.

He referred her to have her hearing checked which came back as ok, she was then referred to speech and language and also occupational therapy, they assessed her and came into her nursery to set targets with her nursery staff.

She wouldn’t play with the children because they could talk and she couldn’t so she used to just stand alongside them and watch.

She eventually started to talk it didn’t take her too long, now she has just turned 5 and is still under speech and language and occupational therapy but she don’t shut up now

She still has problems with pronouncing certain letters (F, S, V) but she is getting there and has language groups within school every week

What annoyed me the most is when she was late in walking and talking everyone was saying ohhh she should be walking now...she should be talking now... something is wrong!

Try not to worry because ALL children are different and when she is ready she will be chatting for England...

money_saving_diva

Hi, I am no expert but I am a sahm to my son who is 2yrs 3 months old. His friends are very forward in their language skills which makes me worry but I think he is about 'normal'. However, because his friends are further on than him it makes me think about his speech more than I might have done if we had different friends. One thing I found is that my son makes up his own signs, which I now understand and I found myself for example giving him a drink when he put his hand on his head and grunted because I knew he meant drink. Now I make him say 'juice please', 'cup please', 'more juice please' etc before I react and ignore the sign because I know he can ask for what he wants. Also another thing I found I did wrong (imo) I use to ask him things in lots of different ways because I thought this would broaded his language skills but I think I was wrong. For example if we needed to pack toys away I might have said 'please put the toy in the box', then another time say 'tidy up please' and again another time say 'lets put the toys back nicely'. I was confusing him with too many phases all at once (imo). I now try and use the same phases and when he can say it too I might move onto putting it a different way. So now when we tidy up I use 'please put the toys back' or 'it is tidy up time' and he doesn't get frustated because he knows what that all means as I use those lines alot. Does that make sense? When you think how much info a 2 year old has to take in I am amazed!! I wouldn't worry too much yet but you are right to discuss it with your HV.

specsappeal

gosh, reading the op took me back a few years. My ds (now a strapping 16 year old) did not speak at all until he was 5. Nobody could tell me why. he had 18 months of speech therapy and still no talking. He was taught sign language instead. Then at about 5 and a half he was put into a speech and language school. They had him saying his first word within a week (the word was ball lol). He was diagnosed with dyspraxia with verbal dyspraxia being the biggest challenge for him. He just did not know how to work the muscles in his mouth in order to form words. He spent his whole school life in special schools but this was best for him. As i said he is now 16 and i cannot shut him up (10 years ago i never ever thought i would say that). He still is very aware that he has problems with some speech (he only started to use the phone 2 years ago as his self esteem was very low) but 99% of people he talks to would never even know he had problems.
I would like to say that at the time i felt so alone and upset for my son and at times even i believed he would never talk BUT you mustn't give up. Ask for a dyspraxia test to be carried out as many doctors etc dont even know what it is themselves but loads of kids have it and it goes untreated. I was lucky in that my sons school picked this up and got him tested.
Lastly - it is very rare for a child to grow up and never talk (on bad days i always thought my son would be the exception lol). Hold on to the hope that it will happen!

Js_Other_Half

tiamai_d wrote: »

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).

As your child has a specific diagnosed difficulty, has the understanding of language, and is formally learning Makaton, have a look at this article about assisted communication via ipod/iphone.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-05-27-iphone-autism_N.htm

I would not suggest it for a child who is still in the process of diagnosis though? I have no SALT qualifications, but have worked with special needs children.

Chuzzle

I'd just like to add my bit. DS1 is now 16 and started out making sounds and saying words like the average child does. Then all of a sudden he stopped and reverted back to grunts and pointing til he was about 3 and a half. Nothing was ever found to be wrong with him and the only thing I can think of it being is laziness sounds harsh but I have noticed over the years that if its too hard to do he'd rather not do it at all - typical teenager!!

Good luck and I do hope that it isn't anything to worry about, maybe you could try a game or reward thing with her older sibling. Do a chart and reward your younger daughter when she says a word/sentence you can understand and also reward your older child when they DON'T speak for the younger one.

reeree

my grandson couldnt utter more than a couple of words until he started speech therapy at the age of four we were really worried but after having speech therapy for about 6 months he was fine, he's now 14 and although we live in derbyshire he hasnt got a trace of an accent.

luxor4t

I really feel for you as DS2 (now 19) didn't talk until he was well over 5.
I was worried sick & not helped at all by would-be helpful but very hurtful suggestions eg
- the other 2 talk for him (no they didn't)
- you must be too busy to listen (no I wasn't!)
- he's just lazy (he struggled & struggled to make himself understood)
- you do too much for him (that was MiL's idea :mad:)
- MAKE him say the word before you give him something (he would have starved)
- he must be deaf/ autistic/ mute/ thick etc etc etc
In fact he was an intelligent, happy, friendly little boy with a well-balanced life who just couldn't talk

I remember the Health Visitor's shocked face "He doesn't have a word for Granny or Grandad!" so we were referred for Speech Therapy, or at least, the waiting list :rolleyes:

I think he was badly let down by the system because they had major staff shortages when he was small and later he didn't fit into their categories (his reading comprehension age was high but his pronunciation was poor...and they were surprised :wall:)

DS2 is now at Uni with great SATS, GCSE & A Level results but you can hear a few mispronunciations still (th/f/v). One way out of the maze for him was singing. for some reason he could sing some words he couldn't say - we must have spent hours harmonising (our best was 'Home on the Range' ).

Looking back I think we should have pushed harder for appropriate help sooner: I wish we had paid for private Speech and Language therapy.

Buttonmoons

My DD is 4 in April and since starting nursery her talking has came on in leaps and bounds. I think mainly she didn't HAVE to attempt to try and speak clearer or make herself understood because I understood her gobbledegook half words and gestures before that.

At her check up before she started nursery, they said her speaking needed work (were very mean about it too!) made me feel like they thought I just sat at home with her and ignored her.

She could talk before that but it was jumbled and not very clear, someone on the bus even asked me if she had a speech impediment which I thought was just rude and out of order :mad:

Once your child starts nursery I bet their talking comes on in leaps and bounds, DD is really clear now and never shuts up but obviously is not perfect, and now that's picked up on by interfering family members "Why does she say she FELLED over instead of fell? That's childish talking" SHES 3!!

MERFE

My DD has just graduated from speech therapy, I went to the HV when she was nearly 2 and told them there was a delay with her speech, they fobbed me off, she started preschool the week after her 3rd birthday and they referred her immediately (although by this stage I'd seen such an improvement I was no longer concerned). Her birthday was in the feb and it was the sept that she had her assessment by speech therapist who referred her for group therapy. It was april before the therapy started, so she had sessions from april till july, and showed some improvement. She started full time school in the sept and sessions started up again in Oct, she went for about 3 weeks before they said she was so much improved they didnt really need to see her anymore. The biggest reason for the improvement is that in the first place hers was just a delayed development so it would improve over time and the phonics they do at school is so similar to the speech therapy. Although I still can not get her to say gloves instead of globes, and bamatoes. They said some she has learned incorrectly will take longer to correct but just keep repeating the correct way to say them.

The preschool also asked me to check her hearing with the docs, I told preschool there is nothing wrong with her hearing (she could hear someone getting a biscuit out the pack from a different room with the doors closed), but that I'd get it checked. The doc basically laughed and said the teachers need to get her attention better, her hearing is fine she just wasnt listening to them. She'll be 5 in feb so it seems like it takes a long time for referrals etc but sometimes they only need a few sessions.

Buttonmoons

MERFE - I had to chuckle at the "Globes" thing as my DD struggles with that word too, but she says it like "Glubs" and tomato is also "Ahmato" same with potato, that's "Ahtato" Though she can say sweets cake and cookies without issue

One word she says that makes me laugh is Balloon, she calls them "Hellabloon" and I don't know why?! Same with Aeroplane - It's "Hellaplane"

Must be copying Helicopter....