At 20 months there’s no real signs of Dexter talking. Everything and everyone is “Dada” (much to Craig’s amusement) and although he’ll babble and experiment with consonants throughout the day, he’s not differentiating between them or using them to any real effect.
Both Craig and I read books to him all the time and point out words and pictures. He has an ABC board book which has, in my opinions, some pretty ludicrous choices of ‘everyday’ objects and animals under each letter - F= Flippers, H= Handkerchief, G= Garland, I= Invitation… I could go on but you get my point. I wouldn’t class any of these as everyday phenomena for a child under 2 - and the only word he seems to retain is “Wolf”. He can’t say this however and it comes out as “OOOoo OOOoo”. He’ll happily fetch the book and point to it however if we ask him to find the wolf.
I’m not complaining or concerned. I think he manages to understand a fair old chunk of the instructions we give him. If I tell him we need to “pop his shoesies on” he’ll grab them and make a mess of trying to put them on himself. This is usually followed by screams of frustration as he’s attempting to do so without bending his legs, but he gets the right body part so that’s good enough for me.
He also responds very well to singing and has come to understand the connections between mummy’s warbles and a given task. “Up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire” means we’re due to climb the stairs to bed, and “Bath time, Bath time. I need to get in the tub” (or some such nonsense) in a similar tune, will also result in frantic stair-scurrying. If we ask him to take his clothes off he’ll start tugging at his clothes. Once he even managed to get a pajama top halfway off his head! - Although this incident ended badly as he couldn’t see where he was going and walked into a door frame…
It’s pretty hard to work out if he’s doing well or not. I’m fully aware that the internet is sometimes more trouble than its worth for research, and everyone and their nan are now armchair child therapists bragging about when the little people in their lives first read aloud, sang a One Direction song, or started studying Shakespeare, nevertheless it offers a huge variety of responses for ‘first word age’ - from 9 months to 3.5 years. I’m thinking we’ll give it another 4 months or so before we start worrying about it. Let’s face it, you don’t come across many school age children who can’t say “mummy” so I’m sure he’ll get there in his own time.
Still, I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t secretly fishing for advice from my readers… Did you do anything special to encourage your children with speech development? I’ll follow up this post in a few months time and would love to try out some of your ideas.
My little boy started talking at 3.5 and we are now on a long journey but different to you as he has autism - which it clearly always was and not just a late talker. Up until recently he was really in his own world. But however, I look to speech techniques at the 2 year old range and I do lots of flashcards and have started making my own from magazines etc. We also just go around the house labelling, I say ‘I see’ point at an item and he’ll say it. Or I sing familiar rhymes and try and get him to say the last word etc.. There’s a great website with small videos of speech and language techniques using toys - http://teachmetotalk.com/
Sam x
Fabulous - You star. I will definitely give the flashcards a go and the website looks helpful too. I just feel I should be doing something a little more than I am - if that makes sense. Great news re your boy too - I’m pleased he’s making progress x
Hello There,
and she is only 4 
So I am a really happy parent.
Just be patient
I do not know if what I did helped, but I did a simple small trick.
Get a small gummybear (no sugar) in both hands, and show both hands to my child.
made a sound with a right hand, example “AAAA”, and showed the child the hand.
Then with a left hand, example “EEEE”, and showed the left hand.
tried to wait for the sound, repeat a lot of times, and then open tha hand for which sound my child would make.
over time used more complex sounds, but always in baby steps, after all, my child was a baby
Today she speaks fluently 2 and a half languages
Alex.
http://flytothecloud.blogspot.com/
Alexandre Lopes recently posted…Finding Nemo
I get it. So rewarding them for making independent choices and experimenting. This is great. Thanks Alex! Wow 2.5 languages?! Amazing. I struggle to master one
He’s doing fine. It’s true that they all learn to speak at their own pace, and once they set off they snowball, so in a matter of only a few weeks - especially if they start off a little later - they go from virtually nothing to loads!
Reading books is brilliant, but you’re reading TO him, and if you want him to speak, talk with him. When you speak then wait for an answer, whether he gives one or not, it teaches him that conversation is a two-way thing and he’s expected and allowed to join in. When he does speak then if you have any inkling at all of what he might be talking about, join in with the conversation. It doesn’t matter if he looks at something with excitement and screams or mumbles a few crazy syllables, he is still verbalising and it’ll give him confidence if you turn to him and say “I know, it’s amazing isn’t it”. It’ll give him importance and a feeling of achievement and encourage him to carry on trying.
Ask questions and look at his face and wait for an answer for a couple of seconds before you even think about saying your next sentence. Before you know it he’ll be off and you’ll be wishing for a little peace and quiet so that you can follow the TV or concentrate on whatever you’re doing
This is so true. I hadn’t thought about that before - we do talk at him constantly but I think we just brush over actual conversation. As we don’t have a clue what he’s babbling about, we tend to ignore it, which can’t be good! I’ll definitely credit these tips in a follow-up post Jenny - thanks so much x
Aww, thank you! You are more than welcome hon. I hope he’s driving you bats within weeks :p
Jenny @ The Brick Castle recently posted…And Hello 2014….
Understanding is the main thing at this age, and if he is able to understand and follow instructions then that is a great basis for communication, and the pointing too! Just keep modelling language to him, speaking simply and clearly is best and exposing him to lots of words that are likely to be most useful for him in his day to day life and that he can relate to (as you say, not a massive amount of benefit in garland etc if they only have a couple of words!)
It does vary quite a bit with children/toddlers as to when exactly speech clicks with them and he may well “get it” and be well away with lots of words by the time he turns 2 or even before - but at the same time if there is any slight delay, early intervention and support is never a bad thing! Because of my previous experience with Mr T I did have Mr R flagged up with speech therapy from 17 months so he was seen at 20 months and straight into speech therapy at 24 months, starting his next block next month. I’ve seen from Mr T how much his speech therapy has helped now over more than a year, not just what they do in the sessions but continuing it all at home too of course. He has also had surgery on his ears recently and that seems to have helped too so always consider hearing as another possible if you don’t see any changes in his speech as its very easy for them to check and rule that out just to make sure. I have a post about speech tips, books, resources etc etc I think you have read it before actually as you’ve commented on it but in case you want another look over at any point here’s the link! http://intheplayroom.co.uk/2013/07/13/helping-your-childs-speech-and-language/
Wishing all the best to Dexter, sure he will soon be chattering away and making you laugh with what he says!
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Thanks Anna - I’m forever reading that post. I was going to email you separately about this as I wondered how you got the boys into therapy. Did you go to your doctor first, or go private straight away? I’m thinking if there’s no real improvement by age 2, I might look at getting some independent advice - if these tips don’t work of course. Getting some really interesting comments and advice from people so definitely will try these first. What sort of costs are involved too? Sorry honey - Q’s, Q’s, Q’s…
I wouldn’t worry as long as he shows some understanding. My nephew didn’t speak a word until he was 3 and then he was talking non stop!
Can’t say that I have ever done anything specific with my children, like you I read a lot of books and even wen watching TV I ask them a lot of questions about what they are seeing etc. I think you know when to worry about your child x
chantelle hazelden recently posted…I Am Thankful
Sienna is nearly 14 months and still won’t say mummy either, although she can say daddy, hot, cat, baba.. I sometimes get concerned if she isn’t picking it up as quickly as other children as well but I’m sure she’ll get it soon enough!
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I totally recomend flash cards, for practicing words and making games out of. Darcie loves me to spread her cards out all over downstairs and I will say a word and then she has to go find them. Also (I am a bit mean at times) darcie will point to things rather than saying a word and if I know she can say it I will wait till she asks me - sometimes she can be a bit lazy. although if she points to something that I know perhaps she doesn’t know how to say I will talk to her about it saying what it is really slowly and then asking her if she can say it. Reading is the best thing, darcie likes to read herself too, she babbles away and the odd word or phrase will come out when she does that. Also I’m going hard with her please and thank you’s, so she has to say that before I can give her anything! My partner and all of his brothers had speech therapy as children, because their parents did everything for them and didn’t give them the opportunity to express/ask for themselves. I just chat with darcie about everything and ask her lots of questions, she is 19 months now. I do think as with everything they do things at their own pace
xxx
Fabulous - I bought some of these the other day. Admittedly they’re still in the wrapper as we’ve all been so busy - but I’m looking forward to giving it a go