[jenilyn]

My son is 17 months old now and still not saying a word. Not even momma or dada. He is very vocal, and he knows exactly what i'm saying and what everything is, just no actual words. His dr. has referred him to a speech therapist for possibly having mixed receptive expressive language disorder. We won't know the actual diagnosis until he has his hearing checked and we see the specialist. anyway, I was just wondering if anyone has any experience with this, a late talker. How did it turn out, similar experiences, or words of encouragement. It's so frustrating for him and me. He can't talk, so he whines, and he whines, and then he whines. We are working on sign language, which helps. I just want my baby to talk.

This post has been edited by jenilyn: 19 March 2012 - 12:33 PM

[Papi]

Can't help much with your particular problem but when my son was 3 he did something called halting. He could not finish his words and his F's were P's. Funny fat feet was pun pa pee. Four wheeler(as in the ATV kind) was po wheelee. For the first 3 years of his life no one knew what he was saying except his sister. He would say something and we would ask him to repeat it. He would get so frustrated with trying to talk he would just say nebbie mine(nevermind).At that time we lived in Cobb. Cobb had a speech therapy program. The bus would come pick him up and take him to Birney elementary school for 2 hours 3 times a week. A scary thought putting your 3 year old on a school bus but we did and they took very good care of him. The bus driver would walk him to his class and come to his class to walk him back to the bus afterwards and drive him home. It was a life saver for us. We were very frustrated and did not know what to do.

No help, just throwing his story in there. He hasn't shut up since.

[hurstrsq]

jenilyn, on 19 March 2012 - 12:32 PM, said:

My son is 17 months old now and still not saying a word. Not even momma or dada. He is very vocal, and he knows exactly what i'm saying and what everything is, just no actual words. His dr. has referred him to a speech therapist for possibly having mixed receptive expressive language disorder. We won't know the actual diagnosis until he has his hearing checked and we see the specialist. anyway, I was just wondering if anyone has any experience with this, a late talker. How did it turn out, similar experiences, or words of encouragement. It's so frustrating for him and me. He can't talk, so he whines, and he whines, and then he whines. We are working on sign language, which helps. I just want my baby to talk.

My niece did not say anything until she was 2, or perhaps a little older. It was almost over night she started talking. She is 3 now and has not issues with speech.

[jenilyn]

Papi, on 19 March 2012 - 12:41 PM, said:

Can't help much with your particular problem but when my son was 3 he did something called halting. He could not finish his words and his F's were P's. Funny fat feet was pun pa pee. Four wheeler(as in the ATV kind) was po wheelee. For the first 3 years of his life no one knew what he was saying except his sister. He would say something and we would ask him to repeat it. He would get so frustrated with trying to talk he would just say nebbie mine(nevermind).At that time we lived in Cobb. Cobb had a speech therapy program. The bus would come pick him up and take him to Birney elementary school for 2 hours 3 times a week. A scary thought putting your 3 year old on a school bus but we did and they took very good care of him. The bus driver would walk him to his class and come to his class to walk him back to the bus afterwards and drive him home. It was a life saver for us. We were very frustrated and did not know what to do.

No help, just throwing his story in there. He hasn't shut up since.

Thanks, Just knowing i'm not alone and someone understands the frustration helps.

[Magic Mommy]

jenilyn, on 19 March 2012 - 12:48 PM, said:

Thanks, Just knowing i'm not alone and someone understands the frustration helps.

Look into "Babies Can't Wait", it's a free program for children under three.

[csk219]

My grandson only said 5 words when he was 20 months old...Went to the Babies cant wait program and now he is 2 and a half and is talking away..also he is in a play group so he has other children to interact with.

[jenilyn]

Thanks everyone, I will look into Babies can't wait. He attends a play group once a week, I guess I should look into other options for interaction. Being that i'm a SAHM he isn't around other kids his age very often.

[retiredteacher]

My youngest said very little until 2 1/2. Then complete sentences. He's gifted, too!

[ButterflyLion]

jenilyn, on 19 March 2012 - 12:32 PM, said:

My son is 17 months old now and still not saying a word. Not even momma or dada. He is very vocal, and he knows exactly what i'm saying and what everything is, just no actual words. His dr. has referred him to a speech therapist for possibly having mixed receptive expressive language disorder. We won't know the actual diagnosis until he has his hearing checked and we see the specialist. anyway, I was just wondering if anyone has any experience with this, a late talker. How did it turn out, similar experiences, or words of encouragement. It's so frustrating for him and me. He can't talk, so he whines, and he whines, and then he whines. We are working on sign language, which helps. I just want my baby to talk.

Just reading your post I can get some feeling for the frustration you mention.

So many resources mention stress as contributing to just about any kind of problem people can have so I'm wondering if finding ways to reduce stress and laugh and have more fun wouldn't help. Most everyone could use more of that.

[Blondiega1]

AWW!!! Dimples will be talking your ears off before you know it! Hope you find something to help him along!
When's he's 16 you'll be wishing he'd shut up!

[LisaC]

I worked with a woman that is going through this with her daughter. By the age of 2, her daughter could say less than 20 words and really wasn't interested in learning any new ones. They had her tested and they determined that she had a "serious impairment." BUT, that's not the end of the world, they have been working with a speech language pathologist a couple of times a week since August and they've seen her dramatically improve.

[Mrs. C]

Try singing things to him. When my now 18 month old grandson was about a year old, I'd sing little songs like "Passy, where are you?" when he misplaced his pacifier. Instead of getting mad or frustrated, he'd start singing, "Pasi, are you?" and we'd all look for it while we sang. He still sings it and for other things, too. "Puppy, where are you?" "Ci-Ci, where are you?" I sing every little song I can think of and he tries his best to join in.

This post has been edited by Mrs. C: 19 March 2012 - 03:36 PM

[brown*eyed*girl]

All three of my kids were speech delayed. We live in Michigan when the first two were "diagnosed" and the way they did things there was a bit different than here but they all ended up speaking just fine. In fact all three of them were/are Venture kids so it didn't hold them back at all in the long run. My oldest was 2 1/2 when she was tested, my second child was 18 months old at the time and they felt like he should be talking as well so he was put in a speech program at the same time she was. The process took so long though that by the time he was accepted in the program he had started talking. We still had him do it for a year. In Michigan my daughter was picked up M-F in a big yellow school bus and taken to school for half a day with other special need kids. For the younger one he went to school one day a week and one day a week a speech therapist came to work with him.

My third and youngest child was diagnosed here in Georgia. When he was 2-3 someone would come to the house, then from the age of 3-4 he would go up to Abney for speech with Ms. Barb She was great!

I know for me it was sad to have two kids and by my 3rd Mothers day to not have been called "Mama" yet. Hang in there. I have a feeling your little one will be talking in no time.

[mei lan]

I know of a kid who didn't say a word till he was five...tested and re-tested...his parents were sure he was grossly retarded (or whatever the PC term is now) except he was normal in every other way. IIRC, he had older siblings, so he could just point and everybody would get what he needed. One day, he started talking and hasn't shut up since. IDK...no help for your situation, but I'm sure your situation is not uncommon. Please keep us posted as to how Mr. Big Ol' Baby progresses.

[Rookie]

My sister is a speech pathologist for Fulton County schools and she is very good! If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me and I can forward it to her.

[rosewitha]

i used babies can't wait. they were the greatest.

[jenilyn]

Rookie, on 19 March 2012 - 03:35 PM, said:

My sister is a speech pathologist for Fulton County schools and she is very good! If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me and I can forward it to her.

Thank you so much! I truly appreciate that, and may take you up on it.

Thank you everyone for your responses. It has helped tremendously.

[LGM]

jenilyn, on 19 March 2012 - 01:00 PM, said:

Thanks everyone, I will look into Babies can't wait. He attends a play group once a week, I guess I should look into other options for interaction. Being that i'm a SAHM he isn't around other kids his age very often.

Mini-Me did Speech Therapy through Babies Can't Wait (as well as behavioral and sensory thearpy). Just talk to his pediatrician about his speech, and have him/her write a referral to BCW, and they will come and do an evaluation. ♥ After the evaluation, they'll sit with you and determine exactly what therapy needs to be done. For the therapy, they will also come to your home (or daycare, if he's in daycare).

We had therapists in and out of our house three times a week.

(Now, she doesn't shut up. )

[RhondaW]

Our grandson was well into 2 1/2 (close to 3) years before he began to communicate verbally. It seemed to hit him overnight as well. Now at 4 you can't shut him up .

[Rookie]

jenilyn, on 19 March 2012 - 08:02 PM, said:

Thank you so much! I truly appreciate that, and may take you up on it.

Thank you everyone for your responses. It has helped tremendously.

You're welcome! She couldn't legally treat your child, but I'm sure she'd be glad to offer her advice!

[browndog]

We had PT and Speech thru Babies Can't Wait. My son was a W sitter and was not walking at his 18mo. check. We were told that gross motor skills often need to come for fine motor skills to kick in. (Walking is gross and talking is fine.) He was walking at 22mo and started talking in full sentences at about 25 mo. Some of the things we learned were that we were talking for him (or his older sister was). We had to get him to express himself. "Do you want an apple or a banana?" "Do you want the blue shirt or the green shirt?" "Do you want to play trucks or play blocks?" We were not to settle for a point as an answer. Just be patient and love him!

[Reubens]

Can he drink through a straw or pucker his lips for a kiss?

jenilyn, on 19 March 2012 - 12:32 PM, said:

My son is 17 months old now and still not saying a word. Not even momma or dada. He is very vocal, and he knows exactly what i'm saying and what everything is, just no actual words. His dr. has referred him to a speech therapist for possibly having mixed receptive expressive language disorder. We won't know the actual diagnosis until he has his hearing checked and we see the specialist. anyway, I was just wondering if anyone has any experience with this, a late talker. How did it turn out, similar experiences, or words of encouragement. It's so frustrating for him and me. He can't talk, so he whines, and he whines, and then he whines. We are working on sign language, which helps. I just want my baby to talk.

Babies Can't wait is for children under 3 and then they are put in the school system. At least that is how it worked 19 years ago when my son needed it. So you will probably be put on that list after he is evaluated.

[jenilyn]

Reubens, on 20 March 2012 - 08:21 PM, said:

Can he drink through a straw or pucker his lips for a kiss?




Babies Can't wait is for children under 3 and then they are put in the school system. At least that is how it worked 19 years ago when my son needed it. So you will probably be put on that list after he is evaluated.

no, he can't. He still gives open mouth slobbery baby kisses. and lots of them! he's an affectionate child.