Speech delay
Show your support
Following. My son is going on 2 1/2 years and really only says mama, dada, the beginning sound of some words, and mimics animal noises.
@Julia He was referred to an audiologist and speech therapy, which most (in around a 20-30mile radius) are booked or no longer offers services for 2yrs and under. I'm searching through insurance and hopefully can find something starting this month. And I agree...things can definitely change in a few months. He was a late walker. Sometimes all the info you get about hitting those milestones can be overwhelming and have me second guessing.
@Kelly being that my son was a late walker, I'm starting to really understand and accept that kids grow at their own pace. It's really given me a little comfort in knowing that. You should definitely talk to your pediatrician like Julie stated to see if a referral could help. Best wishes to you and your LO 🫶
It’s really hard at that age bc they not every place will see them. I’d really recommend early intervention. If nothing else it helps you learn how to teach your child. And they give you resources and recommendations for your child and referrals in your area. My son was in early intervention for speech and he also had lots of challenges with behavior. You will probably qualify for physical therapy as well. Yes, kids progress differently on different timeframes BUT some kids have developmental delays. Without support and intervention they won’t make the same progress as other kids. I say this as a mom of a son recently diagnosed with ASD and a special education teacher. Early intervention makes a huge difference!
It looks like you’re in Georgia. I’m in Nj but they have a program here. https://dph.georgia.gov/babies-cant-wait I called and my doctor and ask he write a referral for me to get my son evaluated for early intervention. It’s provided by the state and subsidized based on your income.
My daughter started speech therapy at 2 and she was only saying 10 words, not even daily then. She’s now 2 1/2 and every day says 150+ words and 2-3 word sentences. The SLP mostly gives you (the parent) the resources on how to teach them, then you implement the skills. Without you, it doesn’t work because the slp isn’t around often. It was hard for me to come to terms with in the beginning but it has been such a great resource for our family. Look into “early intervention” in your state. It is speech services offered through your state, not your insurance. For our state, it’s for children under 3, and the cost is dependent on your income. They will also evaluate your child for other delays and give services for those, if needed, but for us it was only speech.
@Denise I went through babies can't wait in georgia. They helped find an office, and we have an appointment tomorrow ! Thanks floor the advice
My son had the speech of an 18 month old at 3.5 years old. He has two sisters that talk exclusively so do feel like you're failing because he's struggling to speech like other children who are all different development speeds! My son is a twin and his sister was always ahead in speech but he's always been ahead physically! I got my son evaluated through our school district idk if your state has it but he was approved for speech intervention and started two days a week 45 min a day. Then at 4 he started going to the preschool with speech intervention in the classroom. With in months he went from basically nonverbal to full understandable sentences! One thing the speech path encouraged for at home is when we talk to him to full face him so he can see how our mouths our moving and for anything he says to repeat back to him what he said as you respond and I feel like that really did make a difference too! But def call the local elementary school to see if they offer something like that!
@Jamie he did a speech assessment and was found to be a good candidate for therapy but its just a waiting game now. I like the idea of talking to him face to face so he can see the words!
This has nothing to do with you. You are not a bad mom. Speech delays aren’t usually bc of the parents. I see you’re in the US. I’d highly recommend early intervention and also private speech. I’d also ask the doctor to refer you to a developmental pediatrician. It could just be a speech delay which the first two will address, but between 18 months and 2.5 a lot can change and there are long waits for developmental pediatricians. So I’d get in case you want to get him evaluated.