23 month only talks jargon...should I be worried?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I can't understand his jargon at all and he won't point at anything he wants as a way of communicating. He will usually reach out and grab what he wants and would cry if he can't get it. I just called EI to schedule an appointment. DH is still opposed but says he will go along with it. He says when he was little his teachers said he had developmental delays but it turned out he was just super intelligent and they didn't understand him.

Yes but when you hear hoof beats look for horses not zebras. A speech delay is much more likely than him being an unintelligible genius. You were right to call.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Call EI. The ignoring part sounds more worrisome than not talking.

I agree with this. Is he interactive with you and the rest of the family at all?

[Anonymous]

OP here...he is interactive sometimes (e.g. he will pick up a book want want you to read it to him), but he won't follow directions at all. I suspect he hears fine because if he hears his favorite cartoon, he will run towards the sound.

[Anonymous]

Don't call EI, call a private SLP. I was you two years ago. Bilingual child who wasn't talking much at two. At three, ChildFind said she was fine. At four, she was diagnosed with speech apraxia. What we saw at two was early evidence of her disorder. A private speech pathologist will help you better understand what's happening. We see Amanda at Childrens Speech and Language Services in Falls Church.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't call EI, call a private SLP. I was you two years ago. Bilingual child who wasn't talking much at two. At three, ChildFind said she was fine. At four, she was diagnosed with speech apraxia. What we saw at two was early evidence of her disorder. A private speech pathologist will help you better understand what's happening. We see Amanda at Childrens Speech and Language Services in Falls Church.

This is true but she also needs to call EI because at 3, he will be able to transition into an ECSE preschool class through Child Find if he is still delayed (and with zero words at 23 months, it seems incredibly likely that would be the case). Private SLP is great if you can afford it, but having the "in" with EI/Child Find to get him into special education preschool AND get an IEP is invaluable and you won't get that from a private therapist. Most insurance nowadays will not cover private speech therapy either, so it can be prohibitively expensive with a private SLP compared to free or on a sliding scale with EI.

[Anonymous]

OP here...I am curious, once diagnosed with speech development delay, how would a speech therapist work with DS to address the issue?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here...he is interactive sometimes (e.g. he will pick up a book want want you to read it to him), but he won't follow directions at all. I suspect he hears fine because if he hears his favorite cartoon, he will run towards the sound.

He could still have some degree of hearing loss. Hearing noise is is different then comprehending it (and speech). Make sure he gets his hearing checked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here...I am curious, once diagnosed with speech development delay, how would a speech therapist work with DS to address the issue?

It's impossible for me as a layperson to explain. They have amazing tools and strategies they use.

[Anonymous]

Once a diagnosis is made the therapist will come up with a specific plan for your child's needs.

My child, at 18 months, had expressive and receptive language of a 9 month old and the therapists at GWU hearing and speech clinic made little games and played with him with toys in such a way to elicit sounds. They also gave me tools to carry on therapy at home in a playful way in between our weekly appointments.

A hearing test is typically part of an evaluation in my experience.

best wishes to you.

[Anonymous]

This may seem totally out of left field, could your husband have aspergers? It sounds like you are accessing all the right services for your child and if there's anything there to discover, hopefully they will. But most adults today didn't have that support when they were children. "They thought I had development delays but then I turned out really intelligent" hits a chord..

Not diagnostic, but something to think about: http://aspergersquiz.com/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't it also a fallacy that bilingual kids are later talkers? I think they tend to be later in proficiency in either one of their home languages, but they're not expected to have zero words at appropriate ages to have words just because they're bilingual. I want to say that is a common misconception.

This is anecdotal, but I know many bilingual families (think several dozens). Most bilingual kids turn out to be later talkers. Many talk gibberish between 2 and 3, but eventually they figure it out. DC is in a similar situation, so I've been paying attention for a while now.

OP, evaluate by all means. But don't freak out. Many late talkers turn into cunning linguists, including yours truly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This may seem totally out of left field, could your husband have aspergers? It sounds like you are accessing all the right services for your child and if there's anything there to discover, hopefully they will. But most adults today didn't have that support when they were children. "They thought I had development delays but then I turned out really intelligent" hits a chord..

Not diagnostic, but something to think about: http://aspergersquiz.com/

Seriously? Love the retrograde armchair diagnosis on your part!

[Anonymous]

I do not consider a late talker late till 3.4-4 or 5 or 6. With that said, I have a true late talker and we were told to get an evaluation at 2. I don't think getting services earlier would have made a difference. Bilingual has nothing to do with late talking. Some kids do benefit from temproarily focusing on one language - one kid I know the parents did it and he caught up quickly but it could have been his natural progression. A true late talker is going to talk late regardless of language used. I would get an evaluation and as others said hearing exam. For some reason, people are not always referred for a hearing exam and that can be a cause of late talking (not for us as we did one every year or so). If you do not agree with the eval, get a second opinion. Our first was at Children's at age 2 and they blew us off. A few months later, went for another one with someone more skilled and she was concerned (and then started therapy). Many late talkers do talk, just much later. Some kids easily catch up by 3 or so but when it goes after that, that is the time to be concerned and do intensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This may seem totally out of left field, could your husband have aspergers? It sounds like you are accessing all the right services for your child and if there's anything there to discover, hopefully they will. But most adults today didn't have that support when they were children. "They thought I had development delays but then I turned out really intelligent" hits a chord..

Not diagnostic, but something to think about: http://aspergersquiz.com/

Seriously? Love the retrograde armchair diagnosis on your part!

Didn't you know, if you have speech issues, you are automatically autistic. For the OP of this post, Aspergers is no longer a diagnosis and Aspergers kids talk on time. My kid is reasonably smart, doing well in school except for some minor stuff related to speech and has (had) a significant language delay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here...I am curious, once diagnosed with speech development delay, how would a speech therapist work with DS to address the issue?

OP, at 2-3, its more play and exposure to sounds and getting them used to speech therapy. Every therapist does things a bit different so the right fit in terms of personality is important.