23 month old doesn't pronounce any end consonants-- speech therapy?

[Anonymous]

My son is almost two and has probably 50 words including animal sounds. The problem is, they are largely unintelligble out of context or to anyone other than my husband and I. He drops the consonants on pretty much every word. For example, truck is "truh", ball is "bah", book is "booh", you get the idea. The only two words he consistently pronounces correctly are "ouch" and "ant". He has his two year well check up next week, and I am going to ask his ped, but wanted to run it by you mamas first. Should we be considering speech therapy? Is this the normal progression into articulate speech? He is also a poor imitator. I stay at home and try to speak slowly and clearly but he's just not getting it. Just curious if anyone has been there/done that. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Maybe he needs his hearing checked? Also, does he have anything other than just single words?

[Anonymous]

OP. No, his hearing is fine. He says something that sounds like "it mine". More like "ih miii". He understands almost everything, though.

[Anonymous]

I'd still have his hearing checked. He may have some hearing loss which is the reason he is dropping the ends of words. I used to nanny for a girl who did this and finally at age 3, they had her hearing tested. She had tubes put in her ears but by then, her speech was permanently ruined. She had years of speech therapy.

[Anonymous]

My DD had ST at age 3 because of an articulation disorder. My other DD started at 5 for the same problem (long story on why we waited). Anyway, my understanding is that they usually start at around 3 for that sort of thing, but you could ask your pedi.

FWIW, both of my DDs had hearing problems due to fluid in the ears (that we were unaware of) and got tubes, which helped a lot. Both had very short courses of ST (months, not years), so don't be discouraged.

[Anonymous]

It sounds normal to me, really. Some kids are easier to understand than others -- most usually start speaking very well by age 3. My son didn't say too many words (that we could understand) until he was about 2.5; my daughter was about 18 mos.

[Anonymous]

I agree that the pattern warrants a hearing check.

[Anonymous]

OP - we just ended up 8 months of speech therapy for my toddler (started when she was 2 years old).

Although my DD's problem wasn't end consonants, the speech therapist did spend time on constant pronounciation.
She said it was common for toddlers to drop the final consonant sound. On the flip side, it is also common for toddlers to add a final sound such as "book-ah, train-ah," etc.

So in summary, it common, but wouldn't say it's normal. Speech therapy will help, but it could also resolve itself as your son matures and becomes more articulate.
Most county speech therapy programs (at least in Farifax County) require a screening and evaluation. This is a good way to know for sure if speech therapy is warranted.
Also, part of the screening involves a hearing test to rule out any problems with the eardrum.

[Anonymous]

I could have written your post a year ago! We had our 24 month old evaluated last year because he, too, was mostly unintelligble to anyone but us and he didn't put endings on words. Bus was buh, dog was daw. The speech therapist as if we'd had his hearing checked. We had no reason to have his hearing check. He'd been fine on the newborn screening, he responded when we called his name and to sudden noises and he had never had an ear infection. We were stunned when she suggested we have it checked because his dropping of the final sound was similar to that of a child with a hearing problem or a child with fluid in his ears. I went to the pediatrician the next day and, sure enough, there was a lot of fluid in both ears. Again, DS had never had an ear infection. He's my third kid so it's not like I was a newbie.

We watched it for about 6 weeks and then had tubes inserted because it was not resolving itself. The ST said it was like trying to hear when you're underwater. It took a while for the fluid to completely clear and while it was still there, he did have some hearing loss. Now that it's been a year, it's completely resolved. It's definitely worth having checked out, especially since you can often have it done for free at your county/local government health department. We're in Fairfax County and that's what we did.

[Anonymous]

"He'd been fine on the newborn screening, he responded when we called his name and to sudden noises and he had never had an ear infection"

OP here. This is my son, no problems with screening at birth, no ear infections, understands everything we say. I am really surprised that with all this there could still be hearing problems. I never even considered that. Thanks for all of the comments, we will definitely bring this up to his ped.

[Anonymous]

I am a speech therapist so hopefully can offer you some advice, but since I don't know your child you'll want to follow up with your pediatrician. Most 2 year olds should be 50% intelligible so anyone who listens to him should understand 1/2 of what he says. Of course some kids are also later talkers so it is very difficult to assess a 2 year old unless there is an accompanying condition that interferes with speech production. It is true that a hearing screening will be recommended.
My DS is almost 2 and often leaves the ends off words, but has a large vocabulary. It is also common for 2 year olds to say a word using the first or last consonant at both the beginning or end (cook for book). Consonants that use the lips are the easiest to produce (m, p). Lots of kids have trouble with k/g and l and that is developmentallly appropriate.

[Anonymous]

The description of your son reminds me of my nephew. Talking to him on the phone is always difficult because he misses entire parts of the word when he speaks. He started speech therapy at about the same age and he has seen great improvements. I must admit for him it's been eight years and his speech isn't perfect for entirely correctable but he no longer sounds like a deaf person when he speaks. I suggest a hearing test and speech therapy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd still have his hearing checked. He may have some hearing loss which is the reason he is dropping the ends of words. I used to nanny for a girl who did this and finally at age 3, they had her hearing tested. She had tubes put in her ears but by then, her speech was permanently ruined. She had years of speech therapy.

Permanent ruination of speech is discernable at three or even six years of age? Come on. My niece didn't start speech therapy until about age seven for a really bizarre problem that made her totally unintelligible to anyone but her brother, and now she sounds completely normal.

[Anonymous]

OP again. Can I get my son's hearing evaluated at the pediatrician's office? or do I need to see a specialist? Thanks! Now I'm concerned, and eager to get the ball rolling.

[Anonymous]

I wanted to add that I am another mom who has a child whose articulation disorder was traced to fluid in his ears. When the tubes were placed, the articulation improved dramatically.
As far as the hearing check, my pediatrician referred my son out for his hearing test.