20 month old not talking

[Anonymous]

Our daughter understands so much but barely says any words. We can ask her to go put her dirty clothes in the hamper, go throw away your squeezy in the trash etc and she understands perfectly..but doesn't say anything too much. She can point to her body parts when we call out things like tummy, nose, ears etc.

I realize this is normal to understand more than you can say, but everything I read says that at her age she should say more words. Her vocab is quite limited...mama, dada, dog, hi, up. We do all of the traditional things such as read a lot, and narrate everything but nothing is sticking.

Like many kids her age she is an only child and currently not in daycare due to pandemic. She will start a program this fall and I am hopeful that will help being around more kids.

Of course autism is the natural thing to worry about but she doesn't exhibit any of those signs minus the lack of talking.

Any helpful tips on things that may have worked for you?

[Anonymous]

First, have you spoken to your pediatrician about this? If you are concerned see if you can get a referral to the Infants and toddler's center for an evaluation.

Second, daycare and being around other kids does not hamper her, it may help, but it does not hurt. I am sure you speak to her, read to her and maybe you even let her watch TV (where she is exposed to speaking). If so, keep doing what you are doing. She may just be a slow talker. But I really advise you do get the I&T evaluation.

[Anonymous]

Have you contacted your county’s early intervention service? You call them directly in Montgomery County. You don’t need a referral. I don’t know how it works in other places.
Is she meeting her other milestones, pointing, waving, making good eye contact, responding to her name?
I found the Hanen books helpful: It Takes Two to Talk and More than Words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First, have you spoken to your pediatrician about this? If you are concerned see if you can get a referral to the Infants and toddler's center for an evaluation.

Second, daycare and being around other kids does not hamper her, it may help, but it does not hurt. I am sure you speak to her, read to her and maybe you even let her watch TV (where she is exposed to speaking). If so, keep doing what you are doing. She may just be a slow talker. But I really advise you do get the I&T evaluation.

Yes definitely talked to pediatrician...he seemed unconcerned because everything else was good. He basically was like some kids just don't talk until they are 2 or older.

[Anonymous]

Our DD wasn't talking at 16 months, so we self-referred to early intervention. My understanding is that while it is not "normal" to not have any words at this age, it does happen often and many children in this situation of being "late talkers" do catch up on their own. Our DD is 2 yo now, and she's talking a ton and graduated from early intervention after just a few months. She did start daycare around that time as well which may have helped. I think it's likely she would have caught up on her own, but I found the services useful, and worthwhile.

Some of the strategies we used are:
- Overarticulation (pronounce words very slowly)
- Tapping (tap your hand on baby's shoulder as you pronounce each syllable of each word
- As she started to talk, encouraging it. Like if she was playing on her ride on toy and she wanted me to push her more, wait for her to say "more" before I pushed her.

These are just some examples, and I think if you do go to early intervention they will customize the strategies to your specific needs. If you are in Maryland you can self-refer using this website (you want to "make a referral") https://referral.mditp.org/

[Anonymous]

Our middle DS wasn’t talking at 18-19 months and I did set up an evaluation with Early Intervention. He had a non-receptive language delay, but it wasn’t great enough to qualify for services at the time. They told me to schedule another evaluation for 4 months later, but he was talking a lot by then so we didn’t do it. He is almost 6 now. He did have some speech therapy at 3 for pronunciation problems and his pronunciation is still not great. But, his vocabulary is amazing and he talks constantly. He is a perfectionist and hates doing things he isn’t good at, so I wonder if that was part of the reason he was delayed talking. He didn’t start talking until he had figured it out so he could just jump right in.

[Anonymous]

We just had our 18 month old evaluated after self referring to early intervention. We'll be doing a few months of speech to see if it helps. He also doesn't meet the early warning signs for autism. Here's hoping our kids are just late talkers on their way!

[Anonymous]

This was very similar to my situation a year and a half ago. My 3 y/o had approx. 10 words at that age (and certainly not in every day use) even though she could follow similar directions and pointing exercises. We spoke to our pediatrician about and she was happy to provide a referral if we really wanted one, but we mutually decided to re-evaluate at the 2y visit.

Her language picked up shortly thereafter and you would never, ever know she was a late talker.

You might try incorporating more music in. With the caveat that I know there are a lot of sincerely-felt and strongly-held views on screen time and understand why people hold them, and what AAP recommends -- my daughter watched a lot of Lisa Loeb Nursery Rhyme Parade and Julie Andrews musicals last Spring when daycare was closed and I was on work calls. The songs seem to help with her spoken vocabulary.

I've also heard good things about the Hanen books though I have not read them.

[Anonymous]

Get a language evaluation for expressive language. It’s great if receptive is good. That is far more important at that age. It’s probably not asd. Some kids talk later.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't be too concerned, especially if her receptive language is good. My best friend's kid did not say a word until slightly past 2 years old. Even the pediatrician (different country) was a little bit concerned. And then suddenly he started talking and was on track for his age.

[Anonymous]

Refer yourself to early intervention now because it may take a while to get evaluated; you can always cancel. It very well could resolve on its own but there is absolutely no downside to getting evaluated by your local early intervention - it’s free and the kid usually thinks it’s fun, and if nothing is wrong you get peace of mind.

[Anonymous]

This was our daughter. Understood everything we said perfectly, but had very limited vocabulary. Our pediatrician referred us for early intervention. We did it, but within a few months of turning two the floodgates opened and she wouldn’t stop talking. She’s now 15 and the same is true. We joke how we wish she was little again so we could have some peace and quiet!

[Anonymous]

We had and have the same issue at 21 months. Did the intake for early intervention through MoCo. Didn't qualify given all her other skills and receptive is on par or better than age milestones. I stopped worrying about it. Receptive is fine. She understands and does so much more than her sister did at this age. And the older kid talks non stop so the toddler cant get a word in. Apparently this was the exact scenario with my dh and his sister. She didnt talk until 3. And then no issues at all.

[Anonymous]

A full hearing test is critical in this situation. Get a referral from EI or from your pediatrician.

[Anonymous]

Both of my kids were saying very few words at age 2 (like 3 words) but were very communicative otherwise. Now both are extremely verbal, more so than many of their peers.

My husband was also a late talker, maybe there is a genetic component. I’d check with your ped if you are worried but you may be like me and just have late talkers. It’s a great sign that she is understanding things and communicating well non verbally.