20 month old not talking yet
 

Hi all.

I have a friend with a 20 month year old baby who does not talk yet. Everyone says "Einstein didn't speak until he was 4". Well, who cares about Einstein?" We live in a competitive world and everyone is sharing when their child first learns to speak. This is a very sociable, loveable child who interacts with children very well, interacts with adults very well, points to everything (making his wants very understood). He does not say mama or dada or up, or anything. He was tested by a competent audiologist, and there is no hearing problem whatsoever.

A month ago they took him to a speech pathologist who, after several sessions) diagnosed him with expressive and delayed language and recently told the mother to bring him to a neurologist to test for apraxia. I have looked this up. He had been going to speech therapy twice a week.

Still no talking. Laughs his head off. Watches "Frozen" every night (like all the little children do). Loves his family, but for whatever reason, he just won't repeat words or speak. He knows where his nose is, his mouth, his head, etc. He won't talk. All his little friends talk and say mommy, daddy, up, etc. Some even say two words or even more. Of course everyone has an opinion. They say "he's still young, he can be a late talker, etc."

His dad says "he's too young, he doesn't need speech therapy". The mom will still bring him privately of course (at least I hope she continues to bring him" Oh, he eats just fine, he can feed himself, he sucks through a straw (I read how a neurologist tests for apraxia by watching a child do this. I have seen him make the oooh and aaaah expression with his mouth so we know that those muscles are working.

But how can we get him to say ANYTHING. Believe me, they have tried. He shakes his head no when you ask him to do what he doesn't want to do. He has full comprehension but has yet to even say mommy or mama. He did say dada a few months ago, one time, but that was it.

They find it hard to hear him cry so of course they give in to him. People have suggested that he earn the privilege of watching his favorite video or use his favorite toy by withholding it and saying the word and maybe he will say it to get it back. They have no patience to do this. And god forbid you take away his pacifier, he cries up a storm.

He is healthy as a horse, eats like a champion, and when he's tired, he will walk into his bedroom, with his mommy behind him, and knows he's going to bed. They will ask him to bring them a book or bring them something and he wil do it. He just won't talk.

Do you think he has apraxia or is he just a very late talker.

All comments are welcome.

Thanks very much.

Melody

Late talker.

I don't really know, Melody, but I'd probably be more concerned if the child had been making noises or talking already and then stopped altogether.

Has the child ever made any sounds at all? Like little baby babble?

I know a child a little bit older who is now just starting to speak and to string a few words together. She is the youngest of 3 and lives in a very busy extended family and I don't think she's ever really spoken because she can't get a word in edgeways. Everyone speaks for her.

It's always concerning I guess for a parent when their child isn't doing the same as other children around them, but considering the child is very social and healthy, then I wouldn't be as concerned.

On the other hand, if the SLP suggests further investigation, I'd probably go along with that.

I also don't think bribery would help. lol

Not really any babbling. I've seen countless videos of him. No sounds come out. Except when he watches something funny on tv, then he laughs his head off. Giggling.

Mel

Hi Melody,
Well, if there were no sounds at all, I would definitely follow the advice of the SLP.

You and I are in complete agreement. Now the only thing is for the FATHER to agree.

I mean, when would parents REALLY start to worry??

Mel

I totally understand.

She wouldn't be the first mother to take her child for specialist advice with the father not knowing. It's not ideal, but it is in the best interest of the child. :o

The ideal would be that both parents were involved but I have to say that I was in a similar situation when my first child was born and his father just didn't "get" it.

The dad is a very hard worker, works nights, is barely there and it's mostly on the mom. Money is not a problem. The kid has play dates up the kazoo. The kids ring her bell so he can come out and play. He gets along with kids, he just doesn't talk.

Odd indeed

Mel

Melody,

I just now saw this. I can tell you it could be Apraxia for sure. My grandson has apraxia. And he is 8, is just now getting to the point we are starting
to understand him.

There is a room on facebook, that you can learn a wealth of information.

I know I'm not supposed to post the room on here. So if you contact me
I will give it too you. The room is very supportive, and we really want to help.

Also its diagnosed by SLP's a lot of the time. But some want a neurologist on board. Because this is a neurological condition.

Donna :hug::grouphug:

Hi. thanks so much for offering the link but I would not be able to access it because the whole family is on FB and if I joined a group or room, it would pop up and I would never want to embarrass anyone.

By the way, he was 2 in October. This is now February. He says "uh oh, up mama (I've never heard him do this but they say he does). He might know 5 words or so. He is not stringing words together to make any sentences. he's a very active mischievious, social little guy. He loves his mama and daddy. He has lots of social interaction but in my opinion he is definitely not up to speed. They know this. He gets speech therapy, OT, and PT. Something about low muscle tone (in how he gets up from a lying position) but that was months ago. Now when I watch him on the computer, he's jumping off the bed, he climbs to the top of anything. And this morning, he went in the kitchen to find where his mother keeps the cookies. She had hidden them. She had the camera on him the whole time. He did his investigating and he found another kind of cookie. She's going along with this (trying to get him to be verbal). He's saying something but it's not clear at all. Then he opens the package of cookies, goes WOW and his mother laughs and said "I told you not to eat cookies, you have to eat breakfast first". He looks at the camera, he put a cookie in his mouth, he smirked, he went mm mm and then went to watch television (all the while not saying anything, just the mmm and the WOW.

So he has comprehension and knows his objects (you say "where's the cow, where's the truck?") he knows it all. He makes the sounds.

But there is no where near the speech where he should be. But he is getting the speech therapy. And the mom is going to have another baby in July. They are hoping that by July he will be speaking more.

Why does this happen?

Thanks much for your info

Mel

I wanted to add one more thing to what I posted. Some years ago, in my former neighborhood there were 3 brothers. The youngest spoke like he had marbles in his mouth. He was around 8. Apraxia for sure (now that I can put a name to it). The only people who understood him was his family. No one knew what the heck he was saying.

Well....fast forward 20 or so years and I met up with him one day. He spoke just fine. I didn't bring anything up but what the h? How can you go from speaking like you have marbles in your mouth to speaking perfectly fine. I have no idea if this child had speech therapy because this happened over 30 years ago but wow, such an amazing difference.

Right now as I view yet another video, I'm watching him (whenever he tries to speak) and it's like he has marbles in his mouth. What kind of therapy do these speech language pathologist do to get them to finally speak coherently? Thanks much

Melody,

I would suggest you have them find a SLP that can test for or use some
of the kinds of therapy that is used for Apraxia. Its very possible
this is part of his problem.

Help them look for someone that does "Prompt". This is one of the programs,
I will have to look for the other forms.

Donna :hug::grouphug:

You need to look up online the word Apraxia. There is a site that has lots
of information on its page. Its called Apraxia Kids. And right now they
are doing their once a year IPAD give aways.

Donna :hug::grouphug:

Yes, it could be apraxia.

Can the child form his lips into a circle to, say, blow out a birthday candle?

With the help of SLP, people with apraxia can learn to speak. In the interim, is your friend being encouraged to teach him to sign? If he turns out to be just a "late talker," there's no harm in learning this skill.

Hi. If I come out with any of this info, they will know that I am sticking my nose in. This has to be done very carefully.

Some family members say "What is all the fuss about, he'll speak when he wants to speak". Since the baby is already getting early intervention and speech therapy as well as other kinds of therapy for low muscle tone, right now it's not appropriate that I stick my nose in and talk about PROMPT. I am definitely going to look into this but keep my opinions to myself unless I am asked. As he gets older, however, people will start to talk. Especially if the little guy is NOT talking like his peers. That much will become fairly obvious.

The mother of this little guy is very hands on and does all googling and stuff. She KNOWS. The other family members don't get it. It must be very hard for family members to even acknowledge that there might be something wrong.

So all I do is get excited every time he says anything (which by the way, is practically nil). Kids his age SPEAK. I have had conversations with children his age. So that's not happening here. And then there is a new baby coming.

Must be extremely frustrating.

I'm definitely going to educate myself on this PROMPT therapy.

And I thank you heartily for taking the time to respond. I'll update if anything happens.

Mel

Hi. I just spent about an hour watching youtube videos on kids with Apraxia. He sounds just like them. There was a 2 1/2 year old girl with a picture book and she was pointing and I swear she was acting EXACTLY like my friend's grandson. I also watched a youtube video about a 5 year old boy who has been videoed for the past 3 years. At 3 he couldn't pronounce anything. I watched as the therapist used a tool to measure where his tongue was and how he bites down and where he positions his tongue when he says things. And he blew bubbles. It was fascinating. I never new about Apraxia and it being a motor speech disorder.

These children need therapy ongoing don't they?

This is a tricky situation here. Only if the topic comes up and there's an open conversation and someone asks my opinion, I will then take out my tablet and show them these videos. I know that the mom of the baby has already done this. She is extremely hands on in matters regarding this child. But the other members of the family are older and not computer literate. I believe they are afraid he's autistic. I don't see this going on.

This is going to be a delicate situation.

I will continue to learn and gently head them in the right direction (they might be doing this already). I did ask once "what goes on during the speech therapy?) All the grandma knew was 'the mother doesn't know, she's not there when he gets therapy". which is another way of telling me to butt out. That's why I'm not butting in.

Eventually everyone will see that he's not speaking like other kids.

At least he is getting some therapy. We shall see what transpires.

Thanks to all of you.

Mel

Melody

Just keep being there for especially the mom and the child. Its one of
the hardest things to watch. That your little one isn't or can't talk.

Help them rejoice every word he says. Thats what we do for my
Grandson. And at christmas this year is the first time anyone really
said. He is talking so much better.

Its a long term thing, and it can get better. Just takes time.

Donna :hug::grouphug:

You should have seen the first time he said the word ball. You think we won the lottery. We clap and cheer and he goes nuts smiling. This is all done via Skype because we don't live near the mom or the kid but thank god for Skype. It lets you see little ones growing up and doing stuff. We didn't have any of these gadgets way back in the day. So I shall continue to encourage and listen and hopefully one day I shall have good news to share with all of you.

Thanks much

Melody

I talked about this with my partner. She is a child psychologist with a special interest in working with children who present with developmental delays.

Her comment was that getting the child assessed by a similar health professional would be a good idea.

Hi Melody, one of my nephews had difficulty learning how to talk on his own. He was about the same age as your friend’s son, about 2 and 1/2, when his parents sent him to a speech therapy clinic at a local university. I drove him there myself a couple of times and he was treated by therapy students under the supervision of a qualified therapist.

What I saw the students do was to play games with him with a ball, and when he got involved and expected the ball to be rolled back to him, the student would hold onto the ball while encouraging him to verbalize before he received it back. They worked very diligently on showing him how to make different sounds with his mouth.

This was many years ago and I don’t know if such simple techniques are still used, but in my nephew’s case they worked. He began using simple words after about three weeks of treatment, and he became quite a chatty little guy after about ten weeks. He just needed to be taught how to talk.

Hi there. Sorry I have not been on this board (or any other board) my husband has been in and out of ER's and hospitals due to the fact that he has (side effect of Flomax). He's home now, no more Flomax and he's seeing an urologist who ran all kinds of tests. But that story is for another day.

Now about the 2 1/2 year old who wasn't talking. He is now talking. Not a lot but he understands and replies. He has been in O/T, P/T and speech therapy for quite a while now. It has helped a great deal. He says 3 word sentences. This morning he got up and said 'do pee pee on the potty", so his mother took him into the bathroom and he peed into the bowl.

He is a friendly little fellow but not a chatterer, and he's EXACTLY like his father who is quiet and is an engineer. I think he takes after his father.

The little guy socializes, understands absolutely everything he is told to do but if you are asking 'can you have a conversation with him?" Not at all. He is still in the baby stage of learning to speak. And he knows how to count and he knows his ABC's and if you give him certain objects, like you show him a photo of a hat and then you mix up other photos, he will match the two items together. I think his problem is apraxia.

Time will tell.

And here's the other thing. His mother is 9 months preg and due to give birth next week. She's having a girl. She's been getting him ready to welcome his baby sister. She would ask him questions like: "Are you going to share your toys?" He laughs and says "no". Stuff like that.

How's that for timing?

Mel