Son not speaking

Some children are simply slow to speak. Do you read to him without trying to make him say words? Some kids respond to music... the nursery rhymes and little children's songs. Books that rhyme like, "One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish." You might also ask the ped. about other possible early intervention possiblities. (In PA some services are available through the Intermediate Units - of the PA school system) Again, try not to stress too much!

Hi. I'm a speech-language therapist and see many kids this age who are slow to talk. I would stay away from videos since kids learn to communicate from more natural and concrete situations. As adults, we often ask kids to repeat after us ("Say 'juice please' "). It can actually be more effective to model for them without asking them to repeat. Nursery rhymes and books are great ideas. No matter where you live, there should be a program through the public school system that can assess his speech and language skills and provide early intervention if it's determined that he needs it. As the previous poster said, check with you pediatrician. Also check with your local public school system even though he's not in school yet. This is common so don't worry too much. It can't hurt to be on top of things, though, so don't hesitate to have him evaluated.

All of my foster kids have had problems with speech. While I am not a speech therapist, I do have an academic understanding of early speech therapy for children without a defect; meaning that a child like yours is probably not talking because he doesn't want to and doesn't have to. I work on their speech everyday by making them ask for what they want. You may think this is terrible for the child, but unless they attempt to say"cup" , they don't get the cup. Smiling, laughing or whatever they may do will not get them the object they want. I will simply put the object where they can see it, but not reach it. a few minutes later we will try again. I do this for everything they want. They do not have t say the word correctly, bt do have to attempt the word. Once they have gotten the word correct and I know they can pronounce it, they are then required to say that word correctly the next time. After a few weeks of prompting the child to say the word, I then drop the prompting. They know what a cup is and they don't need me to say the word anymore. If they want the cup, they will say "cup". Usually a child will rebel against saying words for objects and can cry, whine or throw a fit about it, but no matter what, I do not give in to that and they will either get a time out for a tantrum or be sent away from the object, so they can do something else. Time away from the object gives them time to redirect and then within a few minutes I will try the word game again. can tell you that all of my kids learn some words really, really fast. Words like, cup, juice, cookie, cracker, fish(goldfish crackers), milk, cream(for ice cream), etc.

my daughter was very behind at that age and still is (now 3 years old), but she is catching up. I used to worry alot and many people told me that it is common and she would catch up and she is! also, friends including her speech therapist suggested daycare or preschool, to get her around other children her age and i honestly think that helped more than the therapy. Consider having your child in daycare (if not already) with children about the same age and seeing them talk and interacting with them may help, if for only a few hours a few days a week.

Thanks for the advise. His speech has improved over the past year, but he is still way behind other kids. CaddoRose....my son was adopted from foster care. Sometimes I wonder if not being nurtured in the womb, such as talked to or eating healthy, can contribute to some things like this....maybe not though. I do make him ask for things, he definitely is not allowed to just cry and whine for something. Even if he says it wrong, which is most of the time, he does have to say something that remotely sounds like what he wants followed by "peaze". : ) Leeah...thanks for the advise about the videos too. That is exactly why I started this thread, so I wouldn't waste my money on them if it wasn't going to help. I do ask him to repeat "juice please" but that is more so he learns good manners. And he can say most of those types of words, juice crackers milk and other foods. When he was too little to talk, he would point and fuss and I would say "juice please" and then hand it to him....to model how we ask, but I figure he is old enough to at least say "joo peaze". I do read to him and I don't make him repeat the words as I am reading, but if he says something that really doesn't sound right at all, I will say it correctly and ask him to repeat it. I am going to stop doing that for a while and see how things go. Just had an "ah-ha" moment.....I guess I should teach him how to talk the way I would teach a younger child. When he was a year old, I never asked him to repeat words....that would be silly because he was too young to talk. I would just say them so he could hear it correctly and see how my mouth was moving. That is how I need to treat him now...as far as speech is concerned. I will still make him say the words he can say, but not try to force him to say words he can't say.

It sounds like you are doing the right things with him and helping him. Don't worry so much about the pronunciation of words, it's more about saying something right now. There are so many reasons kids in foster care are developmentally behind and speech is usually the big. Acquiring speech and using it correctly, is a slow, long process. As babies/children, we acquire skills when pre-programmed doors open in the brain and allow the correct info to come through the door into the brain and be used. If a door opens and the info is not available, or the brain is focusing on other issues, such as staying alive, protecting ones-self or dealing with abuse and neglect issues then that portion of the brain can be reprogrammed by itself to another use. Then, later, the brain has to use another area to acquire a skill that it didn't have, but needs. If the brain is focused on survival, then who needs speech? This can make it harder and slower for kids to use speech. Keep up with reading the books and use the same few books over and over again to reinforce the same words. I really like books by Sandra Boyton and Dr. Suess because they use the same words again and again in a way that kids remember.Just remember that speech is a slow process and you are doing it right.

The best thing to do is to talk to him everyday without baby talk, let him watch cartoons, or PC program that will ask him to repeat every word spoken. Avoid forcing the child to speak 'coz that would be a traumatic experience to them. __________________ [url=http://www.pureandhealthy.com/resveratrol]resveratrol[/url]

My foster son was slow to speak. He attends day care and even with all the other kids his age speaking to him he just wouldn't talk. At 2 I took him to a speech pathologist. He did really well with the testing and came out a little behind average but still in the 'normal' range. She gave us a bunch of word games and songs. Once we stopped trying to coerce him into talking his language exploded. For some reason, he talks nonstop at home and hardly talks at all at school. At least now we know it's because he doesn't want to, not because he can't. We go back for a reassessment in a month or so. Don't worry about what is 'normal' for young kids, that's a huge range in the early years and many that are behind one year are caught up or ahead the next.

I think this is the perfect time for you to visit a doctor. it seems to me as if there is some problem going on with your kid. because a kid should start speaking before 1.6 yrs of age. my son started speaking when he was of 14 months. [URL="http://www.autismchildparenting.com"] How Does Autism Affect Children [/URL]