Left over ham?

new here and looking for support

Posted 02/02/2012

Hi everyone,

i have a 29 month old son who is isn't talking much. he has about 25 words that he can say but doesn't use them on a regular basis. he's been in early intervention for about 6 mos and has progressed a little. I am starting to worry..i don't believe he is autistic because he is very social,makes great eye contact, approaches other children , mimics me and has met all other milestones. he also understands what i say and  can get me his book when i ask etc.. our next step will be to see a developemental pediatrician to rule anything out. i can't stop worrying about it. i am wondering if anyone has had luck with the teach me to talk books? glad to see so much support here..



Comments (3)

Last edited 02/02/2012

FWIW - my daughter who will soon be 11 years old had no words at 30 months.  She was similar to your son - no other issues.  We were in the process of getting started on ST, and she started with some words and we didn't persue it.  It turned out there were no issues, she was simply a late talker - by 4 she was talking and talking and talking!!!  I feel like now (10 years later) there is much more of a push to diagnose and treat speach at younger ages.  I'm not saying that is good or bad, it just is!!!

My son is now 26 months and not takling and our peditrition is pushing ST more than he did with my daughter.  So we might be getting ST for him, we'll see!

Best wishes to you!

Lawr2000 · Original Poster
Posted 02/02/2012
Thanks , it's nice to hear stories like this.gives me hope. Good luck with your son.
Posted 02/03/2012
No, I've never used those books, but my son was similar to yours, at 29 months he only had about 20 words. I had him in early intervention until he was three, now he's in the special needs preschool to continue therapy. Like you, I worried he had autism, or brain damage. Like your son, he is extremely social and makes great eye contact, so autism was ruled out, although he has autistic tendencies. I took him to a dev. Ped., and suggest you follow through with that. When the dp told me my son didn't have any thing like autism, adhd, brain damage etc, I asked why my son had the delay if he was so "normal". She told me with speech they never know the answer to that question because brain scans between a delayed child and a "normal" child are the same. She told me they look at family history at that point and asked if I have a family history of learning disorders. Dyslexia runs on both mine and my dh side. She said dyslexia presents as a speech delay at his age, and that is most likely what he has. Since then I've done a TON of research on dyslexia, and my son fits the bill. I've learned that with therapy and help, its possible for him to complete college, but the learning disorder will never be cured or go away on its own. My own family members with it couldn't complete even one semester of college, but they never had help when they were young like my son. Before I started therapy with my son, and found out it is due to a learning disorder, I had many people tell me stories of their kids just being late talkers, and not to worry about st for my son because be would get it by the time he was 4. I'm so glad I didn't listen to that! He is now 3.5, and just barely had a little speech explosion that brought him up to about a 2yo level. He is starting to put 2-5 word sentences together, but most of these are memorized sentences from his routine. In addition to sp at his preschool, I was advised to get him private st sessions to avoid the major frustration dyslexic kids face when in about 3rd grade. He still has those autistic tendencies, and some sensory issues I worry about, but I get him the help I need. I stopped wondering about the reasons why (like is it because prenatals made me too sick, our because he was born early, our because he fell and hit his head too many times etc.) But now I've just accepted that its not possible to get answers to those questions, and it doesn't matter anyway, what matters is getting him the help he needs. You are doing the right thing having him in ei, good luck with him!

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