All About Delayed Speech

[EASON MAGPIES]

My daughter is already 19 months old and also cannot speak at all…not even mama and papa and walks only when we hold her hand. I enroll her for little neuro tree at Jurong east only once a week and show her lots of you tube flashcards. She is the 1st and only child. We try our best to talk to her. For now this is all we can do.

[cantbearit2]

EASON MAGPIES:

My daughter is already 19 months old and also cannot speak at all...not even mama and papa and walks only when we hold her hand. I enroll her for little neuro tree at Jurong east only once a week and show her lots of you tube flashcards. She is the 1st and only child. We try our best to talk to her. For now this is all we can do.

Hi eason magpies,
my DS3 is oso 19 mths old & can only say 'bye' & 'daddy' but referring to everyone as daddy. :faint: He makes all sorts of sounds & babbles a lot but no one can understand him :scratchhead: cos he seems to have his own \"language\". Even e pedi says he's pretty slow in speech. :nailbite: My DD2 was counting 1 to 10 at ard tis time. Same like u, we r still monitoring his progress & c if he needs early intervention later on.

[botakgundul]

EASON MAGPIES:

My daughter is already 19 months old and also cannot speak at all...not even mama and papa and walks only when we hold her hand. I enroll her for little neuro tree at Jurong east only once a week and show her lots of you tube flashcards. She is the 1st and only child. We try our best to talk to her. For now this is all we can do.

Does she understand simple instruction? Such as sit, eat etc. If yes, then you shouldn't worried much, but still monitoring. 3 years old is a crucial year. If the symptom still persist, then you can bring your daughter for assessment.

I should say you've done enough. Bring her to the playground & mingle with other kids will help her to boost up her speech.

[botakgundul]

Hi eason magpies,

my DS3 is oso 19 mths old & can only say 'bye' & 'daddy' but referring to everyone as daddy. :faint: He makes all sorts of sounds & babbles a lot but no one can understand him :scratchhead: cos he seems to have his own \"language\". Even e pedi says he's pretty slow in speech. :nailbite: My DD2 was counting 1 to 10 at ard tis time. Same like u, we r still monitoring his progress & c if he needs early intervention later on. [/quote]

Boy & girl are developed differently. Don't compare your child. They have their own merit. The milestone chart is meant for guidance & you need to adjust it according to your child ability.

That's why parenting is not an easy job, however it's d most challenging job that I've experienced so far in my life.

I learnt this motto from my colleague:
\"Patience, Perseverance, Practice, More Practice, Excel\"

Good luck mommies & daddies!

[cantbearit2]

botakgundul:

Boy & girl are developed differently. Don't compare your child. They have their own merit. The milestone chart is meant for guidance & you need to adjust it according to your child ability.

That's why parenting is not an easy job, however it's d most challenging job that I've experienced so far in my life.

I learnt this motto from my colleague:
\"Patience, Perseverance, Practice, More Practice, Excel\"

Good luck mommies & daddies!

thks 4 e encouragement!

[hotspurs]

Hi there,


My daughter was not speaking even at 4.5y.o, cries alot etc and got labelled at school as being autistic.

My suggestion is where possible, seek out a speech therapist fast…back then, I was told by KK to wait 6-9 months but I figured it will be "game over" by then. We then started on a speech therapist (and they are not cheap!) that lasted until she was 6+. My advice is to seek help/intervention soonest to give your child more time to pick up.

At the begining, thru some tests, my girl was assessed as having the speech abilities of a 1.5 y.o! There was even doubts as to whether she can attend mainstream pri sch. can you imagine our dismay? But yes! as the old folks say…"it will happen naturally…" I recall that out of the blue, my girl started to talk…and talk non-stop. Today, she is enjoying her self in Pri 1 and her results are ok lah.

My own experience is that the child will be labelled un-necessarily by the school, peers etc. This can be very disheartening and sad. I signed her up with I can read when she was 5+, she went thru the assessment test ok but I deliberately declared on the sign-up that she has no speech/learning disorder…I wanted my girl to be treated/ assessed fairly and not labelled from the start. Guess what? she was one of the first from her class to graduate to the next level of higher learning!

so take heart…when our children kena this, i guess no choice…but we can make a difference by seeking treatment/help fast and giving them lots of love and encouragement.

[EASON MAGPIES]

Hi


Thank you to all for the sharing.

Yes…she can understand go there, sit down, up and now her mom is teaching her to say bye bye. She started to make noises papa papa…but it is not directed at me. She also can walk a few steps but is too timid to try on her own.

Generally speaking she is quite a timid child. Unless that thing is so attractive, most of the time she will stick with we she knows that is why she walks confidently when we hold her hand and yet without our hands, she start to squat down and crawl. I have started to point to some interesting "targets" like bright colored benches and encouraging to walk a few steps to it. Every time she reaches it, I will clap and say good job and she always giggle and laugh.

Anyway for a daddy, I am quite happy to have timid daughter…hee

[cnimed]

linden2000:

Don't be so hard on yourself. Think few parents would have thought of blocked ears as cause for speech delay.

I thought that was the first thing the pd will check for when faced with signs of delayed/unclear speech? Two children in my neighbourhood had that picked out at around 2.5 because of their speech. Their pds immediately checked their ears, and sent them for hearing tests. Subsequently they both had ear surgery to drain out the fluids in their ears. One of them only had 20% hearing because of the fluids. No other issues.

Besides hearing loss, other physical causes could be controlling the tongue muscles or short tongue in which case the speech will be unclear and you may need some advice from a speech therapist. But parents can do a lot in implementing the exercises.

For some it is environmental. No one really talking to them in a slow, clear manner, too much TV with very limited clear speech.

For some it is temperament. Shy, prefers to observe, don't like to make mistakes. These kids have no problem. They will speak when they are ready to.

To be honest I didn't keep track of my children's speech and I'm always amazed by how many younger mothers are worried that their toddlers are not speaking when I meet them at the playground.

To an extent, I think ignorance is bliss. I spoke to my kids slowly and clearly, gave them the names of objects as we encounter them in everyday life, ask them questions and supplied them with words, and no kiddy TV in the first two years. The early years are input years. No input there can be no output right? I think if we make sure we give them clear steady input in the early years, there is no need to worry until after 2 years old. It is unrealistic to worry about their speech from 0-2.5 because there can be so many developmental differences even the doctors will just tell you to observe and KIV.

DS2 spoke earlier, but what he did was to repeat the last two words of ANYTHING that ds1 said. He would follow ds1 around the house and repeat words after ds1. We were bemused, but we did not pay attention. A child psychologist visiting ds1 noted it, but she did not say much. If I had looked it up then, I might have been pointed to echololia, which is a potential sign of autism or aspergers, and worried myself. But I didn't.

[botakgundul]

deminc:

It is unrealistic to worry about their speech from 0-2.5 because there can be so many developmental differences even the doctors will just tell you to observe

I agree w/ u. My baseline is after 3 yrs old. 0-2.5 yrs old r considered very young & too early to tell. During these ages, they still can grow.

[jedamum]

deminc:

I thought that was the first thing the pd will check for when faced with signs of delayed/unclear speech? Two children in my neighbourhood had that picked out at around 2.5 because of their speech. Their pds immediately checked their ears, and sent them for hearing tests. Subsequently they both had ear surgery to drain out the fluids in their ears. One of them only had 20% hearing because of the fluids. No other issues.

that is provided that the kid go to PD in the first place and/or go back for yearly checkups as the mandatory jabs stopped at 18mths. usually 'slow' speech is not a concern for 2yo and hence the 3yo checkup is crucial for the pd to assess the milestones of the child. even during our 3yo checkup at the polyclinic, the dr/nurse(?) did not comment on the speech as children were supposed to develop at a different pace and it is not uncommon for 3yo to not yet being able to speak well. it was after that checkup that i asked for the referral to seek ADHD specialist (under ds2's preschool's suggestion) that i was told by the specialist to seek speech specialist's help and given instructions to go for hearing tests. blessing in disguise, as if not for our need to seek ADHD's specialist, perhaps the blocked ears may be overlooked until the 4yo assessment if i adopt the 'all kids will eventually speak/don't compare ds2's milestone with ds1' mentality. (my ds2's ear was partially blocked; i was told that if we had delayed further, the blockage could have worsen.) i count my blessings.