Classes for 18M with delayed walking & speech

[Dazzle]

My son also does not speak more than 10 vacobs at 18 mths. At first I am like you, kind of worried but my mum said my grandfather only start speaking at 4 yrs old so maybe it runs in the family. Though my grandfather start speaking late in life, he is good with languages. As for my son, true enough, he eventually start speaking more after that. He is 12 now and once in a while, I wish he will talk less. In your case, maybe wait a little while longer instead of sending him to therapy.

One point to note is that if your son can say a few words, check whether he is able to pronounce clearly words that needs to roll his tongue, eg. words start with ‘r’ . I came across a 6 yr old kid who has this problem when I was in a volunteer programme to help kids to read. I noticed this and brought it to the attention the person-in-charge. His problem was diagnosed and he undergo speech therapy to correct his speech problem.

[PrincessPrince]

Hi Mummy Roberta..

Yup I gas its the peer pressure

Hi Mummy slmkhoo..
Thanx for e advice. Will put the toys higher to encourage this exercise..
Btw before ur gal can talk at 2, is she able to say any words before that?
My son cant even utter any word yet.

[PrincessPrince]

Hi Mummy Dazzle…

As far as Ive known des no genetic issues on either side of my family which I gas dats make me worry as my 1st dotter is fast beyond the milestone.
Dun mind can share ur tips in "teaching" ur son to words?

[Dazzle]

slmkhoo:

Dazzle:

One point to note is that if your son can say a few words, check whether he is able to pronounce clearly words that needs to roll his tongue, eg. words start with 'r' . I came across a P1 kid who has this problem when I was in a volunteer programme to help kids to read. I noticed this and brought it to the attention the person-in-charge and eventually he was enrolled in speech therapy to correct his speech problem.

However, don't panic now as your son is almost certainly not going to be able to pronounce all sounds accurately now. The average age for producing all the speech sounds of English (especially 'r', 'th' and some others) is around 5yo, and not getting them until about 6-7yo is still considered normal.

What I mentioned is my personal experience. I am no speech expert. Agree that it may still be normal for not being able to pronounce words with 'r' or 'th' at 6 yrs old. Initially I thought this kid was not taught the proper way of pronouncing but I found he still have problem after being taught. In any case, I don't see any harm to bring to the attention his problem so that he can be assessed by the experts/professionals and have it corrected before it is too late. My opinion is that it is best to have it corrected as they start primary school education.

[Dazzle]

PrincessPrince:

Hi Mummy Dazzle..

As far as Ive known des no genetic issues on either side of my family which I gas dats make me worry as my 1st dotter is fast beyond the milestone.
Dun mind can share ur tips in \"teaching\" ur son to words?

I am afraid I don't have any tips on this issue. I believe what my mum said, that he will eventually talk when he is ready. He just surprised me one day when my husband and I brought him to visit a playgroup. It was around CNY time and the place was nicely done up. Suddenly he point to the deco and said 'NICE'. That was really a pleasant surprise, we didn't even teach him this word!! I am still puzzle where he learn it. We decided to let him attend the playgroup there and eventually he speaks more. Maybe because he has so many little friends that. At home, there is only the maid and him when we are at work. So perhaps having playmates to interact and talk to him helps a bit.

[SammiMum]

18 months still not able to walk on their own or start talking is very normal.

My sister in law’s baby is 18m now also haven’t start walking on his own. He also haven’t call her ‘ma ma’. Not to mention vocabs.
My brother’s daughter and a friend’s son didn’t start talking until they are nearly 2 and a half yrs old. Now both children above 5 yrs old now are speaking fluently.
There is nothing to worry about so long they have no hearing problem.
Keep talking to them and trust me, one day they will suprise you with all those ‘vocabs’ you have been teaching them.

Cheers!

[heyhoe]

Hi PrincessPrince,


I can feel your anxiety especially if your ds is your first born. My ds1 was like yours too. He was still crawling at not able to speak when he was 18 months but I had to send him to childcare as my mum was not able to help.

I was worried that other kids might step on him, luckily I found a good childcare with good and caring teachers. They help him and his first word was \"more\" cause he wants more food He began to interact more and started to talk and eventually his progress was good within the next 6 months when he was there.

He was able to pull himself to stand but not walking thus we usually brought him out on a stroller. Imagine our surprise when we were trying out a pair of Nike sports shoe for him. He seems happy and we asked him to stand. He didn't only stand but started running. Without a doubt, we bought the shoe on the spot!

I hope my story will give you hope and encouragement

[Kjolene]

That’s encouraging! My son is 15 months now and hasn’t really started walking. He walks 2-3 steps on his own a few times but that’s all. It doesn’t help when my MIL commented that he’s always slower than others in every aspect. It’s not very encouraging.