[athikers]

When our D came to stay with us he was nearly non-verbal (at almost 22 months). He had yet to say a single word and the extent of his communication was to point and grunt and to bark (yes, bark). Well, in the time it took to schedule his early intervention appointment (3 weeks from placement) he was talking a little, using guestures, etc. Enough that he did NOT qualify for services. His language development continued to sky rocket and currently he says MANY words, adding some each day (he is now almost 27 months) HOWEVER, as of yet he doesn't really put words together. He'll say "Dadda co" (Daddy's coat), "Mama spoo" (Mama's spoon) but other than an ownership sort of 'sentence' he rarely puts two words together. Has anyone else had a child who was behind in language and caught up only to "slow down" again. He understands A LOT and in the other areas of his development he is definitely within the normal range. Is it 'normal' not to be stringing words together at 27 months?

I'll edit to add that he is NOT in a daycare setting and is around kids his age about 2-3 days a week.

[Scootersbabygirl]

Hi! First of all, let me say that I feel your pain! Our FS came to us two months ago (he'll be 3 in may) saying "mama, spoo" and we suckered a "plea" out of him (please). Luckily we had a family infant toddler teacher that he was already just starting to get involved with who came to the house and suggested we start with sign language. So we have, and it is AMAZING! I'm not sure why, but it's like the sign language clicked his brain to understand what the words were, and to try to speak. Especially the sign for "help me", because it's two signs he figured out how to put the sentences together.

My advice is that: get some children level sign language cards/books from the library. Learn the simple ones...thank you, please, help me, cookie, drink, thirsty, eat, stop (a BIG one...stop), no, ect. The sign language will help kick start his brain and will make him less frustrated about not being able to communicate, therefore he's able to try to think about the words and will eventually be able to say them.

Also, if you're trying to get him to say a word, say milk, for example, don't let him get away without trying. Make him say the M sound at least before you let him go play. Or if you want him to put two words together, make him at least attempt it...we've found that by making our FS sit there until he at least tries it, that he's more willing to try, knowing that if he tries we'll be very happy with him.

[mrsred]

our son went into foster care when he was almost 4 and was essentially non-verbal. He could say words, but could not construct a sentence of his own. He repeated sounds.... over and over again quite often, but could not answer a question. When asked how old he was, his reply was Ms Pickles! I believe he learned to "speak" from listening to the TV... which doesn't teach how to have a conversation.
Anyway, by the time we got him, a year and a half later he was more communicative, but his sentence structure was still way off. Now he is 7 1/2 and still takes speech. Unlike most children in speech therapy he has no problem pronouncing words,his problem comes in formulating a sentence. He is still making improvement, and I doubt he will continue in speech therapy beyone this year (first grade).
Anyway, some tips I got from his speech therapist... first off, although you do need to encourage him to say his words,if you push it too much he will get frustrated and "lock up". Instead, do a lot of modeling. For instance when he points at the milk and barks (or what ever he is doing at the given moment) you would say "Oh, you would like to have some milk please?" When he makes a one word request (Up) you need to respond with a complete sentence (You would like me to pick you up), thus showing him the expectation and giving him the tools.

[beept]

My foster son came to me at 19 months of age, completely nonverbal. He would also point and grunt for everything he wanted. (and still does for the most part) Very slowly he started speaking a few words, and by the time we got in for his early intervention with the speech pathologist they felt that although he was behind, since I was seeing improvement he did not qualify for services. He is now 23 months old, and has a vocabulary of maybe 10 words. He can not put two words together or make a sentence. In all other areas he is on track developmentally. Everyone tells me not to worry, kids will talk when they are ready to. He is in daycare M-F, and the daycare does sign language. Sign language works well with most of the other kids, but my boy hasn't caught on very well. He definetly understand what I say. So I have no words of wisdom for you, but am kinda in the same boat and interested to here others reply.

[straightblues]

I have a boy who is 40 months old now. He came to use at 19 months old. He only began speaking more than a few words at about 34 months. I was really worried. But now he speaks in full sentences and is starting to make up stories. His pronunciation still isn't where it should be but he sure talks a lot now. In fact, it is hard to shut him up. I think you should start worrying about something else instead of his speach for now. He is still very young.

[jodybird511]

As far as catching up only to slow down again, I wouldn't call it that at all. First of all, if he was saying no words at all at the age of 22 months, he was _very_ delayed. The developmental "norm" is for kids to be doing 2 word sentences at 24 months. He's only a couple months past that. Given how delayed he was, I'd say it's a little too early to expect 2 word sentences...sounds like he's making great progress, so I'm sure he'll get there. He just hasn't had enough time (only 5 months, right?) to "fully" catch up yet. Good luck!

[tvs4]

I would also add that if you haven't (but you probably have) make sure he can hear. Our FS was non-verbal at 19 months (not one word!) and I was concerned. They evaluated his hearing and it wasn't good. It turns out the poor little guy had chronic, undiagnosed ear infections. he never showed symptoms of ear infections and they just went untreated until we picked up on it. He was largely non-verbal becasue he couldn't hear well. Once we cleared up the ear infections (in his case he needed tubes to drain the goo out) and got some speach therapy he started to do great! So, if he hasn't yet been evaluated for hearing problems I would make sure they did it.

[FAITHfarms]

I definatley agree with getting hearing tested! I work with preschoolers who are deaf/hard of hearing. Before you can expect language, you have to make sure they can hear it! We do not use any sign language with our children because the option the parents chose for these children is to become verbal children. We have an "intense" early intervention program with a lot of language enrichment and therapy for the kids. Sign language is easier to pick up on than language so it does offer language options that may have quicker feedback. However, just make sure you keep promoting oral language even if the child signs so that he doesn't rely soley on the signs and not continue to develop verbal skills. I am not against signing, but just make sure you know all the options and the implications of each. Other than that, promote language! It sounds like he has come a long way in a short time and language is a complex thing to acquire. Definatley use modeling and if you want him to put more words together, he needs to hear words together. Model good language for EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME! Think of it like you being the radio announcer for everything the child does and you are giving the play by play of the child's life "You are putting on a red sock, etc..." Let him guide the conversation. Also let him know there is an expectation for language. If he points and grunts for something, give him the words and then have him repeat what he can, even if you have to start with feeding him each word. Start small and work up as his language grows. Don't make him feel ashamed or forced, make talking fun! There are a lot of games that you can play that promote listening and language. If you can't get him therapy, then you can assume that role! You could make a "game time" where he thinks he's just playing games but you set it up to promote language.

Just to give you a comparision of the children I work with...the little girl I am trying to adopt came to our program at 3, almost 4, and with NO language. She had spent that entire time not hearing anything. She has been "hearing" for a few months now and at almost 5 is just learning to talk. Today I was thrilled because she said her version of "all gone" without being prompted. As long as she is making forward progress were going in the right direction... speech/langauge is the #1 area of delays in young children but that doesn't mean all hope is lost! At least your little guy is understanding what is being said, just not saying it.

Let me know if this helped or if I can do anything else for ya! Best of luck to ya!

[beept]

I have had my boys hearing tested and it seems to be fine. He did have chronic ear infections and had tubes placed in his ears last September. That probably caused some of his delay. I thought he would pick up words quicker, but since I see small improvements I am not too concerned yet.
Thanks for your input!

[teachbear]

Our foster son (at 20 months) would not say many words, but would repeat almost anything we said, especially if we said say the word. He was great at pointing and using facial expresions. We required him to make some type of verbal output (sound, repeat word) and used sign language, saying the word at the same time. I learned to do this when I did some field experience in a school that had hard of hearing/deaf students in regular classes. I stuck with basic signs eat, more, milk, stop, etc. I have found many books and videos for children on sign langauge at our library. We also asked him to repeat words we said while holding or pointing to the object, we described what we or he was doing. Like one of the other posters said you are providing the structure of language for you foster child. Rember to give frequent praise for anything resembling a word and then as he gets better praise closer and closer productions of the word you want him to say. The more praise and positive reaction he gets for speaking the more he will be willing to try. If english is not the language they heard in their birth home it may take longer for the speech to start.

[athikers]

Thanks for all the replies.

Little D is not the slightest bit frustrated with his talking and he talks ALL the time, but just usually in one word sentences with inflection to get his point across. "Car?" = Can I play with my cars? "Car!" = There's the car I lost! etc. In fact, as he's falling asleep you can hear him upstairs going through his favorite words as he winds himself down. "Mama, "Dada" "Te" (What he calls M) "Car" "Bear" "Book" "Good Night" and so on. So, he needs no incentive or encouragement to talk, my concern lies more with his not stringing words together. But, I need to remember he JUST started talking at 22 months, so he's doing well, considering.

Thanks for the concern about hearing loss as well. That is one I was already tuned into. It is obvious that he hears quite well as he will answer almost any question you throw at him and comment on the slightest noise (he hears a car horn down the street and says "Beep Beep" or hears a train outside a good 30 seconds before I can hear it and starts "Choo" "Choo" -ing)

[jolean12]

Just give him time and he will catch up. My fs M came to us at 2 1/2 yrs old and maybe said 5 words. He is now 3 1/2 and talks wonderfully. People who knew him when he came a yr ago can't believe he is the same child. He had a lot of other challenges as this is his 3rd time in care but we are overcoming these as best we can. Now if we can only get him potty trained

[Lamaena]

I don't have any words of wisdom, instead I am in a similar situation w/ my bson who is now 26 months. He has no real words in his vocabulary, he tries to say eat "eee", or daddy "ah-eee", his only semi-clear word is hi, which he uses as a greeting when meeting and saying goodbye to someone. He has had his hearing checked and that isn't the problem, he has also been evaluated by a speech pathologist and they've diagnosed him with your 'average' 'run of the mill' speech delay. In the mean time, we have used "Baby Signing Time" to teach him sign language. We decided to teach him sign language b/c his level of frustration seemed to rise as the months went by and he was not able to communicate w/ us. Today, only a month or two since we began teaching sign, he knows how to sign many words, mainly animals and food items, but he still does not always use the signs even, which perpetuates his frustration w/ his inability to communicate. I am hoping that speech therapy will have a quick impact on his language skills, but I guess only time will tell. We'll see!

[mommacass]

athikers

I would not worry to much. My bio son was not saying one word at his 2nd birthday, he would do the same as yours point and grunt. Soon after an organization for disabled children called BACH came in once a week to help him. She could not find a reason for him not talking and could not get him to say anything. So she also began to teach him sign language. I thought it was great because at least we could communicate some what. After about 6mo of working with him she began to get a little frustrated herself because still he would not use any words (2 1/2 years old). On one of her weekly visits she brought another professional in and I was able to tell her that he had began to speak that week. Now he is 5 years old and does not know how to be quiet. He is not delayed in any way.
So as long as he is making some progress I would not be conserned.