[Cheryl101]

He will say Ma or Mama for me and he will answer Yea to a question. ANd that's it. He was 11 months old by the time we brought him home from Guatemala and that may play into his delayed language development. He understands so much, he can point to or pick up probably a 100 items, but he just cannot say them, won't even try.

At his next doctor's visit she said if he hadn't improved he'd be seen by a specialist.

Somedays I've given up hope to ever hear a word from him and other days I fully expect him to break out in full sentences.

[grumpyskirtgirl]

I would not wait for his next appointment. I am surprised that the Doc even suggested that. I would think that starting therapy sooner rather than later would be better.
My son turned 2 in May and barely talks (by barely I mean less than 20 words) and he has been in speech therapy for 2 months. He is considered pretty delayed but is rapidly catching up. I don't know what state you are in, but in CA we were able to get speech therapy for free and w/o a Dr's referral. He was evaluated at 18 months and I was told what you were. After a month of absolutely no progress, I demanded that he start therapy. I would think that starting therapy sooner rather than later would be better.

[Gatos]

I agree with grumpyskirtgirl. He will catch up in no time at all with good speech therapy which might be free with early intervention through your state. The longer you wait, the longer it will take to catch up. But don't worry, he will absolutely catch up, especially if his receptive language is so good.

[LJR1974]

Our pediatrician said language delay in IA kids is the norm. He has a son adopted from Korea @ 7 months and he was in speech therapy too. I expect we'll have to do the same for Zack. He's not really talking either.

[CEB]

Consider calling early intervention in your state to have him evaluated sooner for your own mental well being if nothing else.

Our son came home at 8.5 months and by 20 months only had 10-12 words and would never even try to mimic sounds. Our pediatrician said he would wait until just after Curtis' second birthday to have him evaluated but if it would make me feel better it would be fine to do it sooner. He qualified for free speech therapy at 21 months (the tehrapist comes to our house 2 mornings a week) and it was slow going at first but now that we are just past 2 years old he is really expanding his vocabular. Would he have done it on his own, maybe. But, having a professional see him and give us little exercises to help him out certainly did not hurt. And most importantly, she reassured me that she saw no signs of any other developmental delays and really just thought he is a very cautious child when it comes to speaking. It made me feel a lot better/more relaxed for sure! Good luck.

[dmg0703]

Language delays are slightly frustrating, it's tough to know IF there is a true delay or whether the child is just slightly behind (i.e. nothing truly wrong). I agree with the other folks who said to address it sooner rather than later.

JMHO - I am seeing many, many boys on the playground and in classes that I have DS enrolled in - they seem to speak later and not as well as the girls around this age (18 months). That's the reason why I don't think it is necessarily just an adoption related thing......but I am no expert!!

[sheena7112]

Hi there! Well I brought our son home when he was 10 and a half months old. My ped. had me get him evaluated and they said his speach is slow but not abnormal. Everything else he tested normal or above. I had him tested right before he turned 2. He knew everything you said. My girls were a very young talkers and I was conserned. But no worries. Now Spencer is speaking alot more. Not sentences yet 2 words though. I have talked to some of my spanish friends and they told me when they have learned 2 lang. it takes them longer to speak. I do make him say things in order to get what he wants. I also put him is school a couple of days a week and that has helped as well. I can tell his mind is clicking now with the words in the past few weeks. He seams like he says more each day. Dont worry too much every child is different. God bless, Kim

[Mindybeth6]

I am a HUGE advocate for Early Intervention and would call your state to set up an evaluation. It is free for you to do that and they will be able to get you the information you need to start speech therapy. Not being able to communicate can become very, very frustrating for children at this age. Mikayla has been in EI for about 2 months now for speech and SID and is doing wonderful. She attends a toddler group at a local school that is provided for us for free where she receives speech therapy and OT for her SID. I wouldn't wait, get the ball rolling now because sometimes there are waiting lists to receive therapies. Good luck!

[doczig]

Austin came home at 8 months and he is delayed in speech as well. He is 20 months now and can only say "mama", "da" and "dog". He jabbers all the time though. They evaluated him and said he is above average in everything except speech. He started speech few months ago and no real change yet. We have just changed it up to 2 times a week and he starts mom's morning out at church in August so maybe that will help. Trust me - I can't wait to hear him talk to us! Hang in there girl!

[drasusi]

Pediatrician here, seconding the motion to contact your state Early Intervention program now. Your pedi can refer you for a hearing screen, if not already done, and an evaluation by his own specialist or therapist of choice...but your state program will screen children 0-3 for free, and provide therapies if warranted until age 3. But the intake process is a pain (at least it was in California, where we had our son evaluated), and as mentioned by others, there are often wait lists for therapists. So start now, before that window closes! A lot of insurances won't pay for speech/language therapy...and in my experience it can do a world of good!
Good luck.

[DFNY]

My son came home at 4 months so his delay didn't seem to have anything to do with being adopted. Yes, I speak Spanish but mostly he heard English. At 22 months, I called EI (I'm in NY), thinking it may take several months to get an appt but they were here a month later. DS said about 10-12 words at that time. They sent 2 people to evaluate him, in case it was related to having 2 languages. They determined that he understood everything said to him (in English, that is--Spanish, nada!), he had good eye contact, he pointed at things to communicate, etc. and told me that his score on the tests made him ineligible for EI intervention. They thought he'd speak soon. They were right. Within 3 wks (right after turning 2), he started saying more and more words (30-40) and by the time he was 26 months, he was already saying 2 and 3 wd phrases. He's now 3 and has excellent vocabulary and speaks very well. I'm still glad I got the evaluation b/c I was very concerned.

I just saw my DD in Guatemala, who turned 3 two wks ago. She speaks very little. She understands everything and tries to communicate but the words (in Spanish) are shortened and unclear. I'm sure she will need EI, though I think things are different after they turn 3.

I agree with the other people posting--call EI now. It can't hurt and it may help.

Damaris

[DeeVee]

Agreeing with many of the other posters here. Call EI and set up an evaluation. The eval is free and you can learn a lot just during the evaluation.

Just a bit of advice (been there with PT, and now speech and language, and a special educator). Get him evaluated after he turns two. They will use a different scoring system, based on age, and if it's even one day before his 2nd birthday, they will use the 18 month guidelines (OK maybe this varies state to state, but it was true in TN and in WA).

Good luck! If he needs some speech therapy, you will be so glad you had the evaulation done. Carolina is making progress where she just wasn't before we started with a SLP.

[y_tacker]

Our son will turn 2 next month also and say's very few words. He's a very stubborn boy also. He does try to talk a lot but nothing we really understand. If we try to have him repeat us he just smiles at us and won't say anything. We probably need to call Early Intervention also. Anyone ever use them from Minnesota?

[afentress]

I don't think it's a bad idea to start the process of speech and language assessment but I will tell you this...the smartest child I have ever taught never rarely spoke until he was 3. It's hard to believe because he rarely shut up as a first grader but his mom figured he was just processing and yes he began speaking in sentences. And he never lived in another country and heard a different language so while it's good to begin the process because it can take a while, patience may be in order too. I know that's hard because my daughter is 18 months and I'm always waiting for her words to be clearer or make sense but she'll get it and so will he.

Just my 2 cents,
Angie, Mom to Emma, Home forever 8-8-07

[Dawnb93]

My soon to be 18 month old daughter came home at 11 1/2 months old. She understands a lot, but only says about 6 words right now. My pediatrician has already told us to go ahead and contact our EI program. I put the call in last week but haven't heard anything back yet. I say go ahead and do it. It can't hurt to just get them evaluated and start the therapy early (if recommended).

dawn