Should my two year old go to speech therapy?

I asked this in another community but only had one response.

So my son just turned two yesterday, he knows several words but doesn't use them all of the time but has said these words (dog, kitty, dutchy (our dog), auntie, mommy, daddy, ball, bye, hi, hey, lollipop, ball, lets go, pee pee, whats this, juice, cars, baby, fishy, goldfish, cheese, owl, ow,) A couple months back he said "can I have some goldfish" but hasn't said a sentence since and today mainly only uses the words (cars, mommy, daddy, dogs, bye, hey, lollipop, cheese, kitty)

the only two word phrases he'll say is whats this, lets go, hi dad, bye dad, bye dogs... but whats this and lets go aren't very clear.

He babbles all the time but I don't understand him, I feel so bad that I can't! I try to ask him and repeat back what I think he might be saying clearly, he gets frustrated when I can't understand what he wants. He understands everything we say.

Just looking for some opinions, he's very active and on track and ahead with his motor skills, problem solving, and fine motor skills.

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0%

 (0) 

Yes you should be concerned

37%

 (3) 

I would wait it out a couple of months to see how he does

62%

 (5) 

No don't worry he's doing fine.

8 Members voted

[Princessa745]

Sarah, i think he's fine. All children are different. Just always make sure you guys speak to him clearly and in sentences. He learns from you. Somtimes they are just being lazy because they know you understand their 2 word phrases.

[tiredbuthappy]

is speech an option? Has the pediatrician recommended it?
If the pediatrician recommended it, then I would simply because it can't hurt. If the ped isn't concerned, then I'd give it more time since it is normal for many kids to start speaking later.
How is his language comprehension? Can he follow directions? Does he understand what you say and ask? At this point, that is much more important.

[SliverCheer]

Well the Dr. he usually sees had said at his 18month check up to see where he was at at 2 years and if he wasn't saying more then to go. But they set me up with a different Dr. this time I have never seen before so she doesn't know my son or his history.. ughh!! I guess I have to ask to see the same Dr. everytime otherwise they just put me with whoever is there.  She siad because he has under 50 words to go. So I tried calling the place but no answer yet. He understands EVERYTHING! he follows directions such as go get a book, find your cup, find your cars. he can point to his nose, ears, eyes, belly button, shoulder, tongue, teeth, hair, ears, head, fingers, hands, toes, feet.

[Steph_b]

I wouldn't be too worried about it, but if the speech is a free service I would take advantage of it, it won't hurt anything!

[melimeli]

I am a teacher and I was worried when my first dd was little but it is way too early at this stage...  kids are so different... just wait a while...  until after 4 yrs old unless there is no speech gain...

[mamaofonetrying42]

My son didnt really talk alot as well..At 3y/o we put him in a Preschool program, so he could be around other kids and it helped alot. This year he is in a Pre-k and they are helping him with his speech, since he has been in these two programs, his speech has just took in off. He still has probs but wow you can tell the difference!!

Now, my 2nd son is only 17months and his speech is less then my 1st son's at his age. Now I dont know he is just lazy or what (( he is very spoiled)) lol..We go back for his 18m check up in Jan. So we'll see what the pedi says then. But I think I will have him tested to see where his speech is..and if he does need alittle help...

[blueeyedtabbycat]

I think its too early to take that kind of action. Neither of my two older boys started really talking till they were almost 3 and even then it was hard to understand. My oldest son did need speech therepy but it wasnt untill he was 3.5 when he started. He continued therepy untill last year in 2nd grade. Lots of time kids find it easier just to point and gunt because you usually give in and say :do you want this?" well I have learned to make my kids use their "words" You can expect it all the time but when your LO points to something and just expects you to get it just ask them what it is they want. It helps them realize they need to speak in order to get anything, ie sippy cup, snack, a toy or a blankey. (you get the idea, lol) She is only two, I would definitly give her time, enjoy the baby talk while you can:-) Pretty soon you wont be able to shut her up, lol!

[AnnieBrooke]

Try some signing.  I know a lot of kids who learned to sign when they were pre-verbal, and loved it, they cried less and were less frustrated.  Words like more, stop, food, and stuff like that.  (These were not kids with speech issues, either.  Signing is useful to children in that time between age 1 and 2 when their brains know the concepts but their mouth can't yet say them.)  If your child can learn basic signs for words he doesn't say yet, it will relieve a lot of the stress related to being understood.  If it is just an evaluation, there really is no harm in doing it, but I wouldn't start with therapy without trying the signing first.  It might all click very soon and in the meantime the signing will relieve frustration.

[April2]

Both my sons were late talkers. I sometimes think boys just aren't as verbal as girls? We waited till my youngest was 3 1/2 and got him tested. They did show a delay and we were able to get him in the free preschool program (Headstart) because of the speech delay. We also decided to go through our insurance and get him some private speech help and when he was 4 he started with that. He's been going once a week to the private speech teacher for several months and I've seen the speech just improve by leaps and bounds. I don't think he'll need it any longer by next year.

I think your son is a little young yet and does seem to know several words but if he's behind by age 3 I would definitely get the ball rolling with getting him some speech help.

[sstaceyy]

both my kids whent to speech therpy when they were 2 and it was and is the best thing for them, it helped my kids so much and it still does. good luck

[jenkaye21]

My ped recommended speech therapy for my son @ age 2. He said about as much as your son, maybe less.  While I was a little concerned (all my other kids talked MUCH earlier), I felt like I could help him just as much at home just by talking to/with him and interacting with him.  Plus, he hated strangers and I was not willing to put him thru that,

He didn't realy start talking until about 30 months, and wow, he just took off!!  Now he's almost four and every bit as intelligent as my other kids, has a HUGE vocabulary, and can articulate absolutely anything he wants/feels/thinks.  

It sounds like speech therapy can be beneficial for some kids, but I would make a conscious effort first to work with him at home, and wait and see how the next few months go.  

[SliverCheer]

I'm def making an effort at home too, but I think an evaluation cant hurt especially if they just give me tools to use at home to better work with him. I work but I take my son to work with me, and go to school online so although I get to be with him all day I'd like to have more specific activities I can set aside time every day to work with him. Even if I were to do the therapy if thats what the evaluation concludes is needed then I'm sure they'll give me stuff to use at home too.

I know he is very smart and understands everything but I feel bad seeing him get so frustrated. I think signing is a good idea to, I know a friend of mine has a book on it I will have to check it out.

Thanks everyone!

[Me2mommy2b]

Boys are usually behind in expressive language (on average).  I'm a speech therapist working out of NY and most of the kids I work with are boys.  If a child's comprehension is age appropriate, I don't worry about expressive language (but I still work on developing the expressive language).  Don't get me wrong, it's still important but it simply means that he'll start talking later.  Try to talk to him in short sentences and be precise (ex, give me a ball and not give me that).  I don't know how it is in GA but in NY, children from birth to 3 get free services (speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy).  Find out if your state has free services or services for a small copayment.  The parents who have such services for their kids are very happy with the results.  PM me if you want to discuss this further.  Good luck

[2ndBaby]

None of us are experts in this area, so I think it is irresponisble of any of us to tell you that everything will be OK if you just wait.  If you are concerned, get an evaluation done.  Does your county offer a birth-3 program as part of their social services?  While it is, of course, true that children progress at different rates, it can't hurt to have him evaluated.  My son received services from the birth-3 program for gross motor issues.  But at the same time they evaluated his physical issues, they also did a speech and language eval.  They came to my house for the eval and every therapy session was also in my home.  He was never alone with strangers...it was always with me present so that the therapist could teach me how to best work with him on a daily basis.  Good luck to you and your child!

[2ndBaby]

Oops, no offense intended me2mommy2be.  I see that you may, indeed, be an expert :)

[kaande05]

hi my boyfriend has a 2 year old. The mother was concerned about his speech. He said about the same amount of words as your son. when my boyfriend and i took his son to his 2 year check up, my bf mentioned that the mother had worries. the doctor said that a program called Birth to 3 would be in contact with them to talk about the worries. When the program called they left instructions to call back to schedule sessions, did not even  leave options as whether or not to peruse the problem. It was automatically assumed that the 2 year old would be in the program. . When they called to set up a session they were told tha
t had a parent not called back they could get in trouble for child neglect.!! so my warning is if you bring it up to your dr be sure you really are having doubts about his speech, because if you do not follow through you can get in trouble( atleast in this part of MN).
anyways back to the speech. It was very wierd the way they did things, they came to the house with a bunch of toys and just basically played with the kid. They used 1 to 3 word phrases, which didnt really seem to help because he was not picking up on the phrases. He is now 2 and 7 months and they were given the option to quit the program, which they did because his speech dramatically improved. The funny thing is that we noticed he wasnt really saying what the teacher was telling him, he was picking up other phrases from the people around him that were conversing with him. From mine and my boyfriends perspective the therapist was a waste of time and money. Like we said the 2 year old was mainly saying other words and full phrases, that the dr didn't teach him. Kids learn at all different speeds. I think its mainly important to read and talk to the kids. Dont simply let them watch tv and play video games all the time. My bf son is talking more and much more clearly then his almost 4 year old cousin is. the 4 year old plays way too many video games and watches too much uninformative tv.
ultimately its up to you and your gut feeling but i urge you to give it some time and extra effort before subjecting him to a speech therapist.
hope this helped!