# 2 yrs old DD speech delayed - I'm scared & depressed



## Bunnylicious

Hello all, 

I need your support, opinion, and also success stories if you have similar experience.

Our 1st daughter currently is 25 months old, will be 26 months old in June 15th.

She reached her physical milestones on time. She's been walking since she's 1 year and 2 weeks old. 
She loves climbing. 
She can solve simple 4-5 pieces of shapes or animal wood puzzles.
She can stack blocks taller than her.

But, she hasn't said a word at all. 

My DH and I think it's partly our fault for letting her watch TV/iPad for hours and not do floor play. We thought she would be able to learn to communicate by herself by looking at us talking, like how she learned how to sit, crawl, walk on her own.

When she was under 1 year old, she sometimes babbles ma..ma..ma.... and then da...da..... da, then it's just stopped after a few weeks. 

She has poor receptive language (can't follow instructions at all). 
We thought it's just selective hearing. She responds to her name, sometimes.

My DH and I thought she's just a slow talker, and nothing wrong with her because when she wants/needs something, like a drink, she pulls our hands to her cup on the kitchen counter, or if she wants to watch a cartoon, she pulls our hand to the computer. If she wants to go out, she goes grab her shoes herself and ask our help to put them on.

Her pediatrician said not to worry until she's 2.5 yrs old, because his daughter only made screeching sounds until she's 3. That's why we weren't worried, until now.

But we can't wait anymore, we went to a speech therapist a few weeks ago to get her evaluated, she did poorly. She couldn't follow instruction and only said "aaaa wwaaa waaaa." We will meet the therapist again in 2 weeks.

We are still waiting for her hearing test scheduled, but I think her hearing is fine. 

I feel SO embarrassed when my daughter and I meet other kids at the playground. She only screams waaa waaaa waaaaa all the time, while the other kids try to talk to her. 

At the playground, she usually just plays alone. If she plays with a kid she knows, the only game she knows is "I run, you chase, and if you run, I chase", I'm not sure if that's standard for her age?

It's difficult to find mommy groups here since it's a small town.

She's still breastfed, since it's the only way to put her to sleep and she only eats a handful of solid. She sleeps okay at night, on good days she can sleep 8-9 hrs straight.

So, any of you have success stories with a kid similar to mine?

My sister told me she knew a boy who didn't talk at all until he's 2.5 almost 3 yrs old.
A friend of mine has a son, he said his son didn't talk until 1 month before his 3rd birthday.

I try to be optimistic, but it is very hard, I often cries when she's taking her nap on my lap. 

Thank you for reading.


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## Reid

First of hugs I know what you're going through my son turned 3 in April there and has speech delay. he has some words and some small sentences like ready steady go oh dear I call Sam (fireman sam) god sake man and can count to 10 
it can be really difficult if say he's doing something that can be a danger to him because I can't explain to him why or he can't ask why and he will just get upset and scream or cry.
We are currently on the waiting list for speech therapy we've been waiting 7 bloody months though we are having our own wee success here and there they might seem small to others but are huge to me like when he says one new word it's massive and wee had been trying to potty train which is difficult as he won't say I need a pee or I need potty but what you need to bare in mind with a child who has speech delay is to be patient and my god I know how hard that can be. It took us a few months but now he will go and get his potty bring it to me pee and now even poo in it then go flush it away now if you told me he'd be doing that a few months back I would have told you you were mad. We do have to put pull ups on him when we go out though as he doesn't use a word to indicate he needs the toilet.
Things you can do that will help is turn the TV off and sit on the floor with her read her a book or sing a nursery rhyme this is how we got my son counting singing a 1 to 10 song he really loves singing he's going to nursery next week to so I'm hoping this will help wig his speech too.
It's really positive that you've already seen a speech therapist and you do really need to try and stay positive and 1 wee word might not seem much to others but remember how massive and amazing it is for her 
When my son 1st sung his 1 to 10 song just out the blue yeah he missed a few numbers and he said again at the end of the song I had tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat I was so so proud of him.
It won't be like this forever 
The speech therapist that I spoke with told me to keep things simple back to basics speak directly to her slowly and clear flash cards are good to just hang in there allow her the time she needs to come on don't try and rush her xxx


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## MikaylasMummy

My son barely spoke a word up until a few months before 3.at 2 he could barely say 2-3 single words and stayed that way til we put him in private speech therapy.even then his progress was slow.he was still at single words until he suddenly took off with speech.he went from maybe 20 words tops to in a matter of weeks talking long sentences and counting and naming colours.all of which I thought wasn't sinking in because of his lack of expression.turns out he was just quietly taking it all in.he is now quite intelligent with a very cheeky humorous personality and has a few little best mates at daycare (he is only 3 turning 4 in November so quite a short space of time for such development). He is even able to recognize a few of his sisters sight words for school and is interested in learning reading.
If there are no other signs that make you think she might have other issues then I would get her some private speech therapy and just follow their home instructions,then wait til she is older before you really start to worry =)


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## AP

My second child was delayed in speech and only picked up after 3. She doesnt have any special needs, as far as we are aware. It was just a delay. Speech therapy will help and do get her hearing tested, but it may well be shes mastering everything else before getting to speech.


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## sethsmummy

my best advice hun is to just be patient. I know its really really hard sometimes but she will get there. 

DS1 has a speech delay and suspected ASD along with some other issues. Up until he was 4 he only had one or two words.. at 4... he just seemed to take off! And to be honest... the tablet/tv have helped him immensly! He was always watching youtube and his first proper sentences were talking about kinder eggs (he watched videos of a guy opening them). Now he talks non stop! Its hard to understand him sometimes and he repeats himself a lot trying to get his sentence out but he gets there. Nursery are in for a shock when he goes back with how much progress he has made. NONE of this is thanks to speech therapy.. he was lucky to see her once every few months and all she did was watch him as she didnt think he was ready for proper speech therapy. Its all been down to me sitting with him. Flash cards are amazing for simple words and numbers. He has not long learned to count to 10 all by himself and is now even getting to 20 sometimes! He started singing row row your boat a few months back and my heart melted! That was the first nursery rhyme he ever sang. 

make little games to play with her that include speech and numbers. or play "match the card" with some coloured card. Start with only 2 or 3 colours so its easier then slowly build it up over time. 

My boy is still way behind where he should be at coming 5 years old... but to me he is perfect. He has come on so so far from this time last year. If my laptop battery wasnt going dead id try post videos for you to see the difference in my son from 2 years to 4 years and its simply amazing <3 Please dont be embarrased of taking her out to the park... embrace her problems and life will be so much easier. help her interact with the other children. A lot of kids wont give my son the time of day but others are so so supportive xx


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## Bunnylicious

@lynne1983 - 7 months?! That's crazy!! 


Thanks for the replies and words of encouragement.

My main worry is her severe receptive delay, she doesn't follow simple directions like give me or that or kick the ball or get your shoes.Without this skill, she can't understand what I say.

She takes my hand when she wants something, show me how to help her stack lego pieces, she will get her shoes when she wants to go out.

I've been trying to read to her, but she always grabs and throws the book away. The only books she can stand are Curious George and Hungry Caterpillar.She hates flashcards the most. I dunno why. She'd rather play, watch cartoons or go outdoor.

I hope she gets better and wanting to learn to communicate more when she's older. 
I just want one word....just one... and huge burden on my shoulders will be lifted.


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## sethsmummy

:hugs: She will get there hun.. my lil guy didnt show tht he understood us till he was 3. Then it all started slowly falling into place :) 

have you seen any gps or anything about your worries so she can be seen by a pead? xx


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## Bunnylicious

thanks sethmummy

I don't see a general practitioner, that's what you mean by GPS, right?
I only have 1 pediatrician for her.

I talked to a friend who had a 3 years old son. He said he's exactly the same way as my daughter. He spat out his first word after his 3rd birthday.

I hope she's just a late bloomer like his son and yours. She sort of doesn't act like a girl, she's not mellow. She prefers going outside, kick a soccer ball, and run around outside.


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## sethsmummy

yeah thats what i mean by a GP :D 

My eldest sees a load of different people but he always has done since he was born wiht his special needs. 

Ill see if i can get these videos to upload

this is him 2 years 4 months old and this was the ONLY way he communicated with us 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150793669395329&set=vb.663450328&type=3&theater 

and then this is him 3 months ago at 4 years and 5 months old 

https://youtu.be/t3fjyhjRNqk?list=UUvH_IDsGL9emxxmH_xwR-gQ

such a huge huge difference!


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## Reid

Yip 7 months absolute joke so it is.
He's starts nursery on Thursday which I think will be great for him. Xx


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## sethsmummy

lynne1983 said:


> Yip 7 months absolute joke so it is.
> He's starts nursery on Thursday which I think will be great for him. Xx

nursery is fantastic :) DS1 has been going since just under 2 and it helped him loads.


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## Reid

sethsmummy said:


> lynne1983 said:
> 
> 
> Yip 7 months absolute joke so it is.
> He's starts nursery on Thursday which I think will be great for him. Xx
> 
> nursery is fantastic :) DS1 has been going since just under 2 and it helped him loads.Click to expand...

I'm really excited for him going to be round little people his own age. Also there will be someone from the panda centre ( kids development) going to observe him once he's settled in a bit to see if there's anything she can bring to help him in his learning environment. She'll have a meeting with his key worker and me. Do you mind me asking how many hours do you put your little 1 in? I've not use all his 16 hours I worry how they will manage him he can be a proper hand full. They did say if I want to add my hours to let them know x


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## Bunnylicious

Thanks for the videos sethmummy!

Yeah, my DD is pretty much making one kind of sound like that, not babbling at all.
I hope she will improve soon.

Lynne, I'm planning to enroll her in nursery or preschool when she's 3, but DH wants to enroll her when she's 2.5. Just gonna do 3-4 hrs kind of preK. 

Still looking around for a school that accepts special needs children. The one I want her to go only accepts children 3 yo and up.

I probably just wait for our speech session and ask advice about the school thing.


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## Reid

Yeah that's what we've done he was 3 in April so this is his pre school nursery the good thing is the way my son's birthday falls he will actually do 2 years at nursery I'm happy with this as I don't like to rush him with anything. We can get 16 hours free for nursery iv only used 10 just now to see how he goes x


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## deafgal01

I had speech delay as a baby (did not even say words til I was 3) but that is easily explained by my level of hearing loss. I will read through other comments before I say much more but you can rest assured that even with speech therapy your baby will learn to talk eventually. People now days don't even realize I was speech delayed as a baby until I say something about my life experience.


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## sethsmummy

Lynne, When he first started we only started with 1 hour and then built it up (since he was just under 2). When he started his 1st nursery year (at 3) he did monday - Fri 9am - 11:30am. And then we changed it to monday 9-11:30 .. then we'de take him out for his lunch then 1-3:30, and then tues-thurs 9-11:30

BUT once he goes back after these holidays (this is his extra year... he's already had his two pre-school years but we deffered him from Primary school as hes just not ready and still in nappies) he will be doing monday 9am - 4pm.. although they will call us if they have any problems and we will go get him.. then tuesday - Thursday 9-12. 

you should also be offered more hours now hun as its gone upto 600 hours free a year in scotland. 

You tend to find they act completely different at nursery to they do at home. seth is mostly a little angel at home although there have been a couple incidents with him hitting etc. Im dreading him going back next week because all his friends have moved upto primary without him and his favourite teacher has gone too. I know were going to have a few teething problems to start with but you just cut the hours and then build them back up again if they are struggling at any point. 


Bunny if you speak to the speech therapist they should know some schools that take special needs. Ds1 has been going to his (private nursery) since before we knew about his suspected ASD so they kind of had no choice but they are usually great with him xx


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## marie-louise

Hi there,
Your child sounds pretty similar to mine and, not wanting to worry you, Matthew was diagnosed with autism when he turned 4. He started speech therapy at 2, he had some words but his receptive language was terrible, he played Chase with my niece but no other games and had no real interest in other children, preferring cars/blocks/jigsaws and he doesn't tolerate other children interfering in his play. Matthew wouldn't ask for anything if he could get it himself, would never say he is hungry, cold, tired etc. Your child is very young and speech delay can precipitate autistic traits which rectify themselves when language comes, that's why it is difficult to get an autism diagnosis before 4 years old. Ask to see a developmental pediatrician and speech therapist, they look out for symptoms and may be able to give more info. I understand your embarrassment around other parents, however you and your oh need to understand that you have done nothing to cause these issues. Many children learn language from tv so too much tv shouldn't be an issue in language development. Just remember that your child is special and unique and although it is difficult now it will become easier!


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## marie-louise

Hi there,
Your child sounds pretty similar to mine and, not wanting to worry you, Matthew was diagnosed with autism when he turned 4. He started speech therapy at 2, he had some words but his receptive language was terrible, he played Chase with my niece but no other games and had no real interest in other children, preferring cars/blocks/jigsaws and he doesn't tolerate other children interfering in his play. Matthew wouldn't ask for anything if he could get it himself, would never say he is hungry, cold, tired etc. Your child is very young and speech delay can precipitate autistic traits which rectify themselves when language comes, that's why it is difficult to get an autism diagnosis before 4 years old. Ask to see a developmental pediatrician and speech therapist, they look out for symptoms and may be able to give more info. I understand your embarrassment around other parents, however you and your oh need to understand that you have done nothing to cause these issues. Many children learn language from tv so too much tv shouldn't be an issue in language development. Just remember that your child is special and unique and although it is difficult now it will become easier!


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## molly27

Hey my little boy is two and half and not talking yet.he had play based assessment a couple of months ago and they said he doesn't make eye contact has to play games on his terms and likes to line his cars up.he has his first speech therapy tomorrow so I'm nervous bout that.he understands absolutely everything we say and has said bout twenty words once but hasnt said them since and speech therapist thinks that unusual.yesterday though he started saying "go" when we say ready steady and he's saying daddy all the time now.also I started potty training him bout three weeks ago and he doin great goes himself when he needs to the only thing he find difficult is pulling pants down.plus he's starting to make eye contact which is gud.doesnt like strange adults saying hello he won't look at them but he loves kids.he loves his cars and cud play all day with them( by play I mean lining them up putting them in washing basket and washing them in sink.has to close every door after us which I think is our fault coz we have two cats that live indoors and we always closing doors to certain rooms so they don't go in.its not a big deal to anyone else but we got so excited hearing him say go yesterday.hopefully the speech therapy helps.


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## annanouska

:haha: Molly u stole my son!

He's just lined peppa George mummy and daddy pig next to the ( seemingly never ending) line of jcbs.

My son is 25 months, can say 10 words but mostly doesn't really say anything. We are starting sign language next month. He did have some words around 13 mo the then lost them all which is why he's being looked at for possible ASD too.

My husband has perfect hearing and no learning difficulties or additional needs and he did not not talk until 5 :hugs: which is really irritating as mil thinks ds is " normal " and that there's nothing to be worried about until 5/6 :dohh:


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## molly27

Annanouska I thinks mils have a habit of saying stuff like ah he'l be grand but it doesn't help when ur goin out of ur mind with worry and all u want them to do is talk.my little boy had his first speech therapy the other day and they just started by working on turn taking copying and imitation so that's our homework until next month.apparently their all pre language skills that he needs


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## Charlee

Bunnylicious said:


> Thanks for the videos sethmummy!
> 
> Yeah, my DD is pretty much making one kind of sound like that, not babbling at all.
> I hope she will improve soon.
> 
> Lynne, I'm planning to enroll her in nursery or preschool when she's 3, but DH wants to enroll her when she's 2.5. Just gonna do 3-4 hrs kind of preK.
> 
> Still looking around for a school that accepts special needs children. The one I want her to go only accepts children 3 yo and up.
> 
> I probably just wait for our speech session and ask advice about the school thing.

Searched for this as I'm having similar issues with my DS, Any update to how your little one is doing?


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## Bunnylicious

Charlee said:


> Bunnylicious said:
> 
> 
> Thanks for the videos sethmummy!
> 
> Yeah, my DD is pretty much making one kind of sound like that, not babbling at all.
> I hope she will improve soon.
> 
> Lynne, I'm planning to enroll her in nursery or preschool when she's 3, but DH wants to enroll her when she's 2.5. Just gonna do 3-4 hrs kind of preK.
> 
> Still looking around for a school that accepts special needs children. The one I want her to go only accepts children 3 yo and up.
> 
> I probably just wait for our speech session and ask advice about the school thing.
> 
> Searched for this as I'm having similar issues with my DS, Any update to how your little one is doing?Click to expand...

Hello. 

She is currently 31 months old. She's been on speech therapy since around August, 1-2x a week. 
She's still not talking. No words. No improvement with vocalization at all. 
She still doesn't follow directions or point to things in books (e.g: point to a picture of a banana or a dog).

But, she's improving. 

Before she preferred to watch videos on ipad or watch tv. Now she plays with her toys and plays with me and hubby for long period of time. 

She's been using sign languages for "open", "milk", "drink", "eat", "help", or points to things she wants me or hubby to get her.

Since she's around 30 months old, she's started to understand a few things we ask her, like "do you want to go out?" and she will go to the door and get her shoes. "Turn on/off the light" or "close the door" and she will go do it. "Do you want to take a bath?" and she will go to the bathroom. "Let's brush your teeth" and she will follow me to the bathroom to get her toothbrush. "Do you want to take a nap/go to bed?" and she will go to her room.

Half a year ago, we thought she's on the spectrum, but now we think she's just a late talker.
Also my cousin's son didn't say a word until after 3. So we're trying not to worry much about it.


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## deafgal01

It is good she is picking up sign language to communicate her wants and needs.


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## lusterleaf

It is nice to read through some of these responses. My DS (almost 2.5 years old) has been receiving speech for almost a year now (amongst other therapies) and he still has no words and does not have receptive language/doesn't follow directions. He was diagnosed with ASD and has been in a school setting for almost 3 months now but progress has been slow. To the OP I think its great that she is using sign and even leading you to what she wants. My DS will just stand and yell in front of the fridge if he wants his juice, we try to form his hand into a point to try and indicate what he wants. I am hoping in time a light bulb will go off and everything will come together. But I too get sad when I see other kids around his age or younger, talking up a storm.


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## Bunnylicious

lusterleaf said:


> It is nice to read through some of these responses. My DS (almost 2.5 years old) has been receiving speech for almost a year now (amongst other therapies) and he still has no words and does not have receptive language/doesn't follow directions. He was diagnosed with ASD and has been in a school setting for almost 3 months now but progress has been slow. To the OP I think its great that she is using sign and even leading you to what she wants. My DS will just stand and yell in front of the fridge if he wants his juice, we try to form his hand into a point to try and indicate what he wants. I am hoping in time a light bulb will go off and everything will come together. But I too get sad when I see other kids around his age or younger, talking up a storm.

Yah, super duper slow indeed.
Her receptive language has just started improving when she was 30 months old, and able to clearly point what she wants pretty recent.

During speech session, when the therapists (she has 3, two from Early Intervention, and 3rd one paid by insurance) ask her to say something like "ah!", or "oh", she just touches her mouth with her fingers. If they force her too much, she will look other way or just roll around on the floor or throw herself at me.

Yea, I too also feel sad when I see other kids around her age, or even younger, already can speak in sentences.
I go to a "parents & 2-year-olds" class once a week, out of 15 kids, only she and a boy who can't speak yet, but that boy can say at least 2-3 words, she has none. 

I wonder when she will want to be potty trained too. Probably not until she's 3-3.5 years old. :shrug:


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## lusterleaf

So glad to hear she improved with the receptive language and pointing. They are teaching my son to point in school (he goes to a school right now through Early Intervention). I find he does more things at school than at home.... 

Oh boy yea I can't even think of potty training yet. I know all of my relatives who have kids around my son's age are starting to potty train but since my son cannot communicate to me at all this is not going to be possible for a while. Thankfully if he does go to a special needs pre-school next year, they will change diapers.


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## Thurinius

Don't fret about potty training. We only cracked it when my boy was 3 years and 8 months. None of the hv's were concerned even when no one knew he was asd. As they said potty training is a frustrating business and some kids take a while to crack it. Sensible advice I thought given all the books seem to think you should crack it in a week sat at home. As if!


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## lusterleaf

Thanks for the advice. My concern is that I can't even begin the process until he is at least communicating with me in some way, even non-verbal so I will see how he is in a year or so. His teacher in Early Intervention suggested we try the PECS system.


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## Reid

Potty training was a long process for us and my son has very few words he actually only said pee pee for the 1st time the other week so basically I potty trained a non verbal child he uses the big toilet now but still won't say when he needs he just go's I can read his body language now so I no when he needs that way.
I don't no what age you're son is my ds is 4 in April so he was 3 so was like 3 1/2 when he really got to grips with the toilet xx


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## Topanga053

Hi,

I just wanted to share. I had delayed speech when I was young. Until about 2.5 years old, my only words were "dada" and "hot", although I did have receptive language, so my mom was only a little concerned. Then one day around 2.5 years old, my dad asked me what I wanted for lunch and I surprised the crap out of him when I said, "a peanut butter and jelly would be suitable." I kid you not, that was my first sentence. It turns out that I was a little delayed, but then did it very well and all at once (a pattern I followed later with other things too). I'm 28 now with a daughter of my own, I had no learning disabilities, and am a lawyer.

I know that's not the case for every child, but I just wanted to mention that sometimes delayed output is really nothing to worry about. After all, now I talk for a LIVING. 

I hope that gives some hope to some of you and turns out to be the case for your LOs!


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