Question about expressive language

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Hello All! I am new to this site although I have been lurking for some time now I have a 31 month old son who I suspect may be on the spectrum but is undiagnosed at this time. My biggest concern at this point is his delay in speech. He began speech therapy back in July (so it's been about 3 months). He had very limited babbling as an infant and has NEVER used jargon. He began using words at about 26 months and started to put two words together at about 28-29 months. He's used 3 words together but doesn't do it often. He has around 220-250 words. The problem is that most of his speech is descriptive. Most of his two word phrases are things like "red car" or "big car" but he will also say things like "sit mama" or "dada's blue car", "more juice", and "light on". He doesn't use ANY pronouns and still refers to himself by name. Basically he uses nouns, verbs and prepositions. I am pretty worried that there is more going on than just a delay. I'm thinking that it could be an expressive language disorder. His receptive language is fine. Has anyone dealt with something like this? It doesn't seem like typical speech therapy is going to help. Does anyone have any suggestions on what type of therapy I can use or what I can do to help with his expressive speech? Or, is this a phase that will pass with time? I have been a mess for months trying to figure out how to help him. Will this ever improve? Any suggestions or input of a similar situation would be greatly appreciated!!

putting two words together happens at two yrs. on average, three words at three years. your child doesn't seem horribly off schedule. this info is from my pediatrician friend.

Thanks for the reply. My concern is his lack in using pronouns and the fact that most of his speech is descriptive or for a need. I do not see any conversational use of language. Although, he does well at answering questions and can tell you about something that has happened but mostly in one word responses at a time. I guess I am just trying to figure out if this is a symptom of autism or a more specific language disorder or maybe just a delay. Also, if this is something you have dealt with, with your child, how did it resolve itself?

Is he otherwise reciprocal? Does he play games like patty-cake, for example?

He seems reciprocal to me. He will play it sometimes but doesn't get all the hand motions. He loved peek a boo as a baby and still does. He's done it himself a few times but will hide his face forever and I suspect he really doesn't understand what to do but he likes the attention . To me he seems to like interaction with others but he also has red flags for autism. I'm confused on how to help him.

He seems reciprocal to me. He will play it sometimes but doesn't get all the hand motions. He loved peek a boo as a baby and still does. He's done it himself a few times but will hide his face forever and I suspect he really doesn't understand what to do but he likes the attention . To me he seems to like interaction with others but he also has red flags for autism. I'm confused on how to help him.

Not being able to imitate the gestures in patty-cake is probably a small red-flag but at this age, if your child can show reciprocity in even some gestures, the fact that he doesn't do it with speech may not be significant. If he is willing to do reciprocal games like that you can practice them (Mine refused to do patty-cake at all. He clearly thought it was pointless and stupid. LOL) They told me to have him practice feeding animals and stuff, but all of this is supposed to show up spontaneously.

If you remain concerned, if you are in the U.S you can have your county's zero-three program evaluate him. If he "passes" but you still have concerns after three, the place to go to is the school district where you reside. Sometimes depending on how impacted a child is, they do not have enough "evidence" until a bigger gap shows up. The best thing in the meantime is to continue to interact and model speech. I do not know anything about private options, so I cannot give any info on that. Also, if you are not in the U.S the procedures will be different.

I get the feeling that my son thinks it is a stupid game too. I can really only get him to d it when HE wants to and like I said its more of high fives instead of the real hand gestures. I just tried to get him to do it and he screamed "no patty cake" lol.

He was evaluated by EI when he was 26 months. They did not suspect autism. In fact they positively refuted it lol. This was based on the fact that he made good eye contact, interacted with them, looked at things they pointed to and responded when his name was called. I know those are all good signs and strengths but I still think his behavior and development is atypical. He will be assessed by the school distract at 3 but that is still 5 months away. I really want to start something now to encourage more appropriate speech and ST is not cutting it. I'm glad he has someone besides me to interact with but that's all I use it for. She has not helped his speech much. Any suggestions on therapy I can seek out without a diagnoses?

Could check with an audiologist and/or do motor. Motor improvement might improve speech. 0-3 you might be able to take a class at an early intervention center. Children's gymnastics or yoga. Stores selling play time in enriched spaces. Some fitness centers have really nice child play areas/classes.

I have heard good things from other parents about the Hanen program "More Than Words". They've also got a new one called "Target Words" See hanen.org. You can buy the books, but the 8 week parent training is supposed to go beyond what's in the books.