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At 22 months, most children should be able to . . .

Follow two step directions

Imitate others behavior

Show good signs of bladder control

Start to learn up to 10 words or more per day

Some children will probably be able to . . .

Like puzzles

Identify several part of body

Walk down stairs with some assistance

Form short but complete and understandable sentences

Open and close doors

Some children could possibly be able to . . .

Put on and take off clothing alone

Start understanding opposites (hot and cold, etc.)

Form three or four word sentences

Use up to 40 or more single words


My son does all of that except talking and putting clothes on. He isn't mentally slow, but he's very behind verbally. He shows NO desire to repeat or learn words, is content to babble and is prone to tantrums which we suspect are due his inability to communicate verbally. Our daughter is currently being evaluated for Asperger's. She was AHEAD verbally, by leaps and bounds. She struggled with motor skills and still does (couldn't pedal until age 3.5, etc.). But for 22 months, each week that goes by with no verbal development bothers me. He did surprise the heck out of me the other day when our cat walked into the room and he said, "CAT!! MEOW MEOW MEOW!!" Otherwise, his vocabulary consists of a handful of words which include "Want eat!", "I did it!" which he says about everything from finishing dinner to removing his own diaper The number six, which he repeats over and over as if counting, and "I done".

What I find fascinating is that he hasn't ever used one word singularly to speak, unless he preceeds it with a noise. He would say "aa eat", which became "want eat". Is he just not speaking until he can put words together? If anyone recognizes this, please tell me. I'm quite stressed about it.

Have you considered taking your son to see a speech therapist?
It may be a good idea, just to see if there is any cause for this.

Children mature at different rates. Just because some book writer, or 'expert' says they should be doing Calculus by age three and a half doesn't make it so...

We're dealing with nearly the same exact thing. Our older son, who just turned six, is in first grade and is reading at a 7th or 8th grade level. He was speaking quite a few words at 11 months. His drawing abilities are out of this world. We're in the process of getting him officially diagnosed. Our younger son just turned 21 months and isn't speaking at all; just a huge variety of vocalizations. He seems to be very smart: he has learned several signs in American Sign Language, he knows what nearly anything is when you ask him. He's very coordinated. But he is also prone to tantrums for completely unknown or extremely mild reasons. And he'll bite himself and hit himself, but we think this is from witnessing his brother do the same things. So, of course, we're worried that he, too, is going to have AS. But we're also wondering, well, is he just developing language skills later than his brother? AAAAAAAAH!

If the therapist we're taking our daughter to is any good, I'l be making an appt for our son too.

And it isn't just the speech delays. It's his complete indifference to other children. The way he completely freaks out no matter how calmly we divert him from a task...or the way he has to finish before he can leave it. For example, he isn't allowed to play with the TV cabinet, but he does. When we tell him get out, he has to put back whatever he pulled out, then gently close the door. The one that bothers me most is his fascination with all things electrical. It's as if he's just obsessed, regardless of any consequence.

I notice form the posts that it seems consistent it is the younger sibling that is delayed with speak. My kids are both NT, my daughter learnt to talk fine, my son (20 months younger) didn't hardly say a word until 3y - reason was he didn't have to as sister would ask for things and he would automatically get the same. I had to stop giving him things until he asked independantly, also had to focus on speaking to him instead of him being passive in conversation and letting his sister speak.

siuan,

I'm unsure of what you REALLY want. The things you quote are roughly standard milestones. Please realize that, at that, they are HIGH NORMAL. Also, realize I am not a doctor, etc... I AM good at noting patterns, and have looked at things like this. As for your son, he sounds autistic. He may not even be LFA!! !! ! Both of those observations are further backed up by having a sibling that has the reverse situation. ALSO, boys and girls brains develop differently. AND, ironically, historically, supposedly dexterity and language are supposed to be the two most obvious areas early on.

BTW Many milestones talk about only 50% intelliginble speech in the 24th month.

That means that your son may EVEN be at the same level as your daughter. It just wouldn't be apparent, because it would be in different areas. Many say Einstein was like that!

Some here seem normal, and even say they have abilities and an IQ indicating they are very smart, and talk of an experience like your son.

Siuan, I really think that you should have your son evaluated. He sounds very much like my 5 yo did at that age, except maybe your son has a little more language. There's nothing to lose by getting an evaluation. Even if the person doing the evaluation can't be certain that he falls on the spectrum as of yet, he can still get speech therapy, occupational therapy ect... that can benefit him if he's found to be behind in these areas. I really, really wish that I would've listened to my instincts that my 5 yo wasn't quite "typical", instead of listening to everyone else. He could've benefited greatly by having OT, and speech therapy. I think I also would've understood him better, and wouldn't have punished him for things that he couldn't help, because he didn't understand. I took a lot of his behavior as defiance. He did not get any therapy until he was 4 1/2. As soon as a child is 3 years old they can attend an ECD classroom at a public school that will provide individual therapies if the child is behind in any of the major areas. If your son is already 3, or about to turn 3 I urge you to call your local school about getting him tested. This will not get him any kind of a diagnosis, but it will get him help in areas that he may be behind in.
If you can't tell, this is one of my perseverations, so if you need any advice feel free to pm me. I have researched many, many hrs about developmental delays, therapies, and laws pertaining to school districts in reference to special needs kids.

Agreed. I think the sooner we do these things, the better for everyone.

I have written about my concerns of our 11 mos. old, in the parents discussion and I am sure you responded there. Not sure what your experience has been with waitl ists, service providers, etc so far, but our has been horrific (for the eldest). I am not going to allow that to happen this time around and well, the fact remains, it will never hurt to have the assessment.

The alternative to seeking an early assessment would mean longer without knowing, longer wait for service, etc

Our daughter is in the process of a referral to a paediatrician (only because it is necessary), whom we will then ask to refer us to a child development clinic who will assess all areas (not just ASD's, but do the assessment for that as well) and we are wait listed for speech therapy.

I would hate to find a need for service and spend 1 1/2 years on a wait list in these extremely important years of development.

Hope you are able to get the answers you are seeking without too much delay.

I forgot to add in my last post that you can get homebased therapy from the school district for free for any child that is found to have delays before the age of 3. You can get this by calling your local school district. Most schools that I know of want a referral from a place that does dev screenings. Head start is one of them. These screenings are usually free, too. You don't have to wait for an out of pocket service. Even though those services are better, much of the time. Personally, we can't afford to pay out of pocket, and like the previous poster pointed out, there's often times a wait list.

Thank you all so much for the information, it really helps and I sincerely appreciate it.

I'd like to know more about the school district services. Who do I contact first? Our daughter (suspected AS) is turning four this month and we want to make sure she has every advantage. I've been tying to find help since she was 18 months old when started noticing the motor delays, shrill language and extensive vocabulary, head throwing, repetitive behavior, tooth grinding, arm flapping and so on. No one locally (small rural town) would see her until age 4. I made an appointment an hour away at a large nationally known center, and was placed on a 6 month waiting list. A new doctor joined them and as a result I got her bumped forward and we now get to see them in 10 more days. I'm anxiously awaiting this and feel nervous and hopeful.

So far our daughter is doing well in preschool. She's exceptionally bright and loves the other children (though her interactions with them are odd). She still has problems with repetition, motor skills, voice pitch, narrow focus, sleep patterns, clumsiness and occasionally hand flapping and other odd movements. I want to provide every possible thing I can to both of the kids to ensure they don't fall behind where they don't have to.

Thank you again for all the replies. The benefit of hearing from moms and dads who have already been down this road is wonderful! I feel a lot less lost than I did just a short time ago.

My son with PDD/HFA would not have looked at a cat and say "meow." He liked to spin things, see how different objects bounce (including a jar of baby food). He has a speech delay which is tied to his autism. Children, however, can just have a speech and language delay and not be autistic in anyway. I think an assessment from a speech pathologist/therapist may be a good thing.

This site has a lot of info http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/child.find.mandate.htm about early intervention. There are some good schools, but most will provide the bare minimum if the parents don't know any better. Special Ed is expensive for schools.
I would call your local school district, and ask to speak to the school psychologist. You can tell her of your concerns, and request an evaluation. In our district we had to have a referral from the local Headstart clinic to get an evaluation for a child that's under kindergarten age. The school psychologist should be able to give you the a good direction to go in.

What I find fascinating is that he hasn't ever used one word singularly to speak, unless he preceeds it with a noise. He would say "aa eat", which became "want eat". Is he just not speaking until he can put words together? If anyone recognizes this, please tell me. I'm quite stressed about it.[/quote]

DON'T stress about kids' development! They pick up on it and it slows them down with transferred anxiety from you; you accept your kids no matter what they can or can't do, and they all develop at their own rate anyway! Besides, no amount of worrying will benefit him.
My daughter babbled constantly, replacing the babble gradually, first with one word amongst all the nonsense, then two, until she was speaking fluently at 3. However, nobody could understand what she was talking about till she was 5 because each sentence seemed unrelated to the last! But now she's 18 and at college so thats alright. My niece used to ignore her legs till she was 2. just dragged them behind her like they were paralysed. Then one day she got up and walked. Kids are all different, your son will probably be talking soon: all the sooner if he doesn't see you stressed about it!