my daughter is two years old. i think her speech development is slow?

Question

my daughter is two years old. she utters some easy words in her mother tongue but not much. she can understand what others say and can show every details like hand, eyes, legs, television etc. with ease . she can make others understand what she wants to say by using signs. she has the tendency to utter the first part of the word but not the whole word. I think she should have picked up speaking sentences by now. but its not happening. we are very worried. please advice.

Answer 1

My son just turned two, and he doesn't use many sentences. Sometimes others can't understand what he says at all, but we can. I don't think his speech development is slow, but I think he was using the pacifier too much and it was part of the problem so we took it away and his speech is getting better.

Answer 2

She's probably just a little behind on her speech. It's not a huge deal. I have a linguistics professor (which is what I have my degree in) whose son didn't talk until he was four. You could check with a speech pathologist to see if there is a complication, or you can just continue to work with her to help increase her production. Remember--input is the best way to increase output.

I have one question for you: you mention "her mother tongue." This is usually a term used when referring to a child that is receiving multiple language inputs (either, more than one language is spoken in the home, or one language is spoken in the home but she is getting second language input from another place.) Are you in a bilingual household? If so, this could be the factor that is delaying her production; when a child is learning more than one language at a time, the developmental period is usually about six months delayed from other children that are only learning one language. These children are usually on the same level as other kids by the age of 4 (and are bilingual, which is a great thing in the world we live in!)

Answer 3

Language development varies considerably from child to child, even within the same family during the ages 2 to 5.

A 2-year old may begin with a starter vocabulary of 2-word micro-sentences.

Between 2 and 3 years, four and five word sentences are used. Almost all common objects and pictures can be recognized and identified. Pronouns are used as are some plurals (dogs, cats). Strangers can understand most words.

My son had a speech problem. I would take your child to the Doctors and tell him/her that you are concerned and they might beable to refer you to someone.

Answer 4

Well, I'm no expert in child development, but I can tell you this: Some kids just start out slow and then suddenly one day they just start speaking in complete sentences. I think you should relax and give your child the opportunity to develop language at her own place. I think our society puts way too much pressure on our very young people to speak and to read too early. Today's kindergarten kid must do four pages of homework every night and speak, read and write in complete sentences!!! I don't know the child or the circumstances, but I say, just let her develop at her own pace. Remember, you cannot force a flower to grow. Just give it water, and sun and lots of love and hope for the best.

Answer 5

You could always talk to her doctor about it. They could tell you alot more. Some pick it up later than others tho. My daughter was saying her abc's at 2 and 1/2 but my brothers little girl is 2 and she just says a few simple words. But if it's something you're concerned about I would definitely speak to her doctor about the situation. They can tell you if its normal.

Answer 6

I would get in comtact with you local ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) office. They can gome out and to our home and gave my son an evaluation and determined that he was about 3 months behind in his speech development. It ws a big help. You can also get ahold of your local elemntary school if she is fixing to turn 3 and see if they have a program called PPCD (preschool program for children with diabilities) They can also evaluate your daughter to see if she would require their services. Some PPCD programs here in Texas are 1/2 ans some are full day, it just depends on where you live.

Answer 7

If your worried ask your pediatrician. But you know, most two year olds don't speak ENGLISH they speak a language only their parents or people that are around them a lot can understand. Do you work? I know when my mother ran her daycare, we could understand "Drew" and his parents had a hard time figuring his language out. Drew was dropped off TOO early in the morning (5-6A.M) and picked up sometimes after 8P.M. How could they expect to understand him. And you know it frustrated Drew the most!

Answer 8

The best thing you could do if you are concerned is to ask your doctor for a referral to have her tested for a Speech Delay.
Then you will know for sure what is going on and can either have peace of mind, or begin getting help for the issue if neccessary

Answer 9

My son would not talk. He said "I love you" one night in bed, and then nothing for 6 mos. A group of friends heard him say "christmas" in front of the TV...very frustrating... I will tell you now, get with your pediatrician. He or she can get the ball rolling. My son ended up being diagnosed with autism. It needs to be caught by the age of 3 to have the best results. You have time, but do something now. My son started school at the age of 3, and now he's in 2nd grade,and talking and SMART!!

Answer 10

It sounds like her speech development is fine. Children don't start speaking complete sentences until they are at least four. Even at four their idea of sentences aren't what we consider proper. It is a matter of them putting various words together to get their idea across. If you want to help increase her word usage encourage her to use her words. Ask her to repeat words. Example...You ask if she wants milk or juice? Tell her she needs to use her words to tell you which one she wants. Singing simple songs helps with language development.