My sister has 3 kids (4 1/2,2 1/2, and 1) The 2nd child doesn't speak,is there mabey something wrong?

Question

He only say's afew words like the basic..mom,dad and he points out everything he wants and/or his older brother (talk-a-holic!!) will get it for him...Like he himself can tell what he's saying but it's just like a burrrrrr bubblin blowing babble...any suggestions? Also I am TTC could that happen to my child? There is NOTHING in our family like this so I don't see how it can be hereditary?

**Marita...thanks alot!!
And thank you to everyone else who has responded so far...we will try to get the oldest to not do so much,and take it from there....THANKS AGAIN!!

By the way since someone asked...what's TTC....Trying To Conceive :)

Answer 1

he is just being overshadowed by his bro always saying/doing it for him. it's very common believe it or not. i was babysitting a 2.5 and 4.5 year old once, the younger one made a few sounds, i swear not much different than grunts...i said i couldn't understand what she was saying....and from clear across the house in another room, her big sister yelled to me "she said she wants to do it herself"---we were making pb+j sandwiches and she apparently wanted to spread it on herself. most bizaar thing i ever heard. i would encourage him to use his own words as much as possible when he is around you, however means you need to do it.

Answer 2

Yes, sometimes older siblings speak for the younger ones, so they don't have to talk. It is perfectly normal. Just to be sure that there isn't a speech delay, your sister may want to take the 2 1/2 year old to the doctor and get an evaluation from a speech and language pathologist. Typically a 2 year old should be using 2 word sentences and have a larger vocabulary. With some speech therapy, the 2 1/2 year old should be caught up by the time he/she starts kindergarten.

Answer 3

My son did not communicat his needs until he was 2 and 1/2. We were of course worried and had him assessed. Before I go on, however, my son could read around 300 words at age 2, his pronounciation was very clear, knew what the words meant that he was reading but just not using them to communicate. As we went to get an assessment with a speech pathologist, it was evident that he was on the spectrum (ASD). Although not formerly diagnosed, their are 3 areas of concern:

Commuication
Social Interaction
Repetitive Behaviours.

I would say if he is pointing his needs, he probably just has a speech delay. But it never hurts to check these things out in case of ASD so that he could get early intervention. It is more common in boys than girls. There are a number of factors that make these things up, I have no family history of ASD either, but have some first cousins that all had speech delays and are now perfectly functioning adults (except for one that is smacked up on drugs). It doesn't have to be hereditary.

Answer 4

He doesn't have a need to talk if all of his needs are being met. The 4 1/2 old needs to go to nursery school or something, so that the 2 1/2 year old will not have a reason to talk.

He is stil young, I am sure the pediatrician will say the same thing if everything else is developmentally on schedule.

What is TTC?

Answer 5

well he may not want to talk yet if he is speaking words even if it is a few then he will eventually start talking your ear off. But if you are really concerned maybe try to get your sister to ask their pediatrician about it. See what he says. I have talk holics two but i have a 1 one year old and he says the basics too but he wont be two until next year so but i would just ask the doc. BUT kids do develop differently too so that may be what is going on he is just developing differently.
or maybe ask you sis if you can have some alone time with him without the other kids and see if he will talk for himself then.

Answer 6

first of all, dont listen to the oh he'll be fine and all kids are different, they are BUT if you're sisters gut is telling her something else, she needs to take him to the pediatrician and get a referral for an evaluation.

Everyone kept telling me how smart my son was and blah blah and hes to smart to have this or that and he didnt talk, I mean he would say words but not string them together. MY INTUITION kept me on the right track and we had my son evaluated, yup he has ASD ( autistic spectrum disorder ) hes perfectly intelligent but he has autism.

IT has never been diagnosed within any of our families but we can see that certain people have some quirks

IF your sisters gut is telling her somethings a miss have him tested and yes if it's autism it can be genetic but MAY NEVER rear its ugly head, they aren't 100 percent sure what triggers autism yet. It could be pollutants in the air, ultra sound waves from early ultra sounds, or pure genetics or all of it
GOOD LUCK!

Answer 7

There might be something wrong but do not freak out just yet. Typically, a two year old child has about fifty clearly identifiable words by age two. There may be absolutely nothing wrong, but it is important that the child's doctor knows about his delayed languege development. My niece is also two, and only has about 15 of the fifteen words. Most states have early intervention programs in place, kind of like an early head start, and in nearly all cases with early intervention, kids with delayed speech are caught up to speed by age 5 and are fully prepared for kindergarten, so relax and call your department of health and family services to schedule an assessment or try to get more info from your state's website. If you haven't ruled out autism, which some people worry about, and is often identified at age 2 or later, you can do a simple test yourself called the M-Chat :

For pediatricians: The CHAT screen
Screening for Autism at 18 Months

Questions for the parent:


Does your child ever pretend, for example, to make a cup of tea by using a toy cup and teapot or pretend other things?

Does your child ever use his or her index finger to point, to indicate interest in something?

Does your child take an interest in other children?

Does your child enjoy playing peek-a-boo or hide-and-seek?

Does your child ever bring objects over to you to show you something?
[If the answer to two or more of the above is "no," then autism is suspected (except in the presence of severe generalized developmental delays).]



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Physician's observations:


During the appointment, has the child made eye contact with you?

Get the child's attention, then point across the room at an interesting object and say, "Oh look! There's a (name object)." Watch the child's face. Does the child look across to see what you are pointing at?

Get the child's attenton, then give the child a miniature toy cup and teapot and say, "Can you make a cup of tea?" Does the child pretend to pour out tea, drink it, etc? (May use other objects for pretend play.)

Say to the child, "Where's the light?" or "Show me the light." Does the child point with his or her index finger at the light?
[If the answer to two or more of the above is "no," autism is suspected.]



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From Bauer S, Autism and the pervasive developmental disorders: Part 2, Pediatrics in Review 1995(May);16:168-177 (see Table 4). Reproduced with permission from Pediatrics in Review, Vol. 16, page 170, 1995.
"CHAT" = Checklist for Autism in Toddlers. Adapted from Baron-Cohen S, Gillberg C. Can autism be detected at 18 months? The needle, the haystack, and the CHAT. Br J Psychiat 1992;161:839
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Note: Pretend play should be enacted in a naturalistic way; i.e., use a familiar situation that occurs commonly in the family. It is possible that the child has never observed someone making tea. Choose a scenario that is common to the family (example, brushing teeth using a doll as a prop, etc.)

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Answer 8

my sister has three kids 7-6-3/12. the second child didnt talk that much until he turned4/5. when he did talk he didnt make sense i told my sis he had a speak problem, cuz he wasnt pronouncing his words/letters correctly, she didnt take him to get cked by any1 he never went to per-school and he is fine he talks really well now i used to jump in her sh*t all the time about takin him to see som1. and her three doesnt talk that much either. and i think he has the same prob her second kid had but she hasnt takin him any where either. my sister used to talk a lot of baby talk to them. i think thats where it came frm. not speaking to them properly doesnt show kids their age how to pronounce letters and word properly. but for some reason her 1st never had that prob he was/is a chatter box. I think that is because she had her second not to long after she had him so he had no choice but to be the older child even when he wasnt that old. if u know what i mean.

Answer 9

My nephew is 21/2 as well, and has the same problem. He will point to things and make noises, but thats it. The speech therapist says its bc his sister (3 1/2 yr old) speaks for him. She will tell you what he wants, and he is so used to it, he feels as if he doesnt need to speak. Is the older child maybe also doing this for the younger?

Answer 10

My second son didnt speak much in his second year either. The doctor I went to said it was my fault..that I fulfilled his needs too fast so he had no incentive to speak. Sounds like your little one's older brother has that role. Perhaps they shouldnt get things for him until he asks for them If he can speak some words he can speak others. Once my son started talking however I couldnt shut him up. lol Thats the down side I guess.
Dont worry he will grow out of it.