How old was your child when they started speaking?

Question

My son is 17 months old, and only says mamma, nanna, dadda, and that. I'm worried about autism. He makes good eye contact, and he understands what I'm saying. I know this because he follows simple instructions. He is very social and loves people. Neither my hubby or I have autism in our families, but I am still worried. How much should he be saying, and when should I get really concerned?

Answer 1

Social? Loves people? good eye contact?

If there is a problem, it is VERY unlikely to be autism. But as many people said, many kids are late to learn to talk. My second nephew was almost three when he finally started talking. He has just graduated from college. A very brilliant young man. He still doesn't talk much. Takes after his father that way. But when they do speak, it is usually something brilliant.

Answer 2

Kids have a huge, an absolutely HUGE spectrum of what is normal and within range. My son and daughter were both born chatterboxes and started talking really early...like six months, they were saying "hi". My son wowed some elderly folks in a restaurant when he was 15 months by saying "how're ya doing?"

And I have two nephews who didn't talk much until they were three. On different sides of the family! It's really subjective at this point. Keep working with him. If you have continual problems, by the time he's two, maybe get his hearing checked out. He might have need of tubes in his ears, or some other hearing issue. But right now, you're doing the right thing by talking to him and saying words and making him communicate too.

Answer 3

My son was diagnosed with a speech delay about 3 months ago and he just turned 3 years old this week. I was told that a 3 year old's vocabulary should consist of 900 words (I am sure they are considering words like in, on, or, is, it etc.). At 17 months my son didn't say much more than family member names or titles, hi, bye, yes, no, more, milk, cheese and stuff like that. I would recommend using more expansive words with him like if he says "ball" you say "red ball" and if he doesn't say "ball" get him familiar with what a ball is and go from there. In regards to him saying family names/titles like "nanna" you could say "mommy love nanna" or "nanna at home". You might consider having a speech analysis done on him just to be sure. I don't think he has Autism since his social skills are good but it's possible that he has a speech delay and speech therapy would certainly fix that. Good luck!

Answer 4

I am a child with autism. I am not "autistic." My autism is one aspect of my total character. It does not define me as a person. Are you a person with thoughts, feelings and many talents, or are you just fat (overweight), myopic (wear glasses) or klutzy (uncoordinated, not good at sports)?

My sensory perceptions are disordered. This means the ordinary sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches of everyday life that you may not even notice can be downright painful for me. The very environment in which I have to live often seems hostile. I may appear withdrawn or belligerent to you, but I am really just trying to defend myself. A "simple" trip to the grocery store may be hell for me. My hearing may be hyperacute. Dozens of people are talking at once. The loudspeaker booms today's special. Muzak whines from the sound system. Cash registers beep and cough. A coffee grinder is chugging. The meat cutter screeches, babies wail, carts creak, the fluorescent lighting hums. My brain can't filter all the input, and I'm in overload! My sense of smell may be highly sensitive. The fish at the meat counter isn't quite fresh, the guy standing next to us hasn't showered today, the deli is handing out sausage samples, the baby in line ahead of us has a poopy diaper, they're mopping up pickles on Aisle 3 with ammonia. ... I can't sort it all out, I'm too nauseous.

Because I am visually oriented, this may be my first sense to become overstimulated. The fluorescent light is too bright. It makes the room pulsate and hurts my eyes. Sometimes the pulsating light bounces off everything and distorts what I am seeing. The space seems to be constantly changing. There's glare from windows, moving fans on the ceiling, so many bodies in constant motion, too many items for me to be able to focus - and I may compensate with tunnel vision. All this affects my vestibular sense, and now I can't even tell where my body is in space. I may stumble, bump into things, or simply lay down to try and regroup.

Please remember to distinguish between won't (I choose not to) and can't (I'm not able to). Receptive and expressive language are both difficult for me. It isn't that I don't listen to instructions. It's that I can't understand you. When you call to me from across the room, this is what I hear: "*&^%$#@, Billy. #$%^*&^%$&*" Instead, come speak directly to me in plain words: "Please put your book in your desk, Billy. It's time to go to lunch." This tells me what you want me to do and what is going to happen next. Now it's much easier for me to comply.

I am a concrete thinker. I interpret language literally. It's very confusing for me when you say, "Hold your horses, cowboy!" when what you really mean is "Please stop running." Don't tell me something is a "piece of cake" when there is no dessert in sight and what you really mean is, "This will be easy for you to do." When you say, "It's pouring cats and dogs," I see pets coming out of a pitcher. Please just tell me, "It's raining very hard." Idioms, puns, nuances, double entendres and sarcasm are lost on me.

Be patient with my limited vocabulary. It's hard for me to tell you what I need when I don't know the words to describe my feelings. I may be hungry, frustrated, frightened or confused, but right now those words are beyond my ability to express. Be alert for body language, withdrawal, agitation, or other signs that something is wrong.

There's a flip side to this: I may sound like a little professor or a movie star, rattling off words or whole scripts well beyond my developmental age. These are messages I have memorized from the world around me to compensate for my language deficits, because I know I am expected to respond when spoken to. They may come from books, television or the speech of other people. It's called echolalia. I don't necessarily understand the context or the terminology I'm using, I just know it gets me off the hook for coming up with a reply.

Because language is so difficult for me, I am very visually oriented. Show me how to do something rather than just telling me. And please be prepared to show me many times. Lots of patient repetition helps me learn.

A visual schedule is extremely helpful as I move through my day. Like your day planner, it relieves me of the stress of having to remember what comes next, makes for smooth transitions between activities, and helps me manage my time and meet your expectations.

Focus and build on what I can do rather than what I can't do. Like any other human, I can't learn in an environment where I'm constantly made to feel that I'm not good enough or that I need fixing. Trying anything new when I am almost sure to be met with criticism, however constructive, becomes something to be avoided. Look for my strengths and you'll find them. There's more than one right way to do most things.

Help me with social interactions. It may look like I don't want to play with the other kids on the playground, but sometimes it's just that I simply don't know how to start a conversation or enter a play situation. If you can encourage other children to invite me to join them at kickball or shooting baskets, I may be delighted to be included.

Try to identify what triggers my meltdowns. This is termed "the antecedent." Meltdowns, blowups, tantrums or whatever you want to call them are even more horrid for me than they are for you. They occur because one or more of my senses has gone into overload. If you can figure out why my meltdowns occur, they can be prevented.

If you are a family member, please love me unconditionally. Banish thoughts such as, "If he would just ..." and "Why can't she ... ?" You didn't fulfill every last expectation your parents had for you, and you wouldn't like being constantly reminded of it. I didn't choose to have autism. Remember that it's happening to me, not you. Without your support, my chances of successful, self-reliant adulthood are slim. With your support and guidance, the possibilities are broader than you might think. I promise you I'm worth it.

It all comes down to three words: Patience. Patience. Patience.

Work to view my autism as a different ability rather than a disability. Look past what you may see as limitations and see the gifts autism has given me. I may not be good at eye contact or conversation, but have you noticed I don't lie, cheat at games, tattle on my classmates, or pass judgment on other people?

You are my foundation. Think through some of those societal rules, and if they don't make sense for me, let them go. Be my advocate, be my friend, and we'll see just how far I can go.

I probably won't be the next Michael Jordan, but with my attention to fine detail and capacity for extraordinary focus, I might be the next Einstein. Or Mozart. Or Van Gogh.

They had autism too.


"MANY OF LIFE'S FAILURES ARE PEOPLE WHO DID NOT REALIZE HOW CLOSE THEY WERE TO SUCCESS WHEN THEY GAVE UP"

Answer 5

All Children are different, My 9 yr old started speaking and talking in clear sentances at the age of 11-14 months,he has deslexyia
I have a niece who is currently one and can say about 30 odd words,
My baby who is almost three talks only when spoken to for some reason and he wont talk around anyone he doesnt know, he has slight monglian sydrome.
We think they talk alot more because you converse with your child, i never 8baby talked* to my 9 year old when he was a baby, so when he started speaking he was speaking clearly.
I never baby talk to any of my nieces or nephews, as i think talking clearly to them like little people, *without being condescending* they pick up more, and start aping you.
Reading bed time stories also helps with talking, imgination and understanding.

Answer 6

All kids talk at different times. Since he can follow simple directions he most likely doesn't have a hearing problem. Wait until he is about 20 months before you talk to your son's doctor. My son was a preemie and his doctor wanted to send him for a speech evaluation and I refused. He is now 2 1/2 and talks better than some 4 year-olds I know.

Answer 7

Boys start talking much later than girls. my daughter could say mamma and dadda by 14 months but not all children are the same. as far as i know for a child to be autistic one of the main symptoms will be if he doesn't interact with other people. you said he is very social and loves people so in my opinion, i doubt that he is autistic. he is just taking his time to speak and i think for 17 months his language is fine. always in my opinion, talk to his paediatrician just to be sure. Good luck!

Answer 8

My daughter started expanding her vocabulary a lot at 20 months and from there after shes been talking a lot more. Shes 2 yrs old now and says something new everyday. I dont think anything is wrong with your son. That is completely normal for someone his age. Just make sure you are talking to him a lot and reading to him every day.

Answer 9

The only word my son said at 18 months was Dada. Our pediatrician recommended evaluation, which finally happened at 21 months. I swear, the week after the evaluation he was talking up a storm! He's now almost 5, and I think he's only stopped talking to eat and sleep, since then. Talk to your doc, but don't worry about it too much. :)

Answer 10

Calm down, Einstein didn't speak until he was 7.
My first was speaking full sentences at around 20 months, my second at around the same time.
Every baby is different, just make sure you talk a lot around him, about every thing, sing lots of songs, repeat yourself often and sing songs that are repetitive.
Get his hearing checked and talk with your pediatrician about your concern.