should I be concerned about my 2 year olds speech?

Question

My son has a hard time getting his words out and he also stutters alot and it really frustrates him. He also has a hard time with the "r" sound. Should I be concerned at all this early. He will be three in July. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Go to the web site for The Stuttering Foundation at www.stutteringhelp.org and you will find a chart to determine if/when your child needs to see a specialist in stuttering, things you can do at home to help, a referral list of specialists, online videos, libraries that have the Foundation's materials that you can check out, and brochures that you can download and print out to give to teachers, relatives, etc so they know what to do to help, too.

Answer 2

I speak as a mother of 2 boys (one that has a significant speech problem) and an Elementary School teacher. EARLY INTERVENTION is the KEY. People use to let these things "go" and wait until the child was "ready" but that's not the case these days. Early intervention with a speech therapist has been shown in studies to make an enormous improvement for the child not just improving their speech, but in turn, helping with their behavior. Many children who have speech problems tend to get frustrated when no one can understand them and scream or "screech" to get someone's attention and grunt. I know you said your son gets frustrated, and this could really help him.

The rule of thumb is that by 2, your son should be able to put two, clear words together. The stuttering may or may not be a problem. There is a "stage" that children go through where they have such a language "explosion" that they stutter for a couple months. If it continues for a while, it can be a problem. The best judge of this would be a Speech Therapist. Your pediatrician can give you a referral for an evaluation. Many states (including mine in Texas) offer free evaluations through Easter Seals or other non-profit services.

My younger son is now 3 1/2 - last year he couldn't put two words together and now he talks in complete sentences (and non-stop might I add!). He sees a speech therapist two times a week and loves it. They play games, so he doesn't see it as work; he sees it as fun!

Good luck to you and your son. Feel free to e-mail me through my contact information if you have any more questions. I hope everything works out well for you all!

Answer 3

This is kinda long, but it does have a point.

Here is my story: I had a two year old with very limited speech. Didn't try to talk much butwhen he did, it was mostly gibberish. When he was 21/2 the pediatrition noticed how he was delayed and that it was getting worse. I got a referral for speech assestment. That took over 2months to schedule due to so many children in my area needing therapy. After the assestment, it was determined that my son did need therapy. I was put on a waiting list. He also turned 3 that June. By April, I still did not have an appointement. Our first session did not happen until May. Insurance stops paying for therapy at 3. He then got evaulated by the school system for speech therapy. They said that he needed therapy. Now, he goes to a head start program on a disability for speech therapy from 7:30 am to 2:30 pm. If I wouldn't have acted when I did, I would have missed this window, and he wouldn't be getting the help he needs. My advice based on my experience is to get him tested. If you have basic insurance, it is covered by them, if not wait until he is three, get him in a testing program from the school(the public school system has to provide all children with the same basic learning opportunities. If your son is delayed, he is covered under federal law for these programs.) You cannot afford to wait because if your son does have a serious delay, if will get exponentuly worse over time(trust me, I know my son at the age of 3 had the speech of a 18m old because i waited too long) if your son around children of his own age seems farther behind than the average of them, get him tested. It wont hurt you in the long run, it can only help

Answer 4

I just discussed this with my son's speech therapist last week. He has just started stuttering in the last few weeks. She says it is common when the vocabulary is increasing rapidly. They usuallly outgrow it. They are, however, higher risk of continuing to stutter if there is a family member who also stutters.

My other son could not say "R" until he started Kindergarten. I consulted with a speech therapist the year before he was to start school and she told me that once he was in a class of his peers, he would most likely correct it on his own. She was right. Within a couple of months, he did. No therapy for him.

PS Our doctors were not too concerned about my son's speech until he turned 3. Our peditrician says most people should be able to understand most of what a child says by age 3. If not, then he becomes concerned.

Answer 5

I'm sure you can get help with your questions by contacting your local/state early intervention program. Most states have services in place that offer free speech and language screenings for children under the age of 3.
I can tell you that stuttering is common in children learning to speak . . . and so is frustration! They know WHAT they want to say long before they can effectively say it. Also, the "r" sound is one of the last sounds that you can expect a child to master in their speech. It isn't uncommon for a child to be up to 6 years old before they master that complex sound.
Best of luck to you and your son. I'm sure that with a concerned parent like you, he'll be just fine : )

Answer 6

As a preschool teacher, I would say yes. Most likely, his speech will improve with age, but 2 year olds can get very frustrated and angry when they cannot tell you what they want or need! Most pediatricians will just say "oh he's fine" but I would go ahead and have him evaluated by a speech therapist if you can. Most school districts won't do it until they are three, but you can have him evaluated privately. R is a common sound to have trouble with. Any early help, even if it would be corrected on its own with age, will help the child build confidence rather than having his peers going "What!?" every time he tries to converse.

Answer 7

i agree with many of those who have suggested having your son see a speech therapist to evaluate his speech. I know exactly where you coming from, my now 5 year old wasn't on track for his age at 2. I had him evualuated by the Childrens Resource Center in my area of Wy, He started with in-home visits to work on his speech - all play realted and very laid back., when he turned 3 we put him in thier pre-school all this helped to get his speech on track. These survices were provided free. I'm sure your state offers a Childrens Resource Center of some type that will help you assess your sons needs if any. It's never better time than now to get him extra help if he needs it.

My son is now in a Headstart Program and making great strides in his speech, and loves the learning environment he has access to. We've seen so many improvements in his life since getting him help.

I hope you are able to find the answers to your questions.

Answer 8

I would recommend speaking with your peditrician. From there he should be able to refer you to an early intervention program such as Birth to 3 or Head Start. There may be some other underlying problems causing the speech delay.
My brother struggled in a similar fashion with his speech. It turns out he had a learning disability. My parents got him enrolled in head start and it made a huge impact on his speech and language skills. So i strongly suggest seeing your pediatricialn and getting involved in early intervention program. You can never get started to early and each day that goes by is a day without help that you cant get back.

Answer 9

I'm a teacher and KNOW that early detection's the best idea. The R's are a usual problem, but the stuttering worries me. I have had a lot of experience with stuttering kids (I work in a Special Needs school, but teach regular education) and they've benefited from early help and detection. Go with your gut - you're asking this, so you're obviously worried, which means you have to get him checked out.

Answer 10

No some children just take a while to talk properly. My brother only started talking properly when he was 4 (he used to swallow his words) My son just turned 4 and althought he talks that you can understand him - he still talks backwards eg when he says he is getting hot, he actually means he is getting cold. His in is his out and so on. If he stutters maybe you should get him a bit of speech therapy and let him slow down and thin before he talks. You can also go and have his hearing and eyes tested, sometimes this is the problem.

Answer 11

I had the same problem with my son (he is 21 now), most school districts offer screening, call and ask. He was enrolled in speech therapy, it only took a few months of once a week classes to completely clear up his problem. The pediatric speech therapists are amazing. Just call, you know if there is a problem. Don't let him get to school age before addressing it, his socialization skills will be affected. Good for you for being attentive.

His therapists name was Mrs. Blinkensop, he needed therapy just to address her, lol.