Is a very bright 22 month old boy who doesn't talk, "normal"?

I have a 22 month old boy who says daily words like: whats that, over there, dad, dog, juice, his name, oh, yeah, mom and a few other words that haven't been repeated more than 2 or 3 times. He understands EVERYTHING I say to him. I can say "Where's Dad?" or "Dad's home" and he finds him in the house or runs to the door. I'll ask him if he wants juice or milk and he will go open the fridge and point to which he wants. Time for lunch, he gets in his chair. Go outside? Go for a walk? He gets his jacket and shoes and brings them to me. He can point to objects like apple, sun, tree, sky and knows his nose hair and eyes etc etc


The only thing he says back to me is if I ask him "Are you a good boy? He answers "yeah yeah". That is it. Should I wait till it comes or get going and see a speech therapist. I know all kids are different, but do I have something to worry about-need advice!

Is a very bright 22 month old boy who doesn't talk, "normal"?
My 21month olf son sounds similar to yours. He understands most of what I say and can point to many things in books when I ask him to identify something. He says a few words sometimes; it seems to me that my son is choosing not to talk at the moment for whatever reason. He babbles a lot in his own "language" which is also telling me he has no problems with enunciating sounds.





I can't see that there is much wrong with a child who is obviously bright, has no problem with pronunciation, who is talked to all the time, and is healthy and happy. I don't think you should worry about it yet. Don't seek medical advice: you could be setting him up with a "label" before you really need to.





I'm sure some one else has already said but Einstein was a very late talker. Boys also talk later than girls. Some children don't talk until they have got it all right in their heads, as though they don't want to make any mistakes.
Reply:I dont think there is anything to worry about however if you think otherwise you could contact your peditrician and discuss them with him or her. I have always been told to go with your motherly instinct on things and I have found this very helpful, With your son being 22 months old his vocabulary is still developing. Does he go to day care or is he aroudn other kids his age. Does anyone talk baby talk to him.
Reply:sounds like my 20 month old. Says a few words here and there (bug, eat, daddy, mama, truck) he can repeat, or at least try, to repeat what we ask him to say. But he understands everything! You son sounds normal to me.
Reply:Sounds pretty normal to me, I wouldn't stress. You can always ask your GP for his opinion if you're worried.
Reply:He should be putting words together by now I would ask your doctor for a referral to a speech therapist, Good Luck
Reply:i think you should seek help froma doctor. yes he seems very bright he just might need speech therapy.
Reply:Ease your mind and have him screened by early intervention...it is free and so is the speech therapy if he needs it. He sounds just like my son who is a few months older. My son had tantrums because he was frustrated he could not communicate, really bad ones. Once he got into speech therapy he picked up like 40 new words in the first few months AND he learned some sign language for his everyday needs until the words came. He has been in speech for almost 5 months now and has recently had a speech explosion and says 100+ words...although even I have trouble understanding him sometimes. Since he knows the signs he routinely signs while speaking to clarify what he says.





your son may have a disorder like apraxia ( totally treatable) that involves him having trouble coordinating the movements needed to make certain sounds. can he stick his tongue out? up towards his nose? down towards his chin? from side to side in his mouth? can he blow raspberries? make a kissing motion? if some of these motions can't be made he may need therapy.
Reply:He soundsa lovely boy. You must be proud of him. I would not bother with therapists. Let him develop in his own time. He is obviously doing as much as he thinks will get him either the attention or the object that he wants. Keep talking to him. Read him stories. The same stories over again and ask him to point hings out to you in pictures or to tell you what happened next.


A child I knew said his first full sentence when he was three.


He said, "Oh, heavens sake, mother, if we don't hurry we'll be late."


When he starts school he will talk your heads off.


(Please, give him something else to say other than "Yeah."


What's wrong with "yes"? )


Best wishes. Enjoy these years you'll find thbye fly over.
Reply:My daughter is almost 3 1/2 and isn't pronouncing all of her consonants like she should. She was an only child up to 6 weeks ago and isn't in daycare and only interacts with kids at the park 1-3 times a week. I'm going to ask her pediatrician is she should get tested. At 22 months, she could easily say 50 words and even more "words" that only the family members close to her could understand. She also understood "everything" we told her too. At that time, the pediatrician wasn't concerned. It won't hurt to ask the pediatrician's advice first before taking the route of getting tested. Good luck!
Reply:Even though it's common delay speech on boys, it's not normal. I suggest you to call Early Intervention or Birth-to-3 (depending in which state you live in) for a complete evaluation on your child's development. This agency helps children to fully reach their development... It sounds you child needs speech therapy, but why he's not talking??? This is the question that a lot of people don't get... My son has speech delay (he has PDD-NOS). This agency helped him with his therapies %26amp; to transition into the early childhood program in the school district when he turned 3... Now, he's doing much better. I have noticed a lot of children (mostly boys) in his school who have speech delay for multiple reasons (verbal apraxia, dyalexia, AHDD, Autism, Asperger, etc). There a lot of people who say that this delay is normal, children will grow up this problem, but the fact is that later on during their school years, they will have academic %26amp;/or behavioral problems since the real problem wasn't attacked on early years... I suggest you to call this agency. It looks like you child doesn't have Autism since he can understand, but speech delay can be other things too...
Reply:My daughter is 2 years-old and did not say actual words until very recently, although her actions were much like your son's in that she understood everything and was able to point to different named animals.


But now she learned a couple words a day and says them (although still a bit hard to understand) in the right context.


I don't think that you should worry.


Kids have their own speed in learning and when they get their stride they will learn more in a day than you would have anticipated.
Reply:Go to the pediatrician. He should be saying more than that. There are many reasons that he could be delayed with speach, but time is of the essence and you would want to treat him as soon as you can! My friend's child was 2 1/2 and not speaking, but clearly understood everything we were saying, and turns out he was having silent seizures that prevented him from speaking. He went on medications for the seizures, and was speaking like a pro in 6 months.



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