My 2-3-4 Year Old Not Talking but Understands

My 3 year old not talking but understands - 2 year old not talking but babbling - can 3 year olds talk - what should a 3 year old know educationally - Well as a parent, these thoughts can be as fearsome as having a panic attack. Especially mothers get worried when child emulates few things, but doesn't even say the basics like "mom" or "dad". In some cases, they even get potty trained, but they simply won't talk, or in best case scenario just blabber.

The scary part for any parents is to differentiate between Autism and late bloomers. Some children are actually late on many milestones including walking and teething. But as responsible parents, it is natural to get worried and develop a tendency to get the child tested for any disorder.

What to Do When 3 year Old talking Gibberish - Speech Delay without Autism

The first and most important step is to be aware of what to expect from your 3-year-old as far as development, milestones and normal behavior go, you’ll both enjoy that journey to 4. This is a fine line to walk, you don't want to ignore and delay the signs of danger as well as not going overboard in your reaction in simply identifying a late bloomer. Up to 60% of children with speech delay do not require intervention and the problem resolves spontaneously by 3 years of age as per the data.

Get a 2 year old speech checklist or 3 year old speech checklist. While there is a general predictable pattern to stages of child development and behavior, there are way too many exceptions which are not categorized as any type of disorder.
Start observing your child from an evaluation perspective. Is the child responding to Symbolic gestures ? Does the child understand what you communicate through visual or verbal instructions? Keep in mind that child may be perfectly normal, yet the pace of language development may just be delayed than usual.
With your observations, now is the time to decide if there is any need of hearing and speech evaluation by speech-language pathologist (SLP) right away. . You must understand that evaluation is NOT for autism always. Sometimes early intervention by speech therapists can also help to spur language development in a child.

If the child can hear just fine, can communicate in his or her own way, and is developing just fine in other areas, then there is nothing to worry about.

Speech Delay in Toddlers Autism

Not speaking does NOT always equal autism. When your 3 or 4 yeard old is not talking, then there may be multiple diagnosis including Autism

But if you go around asking many mothers, they all have different stories to tell. So yes, the primary goal is to identify the overall behavior of child, responsiveness to visual and verbal instructions and then go on to decide whether your child needs hearing and speech evaluation.

FAQs - Speech Delay and Language Development in Toddlers

How long can speech delay last?

The pace of language development in every toddler varies wildly. If you strictly refer to medical codes, they have a some guidelines when to worry like -

12 months: no babbling or jargon
18 months: no single words
24 months: vocabulary of 10 words or fewer
30 months: vocabulary of fewer than 100 words or no two-word phrases
36 months: vocabulary of fewer than 200 words, no sentences, clarity less than 50 percent
48 months: vocabulary of fewer than 600 words, no complete sentences, clarity less than 80 percent

How can I help my speech delayed child?

Understand a fundamental thing about child learning. The child hears other say and grasps language - that is the only way for any child to pick up a language.

Do the Talking with Child - Keep talking with the child. Just be there for him/her and talk to him/her like an adult but praise. Some interaction leads to more interaction and consequently more language skills.
Play with the Child - Scientifically speaking, playing with the child is not the same as some trivial talking. Playing is a fun part of your speech therapy activities!
Use Gestures - All these hands gestures help the child to associate a word with a meaning and build their vocabulary. Visual correlation activates certain part of the brain spurring the language development in the child.
Novelty - Introduce New things - Be aware to introduce new things, new stuff, new words to your child. They are capable to process multi language

How to get a speech therapy for toddler?

It is possible to get started with your child using some home speech therapies yourself. But if you are looking for professionals, then best way to find an speech-language pathologist SLP is to contact your local public schools. The evaluation process though is very long and home practice can certainly help your child immensely.

Here is a communication milestone for a child by experts.

https://www.slideshare.net/ksfithian/milestonesguide-44505048

Take a look and work with your SLPs to keep practicing whatever methods they choose for your child. But at home, you can keep innovating things to encourage your child to speak more and speak clearly.

How much is speech therapy for toddlers?

Normally public schools have SLP - speech therapists where it is free. But they would accept only after 3 years for any speech therapy help. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004 usually covers public speech therapy. This law, which was originally passed in 1975 under a different name, focused on utilizing federal law to aid in making sure that local schools would meet the educational requirements of students with disabilities.

Private speech therapy

Although the IDEA covers public speech therapy in a school setting, this may not be enough for your child. Private speech therapy can be fairly costly. It usually starts at US$100/hr. Some medical insurance companies will cover speech therapy for your child. It is important to check with your insurance provider to see if this is an option for you.

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