Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school Not talking....

So, I'm probably just worrying too much. At least people tell me I am, since DD just turned 15 months. But I can't help it. I know about asynchronous development and all that, but...

She's got around 135+ ASL signs and we've counted 30-40 half words (like ma for moon when she also signs it) but she barely says words. I've simply written down every word I think she's ever uttered. She puts two or three signs together, too. But she honestly doesn't talk much and mainly makes sounds using m, b, da, and sometimes t or k. She babbles a little, but it isn't like I've heard other kids younger than she is babbling.

I also know she knows a whole lot and she can follow directions at times, but often won't show or tell us anything directly when we ask her. She starts conversations with us (half the time I have no idea what she's signing about), but won't engage in conversations we start very often.

She's recently started getting pickier with food and will refuse my help with eating her food, but then she can't get the food in her mouth with her spoon, so she just quits eating altogether. I sometimes get her to eat fruit with her fingers and she'll always eat crackers, but those are not really a nutrient dense food.

She's grown taller, but hasn't gained any weight in 3 months, so I'm trying to get more than breast milk in her. Sometimes she'll let me feed her off of my spoon if she's in my lap after she gave up on her food (I tried covertly slipping her leftover food into my bowl as she watched... umm no go.) She's given up on other things like doing the 8 pc puzzles we have for her because she has a hard time picking up the tiny knobs (she mastered the chunky 3 pc months ago). Perfectionism?

I don't mind that she is seeking independence and won't "perform" on demand, I just worry at times that she's regressed or something. She's focusing a lot on playing pretend lately, so maybe she is making strides in that area?

At her 15 month, I brought a short list of things she does now and was told she is ranging from 20-24+ months on all of her skills except talking. They gave me a pamphlet to call about speech therapy since DD just hasn't said any complete words really. I told them I have a hearing test scheduled for this month, but I'm not sure if I should go. She said we could check...

What would you do? She is terrible with doctors so I don't know how this hearing test will go over. She dances and "sings" in key, so I know she definitely can hear. My sister had partial hearing loss from fluid in her ears and when they gave her tubes she immediately started talking more. But DD hasn't had any ear infections or anything...Everything I read talks about "Early intervention" being important.

Just wait it out? I'd like to hear your stories about it. DH and I were both earlier talkers and my mom acts worried and is blaming ASL. (However, MIL claims she barely talked until she was like 5 years old and drove everyone crazy.)

I was worried about DS2 at one point, and we found that the Baby Babble and Baby Babble 2 DVDs encouraged him to start saying a lot more P, B, and M sounds, plus others. In retrospect I feel like we had nothing to worry about, but they did show us he didn't have any problem articulating sounds.

ETA: I would definitely have any hearing tests done that the docs recommended.

Definitely get whatever hearing tests they recommend, and keep going back if needed. You can imagine that a hearing test in a baby is not that accurate. You definitely want to keep on top on any possible hearing loss.

There's no harm in having her hearing checked. That said, some babies (like mine) play their cards close to the vest. At 15 months, mine had zero words; at 18, the total number she'd said was <5; at 24, she had no two-word phrases (although she'd say multiple words separated by vast silences). She had a speech evaluation a month or so later, and was found to be way ahead in language (both expressive and receptive). She just chose not to talk.

Yet another vote for "getting her hearing checked is probably wise, but I wouldn't worry". I had another late talker (much later than that!) and I definitely recognise the phenomenon of one skill being temporarily dropped while another gets worked on.

If she has 135+ signs, why would she talk?

Also, for perspective:

"By fifteen months of age most children are able to say “thank you” or something similar. Most will be able to indicate their wants by using words, by pointing, and by using gestures. Fifteen-to-eighteen-month olds' vocabularies will be growing daily. Most children this age have a vocabulary of four to six words, including names."

http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_CHILDREN_FIFTEEN/?page=2

I would also say, like the others, go through with the appointment but don't worry.

I very, very rarely talked when I was a baby and when I was little and my mother worried about me all the time (really I didn't talk that much until college, when I could finally sometimes get a word in edgewise!) I'm my mother would have been taking me to specialist if she could have. She always spoke to the doc about it and he always said "she's fine". And I was, but in comparison to her/her family/my siblings (always talking every minute while awake) I looked very wrong!! But really, I remember, sometimes really wanting to say something but my older sister always talked for me. I just was too slow getting my mouth opened and getting those words out. Much slower at learning to read as well...Maybe your child is a naturally "kinesthetic" learner, since she uses her hands so well with her signs...or maybe she does have hearing/auditory issues. Go to the appointment LOL!

The only caveat here is that the baby's doctor (apparently) is recommending getting hearing testing. Everyone has stories about late talkers being brilliant, Einstein didn't talk until he was 4 (or whatever), etc.
My third grader is deaf in one ear- this was totally missed at all of his screening tests at the pediatrician's. He was an early and proficient talker, no speech defect, got 99th% on his verbal WISC and verbal OLSAT, etc. Yet he's deaf in one ear- and kids who are deaf in one ear are 10 times more likely to fail a grade, have lower verbal and reading scores, etc.
I asked to have an audiology exam in the soundproof room when he was half-way through kindergarten, and that is how we found the loss. He's had a hearing aid for 3 years and he's done fantastic.

I too would recommend following through with the speech consult and hearing eval and go from there. Like the others have said, there is most likely nothing to worry about. OTOH, I think that what we feel as parental gut instinct is very important too - you're worried enough that you came online and posted, and you've asked your dr. Your dr. saw enough reason to give you a referral. Again, chances are it's nothing, but if it *is* something you'll be very glad you're on top of it this early in your child's life.

FWIW, my ds wasn't speaking at 15 months. At the time I didn't think anything of it - he was my first child, I knew I didn't start walking/talking until later than most kids, I knew Einstein didn't start talking until he was three. I never asked our ped about it, never thought to ask about it. Our ds did understand and use signs. He was also our only child at the time. I'd have been quick to say "why does he need to talk?" and was quick to think "there's a wide spectrum of normal when it comes to early milestones". When he was around 3 years old, he suddenly started talking in huge, miles-long, complex sentences... so again, we just assumed he was a quirky smart kid who hadn't needed to talk when he was little. Then school hit and his world imploded. We eventually found out he has Developmental Coordination Disorder and an expressive language disorder - both of which we had some very obvious clues about yet never saw in his early developmental history mostly because we weren't looking for it. One of those important clues was late development of talking and, in his case, lack of babbling. He's doing great now, at 12, but please know that there were many times (and still are) that I'd give anything for him to be back at 15 months old and have a speech eval and early intervention!

Best wishes,

polarbear

Coming in on this conversation late . . .

Definitely get hearing checked out, but a couple of reassurances are 1) I recall reading in multiple places that children who learn two languages tend to reach verbal milestones slightly later for a while. Later, they end up having stronger verbal skills than their monolingual peers, but in the beginning they start out more slowly. ASL is a second language. Sounds to me like your daughter has quite good language acquisition in one of her two languages (150 words at 15 months is waaay ahead of the curve), which suggests the brain is working just fine.

2) Case in point: A friend of mine taught her daughter signs as a baby, and she picked up lots of them -- and didn't speak much till quite late. Her mother believes she *understood* English but simply had no reason to use it because she could communicate so well in ASL.

Hope you'll let us know how it works out!

Jenny