One of our twin boys was not speaking fifty words by the age of two. Because of this our Pediatrician recommended we have him tested to see if he qualified for speech therapy for his speech delay.
When you have an older child who is very talkative sometimes your younger child will be less inclined to talk because their sibling is talking for them.
Boys in general speak later. They focus on one skill at a time. Therefore there might be a higher prevalence of speech delays if you have a son versus a daughter. But, by age two, they should be speaking at least fifty words.
Sign language counts as verbal communication.
It turned out our son qualified for speech therapy services.
A speech therapist came to our home one day a week to work with him, as well as to work with me, to come up with ways for him to learn to express himself better.
First, we worked on repeating words.
Say a word and, and then say it 3 times again. Literally.
For example, instead of asking your child if they can say “banana”? Throughout the course of eating or playing together find ways to repeat words multiple times. Such as…
“Would you like a banana? BANANA, BANANA, BANANA”
Try to incorporate that into any activity your child is doing.
For example, if you’re playing Ring Around The Rosie – you’d sing “We all fall DOWN, DOWN, DOWN.”
This alone may help your child to pick up words faster.
Try to do this technique as often as possible, until it’s a habit.
Twins often learn to communicate with each other so well non-verbally, that they don’t feel the need to speak as much as singletons might.
In our case our twins never displayed any noticeable “twin language”. But of course there are many ways to communicate, and our oldest daughter is never at a loss for words. These two things may have contributed to his speech delay.
Twins and premature children typically speak later.
After a YEAR of speech therapy in our home our speech therapy services ended.
We kept track of words he was having trouble saying so that we could try to use those words more often.
Use picture cards to help your child practice words with. Play matching games with them, or cut them out to glue on to paper while practicing speaking the words.
Could his speech delay be caused by Apraxia?
A motor development in which your child’s brain has trouble telling his mouth how to make certain sounds. Apraxia cannot be diagnosed until the age of four.
Above all be patient with your child. If you grow frustrated, it will only frustrate your child, and possibly discourage him further from wanting to speak.
If you have any concerns, speak with your Pediatrician about getting evaluated. Depending on your state they may come to your home for the evaluation, which makes it easy for both you and your child.
You may also want to get your child’s hearing tested. If they are experiencing hearing loss, this could be a cause for their speech delay. (My husband was diagnosed with severe hearing impairment at age two.)
