Not talking at 15 months

[Anonymous]

I actually have an alternate view, but it could just be with my new experience with Emma. I want to applaud your doctor for opening the topic. Chances are, Owen will be talking away before you know it. BUT, it is much better if that does not happen, that you are proactive. If he sent you for a speech eval, then I’d say he was going over the top. But, to simply encourage you with some ways to help & to keep an eye on things, I think that is RIGHT ON. Many kids with delays are overlooked. My nephew’s ped missed the ball BIG TIME. He is now 5 & is barely comprehensible–he’s been in therapy for about 2 years. Had he started sooner, perhaps his speech issues would be better.

Anyway, I don’t think the doc went overboard & I also bet Owen has nothing wrong with him. It is true, boys tend to be slightly slower in the speech dept & also, that reflux kids sometimes take longer to talk.

I also have to say that signing, using gestures or pictures, are all great ways to bridge the gap between non-verbal & verbal. I used some signs & gestures with Madi (AND A PACI TOO!! LOL!) & she is the mouth of the south (LMAO!!). With Emma, we use signs & now pictures. The few words she sometimes can get out, are the ones she has signs for. She’ll do the sign & the word.

I picked up some great flashcards for her the other day at Borders. They are ‘touch & feel’ ones, very thick, great photos, about 16 words in the pack. Baby’s First Words…anyway, they are great.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Lauren –

I have to say that I do agree with you that I’m glad he mentioned it to me too. If it ends up that Owen starts talking really well then I won’t have to worry about it, but just the fact that he mentioned it at all made my husband and I realize that sometimes we do go for a while without really talking to him, or we use the TV, or things like that. I’ve started now to read to him in different ways than I had and am really trying to help however I can. He’s doing a great job at pointing out things in books and he’s started to say “ba-ba” when he waves so he’s trying to say bye-bye I think. He’s started to say mama and dada more, although not always in the right context but I’m happy that he’s at least making some different sounds.

Anyway, although he may not really be THAT behind, I am glad that he at least opened my eyes to a few new things that we can do with him. We have some baby einstein flash cards but those first words ones sound great – I might have to check those out!

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