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When your child only says one word
Filed under: Toddlers Preschoolers, Development/Milestones: Babies
Noodad shared with us this post about the tribulations of having a child who only says one word. His writes in the post about how his child says, "Mo." And only, "Mo." And how "Mo" has a wide variety of meanings. Basically, his son says, "Mo," whenever he feels like articulating anything. He asks at the end of the post whether anybody else has had a child do this, and I have. My child's word was, "Nah." Even at the age of two, his only word was, "Nah." And like Noodad's son, the word held a variety of meanings. My son's non-articulate communication was strong enough that I thought we were getting along quite well with, "Nah." But our parents as teachers consultant thought differently. She felt that my child should be saying a number of other words. Lots of them. And perhaps even sentences.
So, she referred us to the speech and hearing clinic at our local university. This began years of speech therapy with two of my children (my youngest son apparently learned to speak from his older brother). I don't know how old Noodad's son is, so I would not presume to assume anything about, "Mo." What we learned about my son when he was eight years old is that he has Asperger's Syndrome. Asperger's is on the same spectrum as Autism-- but my son is highly articulate now. I went from thinking I might never hear this kid say, "I love you, Mama," to sometimes muttering, "Be careful what you wish for," because all three of my kids could talk the ear off a sow.
I will say, though, that if your child reaches the age of two and only has one word, you might want to go and have that checked out. Because children are hardwired for speech and they should start talking on their own. But, of course, it is not a hopeless situation if they need a little help.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
5-30-2006 @ 3:13PM
Lynn said...When my son went in for his 18 month check and was only saying 3 words, his pediatrician recommended testing to see if he qualified for speech therapy. He said we could wait until age 2 and see, but that it wouldn't hurt to get assessed now. He qualified and he loved the speech therapy. He only went for a year and he asks now to go back. I also learned alot from sitting in on his sessions and am hoping that this will help me with my second son.
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5-30-2006 @ 3:35PM
Matthew Miller said...Our 16-month-old says a handful of words, but none of them are "Daddy" or even "Dada". Both parents are "Mommy" to her. Sigh.
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5-30-2006 @ 4:34PM
thordora said...My oldest can talk the ear off the sow, and the sow's dead friends. So the fact that my 15 month old is content to listen, and add the odd sound, is fine.
I wasn't aware of the "check by 2" thing though, and I'd been wondering about that. Thanks!
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5-30-2006 @ 6:55PM
Leslie said...My 25 month old daughter just started to say a few words. Now she says mine and bob for spongebob, and thats about it. I was told that kids will talk when they are ready. She was in speech therapy through a state program and her therapist quit. But shewill talk when she is ready.
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5-30-2006 @ 8:42PM
Kate said...We were worried about Morgan's speech (or lack thereof) around 15-18 months and got an assessment for her. She turned out not to qualify for therapy, but I learned a lot from her evaluation and got some good tips on how to help her speech along. I'd say if you have any concerns and can get an assesment referral, go for it! It can't hurt and if your child does end up needing intervention, the earlier the better.
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5-30-2006 @ 9:44PM
Waya said...When my 2nd son was 28 months, he was not speaking in full sentences but we weren't worried b/c we thought every child develops at his/her own pace.
Until a friend mentioned that we should look into speech therapy. I was very comprehensive at first and lots of self-guilt. But once I overcame all that self-doubt, I enrolled my son in Early Intervention and he's been progressing very well.
We're so happy he's talking more and more now. It's like the flood gate has been opened.
I even wrote about it in my blog hoping that it might help other family like us.
If you'd like to read further, click on te link below.
http://www.beforebaby.com/waya/2006/02/13/your-child-and-early-intervention/
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5-31-2006 @ 3:16AM
Laura Snow said...I agree that I wouldn't worry until age 2.. my son didn't say much at all from birth-2 but from age 2-3 he's really opened up and I think he's playing catchup! I think some kids are just shy. We know he understands both languages just fine, he just doesn't feel like talking as much as other kids.
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