Two Year Old Won't Talk
My son will be two this month and is hardly talking at all. He is normal in all ways and seems advanced in some, motor skills especially, eating, stacking puzzles. He just will not talk, prefers to point, whine or throw. He is an only child and does not go to daycare. Should I be worried. I have often thought I was too easy to anticipate his needs and have given him no reason to communicate. Could this be the case. His trips to the pediatrician have been fine.
It's time to talk! That's the way us humans are programmed and to communicate is to survive emotionally. I would try to do less for your son. Ask him what he wants and ask him to use a word to tell you what he wants. Assist him in using his words, like "book", or "cup". Avoid babying him and be sure he has a routine where he isn't picked up and carried around, and where he can be independent and help you do things around the house. Use your routine to "teach" him "the fun of talking". Say, "here are socks to put in the drawer". "Socks, say "socks".
He'll love playing peek-a-boo with objects and probably his words will come along fast by playing games and talking about everything he sees. If by age 2, he is not producing words or part of words and if he still prefers to grunt and whine, point this out to his pediatrician and tell him (her). I say two-year-olds do talk, and you want an audiologist and a pediatric speech therapist to check him out.
I have worked with a number of families who have waited too long to get the "language train" rolling at full "speech" and have had very frustrated two-year-olds with behavior issues. Children need to talk to make friends, make social contacts and learn to cooperate and help. Language is an essential part of growing away from parents and gaining a sense of self.
