Delayed Speech
What Can I do To Help My Child With Delayed Speech?
Babies can start cooing as early as the second
month, laughing out loud by three months,
and babbling by four months.
Most babies begin putting words like Mommy,
Daddy and bye-bye together with the meanings
by nine months.
By two years of age, we were still waiting on the
sounds Ma-Ma, and Da-Da, hoping every noise that he made was
some form of communication. When your child is Autistic you
might still be waiting for a playful expression, or the words
mommy and daddy, or waiting for the first steps.
If your child has Delayed Speech and you are not sure if they are
showing all of the Autism Signs then have a look at the
Autism Symptoms Checklist or the
If you are not sure if your toddler has Delayed Speech then
have a look at Autism in Toddlers to give you an idea
of Language Development in toddlers and what age
they should be talking your ears off!
In the mean time You could try to teach your child sign language
to help keep them from missing anymore milestones. Heres a
program that I have heard great things about!
For my son, Pica Eating Disorder has delayed his speech even
longer. All of the Characteristics of Autism can be a battle on
their own, but one Characteristic could be compounding others.
The best advice as a parent, that I can give, is to get rid of all
the oral distractions (like: Pacifiers, baby bottles, etc..)
as early as possible.
To help deal with all the oral sensory's that he had we gave
him sensory toys and let him keep his baby bottle way
beyond the appropriate age. While other children suffering
from similar disorders to my son, who all had delayed
speech started talking between the age of
four and five.
At four my son was eating dirt, wood, pencils, his shirts and
anything else he could get away with while holding on to his baby
bottle for what I thought was going to be forever! He was
not even babbling at this point, I was starting to think my son
would be non-verbal for the rest of his life.
When I realized we were focusing more on what was going in
his mouth then what was coming out, I took away all the
sensory toys and the bottle. I took them away one at a time
and replaced each of them with things more appropriate
like twizzlers, and pretzels.
Taking the bottle and sensory toys away will open up more
opportunities for your child to be verbal. My son started babbling
within the first month of the bottle being gone. Today he has
mastered only a few words but we can see that he is
making more of an effort and getting
better and better everyday.
I took my son shopping for back to school clothes and we had a very unique encounter. As we were walking toward the store, I noticed this young boy holding his parents hands and he was having a difficult time trying to go through the automatic doors. As I was watching this, I suspected that her little boy was just like mine. We went on our way picking out clothes and my son began making this sound that he makes when he is bored. It sounds like he his calling some wild animal for dinner. It’s annoying and loud but after so long I have learned to tune it out. The next thing I know this woman comes out of nowhere and starts coming down the aisle at me like she is about to explode.
She was getting close enough to open her mouth when my son and hers started making almost the same sound and had made eye contact with one another and clearly had each other’s attention and curiosity. They had been talking to each other through the aisle. A moment in time when two kids with Autism were speaking each other’s language, and engaging in a rare sweet moment. The woman just stopped dead in her tracks and asked how old my son was, and what school he went to. I know she thought my son was on the other side of the aisle mocking her child. I know we are not alone and now she knows she is not alone!
To encourage your child to be more vocal you should always
try to announce in a plain clear
voice what every item is that your child wants or needs;
understand that repetition is the key to speech development.
If your child is two years old and has delayed speech, start
working with them as you would a baby, by putting
emphasis on their greetings.
When working on good night, have your child put their favorite
toy or stuff animal to bed or encourage them to say good night
to their siblings every night. At times when you are not
working on their speech, read to your child, even when you
think they are not listening and never give up that you
will hear their precious voice one day.
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