SpeakingUpdate, February Edition
Every parent has to fret about something in their children’s development. Some parents worry about their children’s awkward walking motion. Some parents worry about their children’s inability to identify a square. Some parents worry that their children will never eat anything green besides M&M’s and maybe a Jolly Rancher since that sour apple flavor is so potent. I get to worry about my children talking.
The boys are almost 15-months-old and not really talking, or even babbling that much. They make sounds that don’t involve screaming, Tory more so than Ian, but most of those sounds are “ma.” That’s great when Ellie walks in the door while I’m feeding them and hears someone say “ma.” I doubt they’re calling her “ma,” though, since their utterances are too inconsistent for me to think of them as words. More likely, they’re trying anything they can do to convince me to stop shoveling oatmeal in their mouths. I’m sure a licensed professional will appropriately fret over them at their next developmental check-ups, but I’m not worrying too much about them. I’ve learned that children will do things when they’re ready no matter how much you fret over them. Plus, I still have Abbie’s speech to fret over.
Abbie is 32 months, and I’ve worried about her speech since she was, oh, about 15 months. A quick scan of this blog’s archives reveals several posts fretting over her lack of speech. In fact, a thorough scan of the archives reveals that I’d occasionally just repost the same entry a couple months later to save time since little would change.
Her speech has improved greatly in the past month, and is now consistent enough for me to consider her speaking. She’s been saying word-like sounds for months now: “ihh” for fish, “muh” for milk, and “ahhhhhhh” for everything else. In the past, though, we had to prompt her to say these words. A typical scenario would place her in the kitchen, obviously whining for something. After turning down milk and fish, I’d ask what she’d want. She’d respond with “ahh” the first time, “ahhhh” the second time after I looked at her puzzled, and “ahhhhhhh” the third time as she ran to her room screaming, slamming the door behind her.
Now she can say words without prompting. Her main word is “mama.” When Ellie walks in the door while I’m feeding them, she will exclaim “mama.” Unlike her brothers, she will excitedly exclaim it every time she walks in the door, regardless of the amount of cereal in her mouth at the time. She’ll say a few other things without prompting, such as “isss” for fish, or “hee-yah” for Dora, or she’ll sign for things like book. She never asks for milk, though, because she knows enough to open the door and pull out her leftover sippy cup.
This limited speech is great, but I’m most encouraged by her repetitive skills. Making Abbie, and now the boys as well, repeat things was a struggle. She never did actions like play “so big,” wave “bye bye” or even clap until much later than normal. We used the “If You’re Happy and You Know It” song to encourage her to mimic us, working through “clap your hands,” to “touch your nose,” and finally to “dust the television.” Even after mastering actions, she rarely repeated words, sticking to a safe few words like “muh” and “ihh.”
She’s now at the point where she’ll try mimicking almost any word, and I couldn’t be happier if she started dusting the television unprompted. When we read, I often encourage her to repeat the last word on a page. If I’m feeling saucy, I might even stay quiet and encourage her to say the last word on the page since she has every book in her library memorized by now. I usually hear a vocal response. Some of her “words” are close to real words, like “rehhhd” or that “yee-sssss” she said once. Some of her “words” are slightly more sophisticated than a grunt, but at least she uses the correct number of syllables.
Her speech is still way behind her peers, some of whom are talking in complete sentences to ask for fish while watching Dora. At least she’s making discernable progress now, the type that assures me that, yes, I will be able to enroll her in preschool in the fall and get her out of the house. Now I just need to wait another 18 months for her brothers to reach the same proficiency.
The boys are almost 15-months-old and not really talking, or even babbling that much. They make sounds that don’t involve screaming, Tory more so than Ian, but most of those sounds are “ma.” That’s great when Ellie walks in the door while I’m feeding them and hears someone say “ma.” I doubt they’re calling her “ma,” though, since their utterances are too inconsistent for me to think of them as words. More likely, they’re trying anything they can do to convince me to stop shoveling oatmeal in their mouths. I’m sure a licensed professional will appropriately fret over them at their next developmental check-ups, but I’m not worrying too much about them. I’ve learned that children will do things when they’re ready no matter how much you fret over them. Plus, I still have Abbie’s speech to fret over.
Abbie is 32 months, and I’ve worried about her speech since she was, oh, about 15 months. A quick scan of this blog’s archives reveals several posts fretting over her lack of speech. In fact, a thorough scan of the archives reveals that I’d occasionally just repost the same entry a couple months later to save time since little would change.
Her speech has improved greatly in the past month, and is now consistent enough for me to consider her speaking. She’s been saying word-like sounds for months now: “ihh” for fish, “muh” for milk, and “ahhhhhhh” for everything else. In the past, though, we had to prompt her to say these words. A typical scenario would place her in the kitchen, obviously whining for something. After turning down milk and fish, I’d ask what she’d want. She’d respond with “ahh” the first time, “ahhhh” the second time after I looked at her puzzled, and “ahhhhhhh” the third time as she ran to her room screaming, slamming the door behind her.
Now she can say words without prompting. Her main word is “mama.” When Ellie walks in the door while I’m feeding them, she will exclaim “mama.” Unlike her brothers, she will excitedly exclaim it every time she walks in the door, regardless of the amount of cereal in her mouth at the time. She’ll say a few other things without prompting, such as “isss” for fish, or “hee-yah” for Dora, or she’ll sign for things like book. She never asks for milk, though, because she knows enough to open the door and pull out her leftover sippy cup.
This limited speech is great, but I’m most encouraged by her repetitive skills. Making Abbie, and now the boys as well, repeat things was a struggle. She never did actions like play “so big,” wave “bye bye” or even clap until much later than normal. We used the “If You’re Happy and You Know It” song to encourage her to mimic us, working through “clap your hands,” to “touch your nose,” and finally to “dust the television.” Even after mastering actions, she rarely repeated words, sticking to a safe few words like “muh” and “ihh.”
She’s now at the point where she’ll try mimicking almost any word, and I couldn’t be happier if she started dusting the television unprompted. When we read, I often encourage her to repeat the last word on a page. If I’m feeling saucy, I might even stay quiet and encourage her to say the last word on the page since she has every book in her library memorized by now. I usually hear a vocal response. Some of her “words” are close to real words, like “rehhhd” or that “yee-sssss” she said once. Some of her “words” are slightly more sophisticated than a grunt, but at least she uses the correct number of syllables.
Her speech is still way behind her peers, some of whom are talking in complete sentences to ask for fish while watching Dora. At least she’s making discernable progress now, the type that assures me that, yes, I will be able to enroll her in preschool in the fall and get her out of the house. Now I just need to wait another 18 months for her brothers to reach the same proficiency.
posted by Matt at
11:16 PM
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