Advice on 22 month old

Hi, Im looking for advise on my 22 month old- he is NOT verbal at all- he will say "mama", "dada", "yeah" and "tickle tickle" (or at least thats what it sounds like--he also makes the tickle motion as he says it) Anyways alls he does is screech. No matter where we go he just does a piercing, high pitched scream for no reason. We had to leave my 5 year old sons field trip the other day because it just got too out of control. Every where I go in town he is now known, people even say "oh no here comes screech". I have tried calmly talking and soothing him, being firm and saying "No Thank You" nothing seems to work. I think he may be frustrated and trying to vocalize himself- I dont know--Im embarresed to go anywhere lately, because everyone just looks at me like my child is out of control, but I dont know how to fix it! Any suggestions?

You should get him into some speech therapy as soon as you can if he is not verbal. My soon to be 5 year old was a late talker and I didnt think anything of it because I always knew what he wanted. Now he is in preschool with delayed speech development and is getting help there. I have also been on a waiting list for 3 months to have my 17 month old evaluated because he doesnt talk either. I am trying to push it because he is also doing the high pitched scream and I think its because he has no other way of telling me what he wants.

Hi Stefanie,
I would definitely say have him evaluated by someone who does early intervention. Check with your local school district, who should be able to refer you to someone, or even ask your pediatrician. I think the screeching is probably just frustration at not being able to verbalize what he wants to say. A specialist in this area will be able to give you some tools to try to teach him to communicate. Often they use sign language, which seems to be easier for kids to pick up, and can help a great deal until his speech catches up. Also, if you have a sense of what he wants, or what he's trying to communicate, it may help if you try to verbalize it for him, to demonstrate to him how to do it. This may not have an immediate effect but it may help him develop verbal skills eventually. Good luck.

Hi Stephanie
Have you thought about teaching him sign language? I have heard that it really helps keep the frustrations under control with kids who aren't verbal yet. I work at a health food store and it seems like almost all of the young mothers I come into contact with are using this method with great success.

call your city's early intervention program and have him evaluated for speech issues. anyone can request an eval and it's all free. If you can't find the number, call your local school and they'll help you find it. My son was the same way and it turned out to be a speech delay which he's recieved services for and has had two yrs of preschool and is heading to Kindergarten in the fall under an IEP (special ed school plan). You can try to sign with him right now to help with the screaching.. pick specific words that you use (Hungry, thirsty, potty etc) and go to asl.com to see what the signs are.. they are pretty easy and the kids will pick them up. it does help with frustration because that's what it sounds like.. he's frustrated because he can't get his point across.. good luck..

Start with your pediatrician. They can give you advice and the referral to early intervention. Also the book Baby Signs may be helpful to get him to communicate instead of screeching. Good luck.

I would suggest that you request a speech and hearing evaluation from your pediatrician. Early intervention services can evaluate your little guy since he is not yet 3. Once he turns 3 it becomes the responsibility of your local educational agency (LEA). You might also try purchasing a couple of the baby sign DVD's in the meantime and starting to teach your son some sign language. Since he is only using a few simple utterances, teaching him sign language may ease his frustration some and help to stop the screeching, or at least decrease it. It won't be an instant fix, but it should gradually help. If he does have a speech or hearing issue, the earlier you address it, the better. I can imagine you are frustrated, I would be too. Be consistent in your approach to the screeching, I would suggest being firm, using the same words all the time and removing him from the situation, at least when you are home. Use a time out corner or area where he has to go until he can stop screeching and you can interact in a more productive way. Hope this helps.

It seems so common to me that younger kids with siblings seem to be verbal much later than their older siblings. Both my sister and best friend had their children evaluated for lack of vocabulary words. In both instances the evaluator found nothing wring with both children. I was the youngest of 3 and did not really start to fully communicate until well into 2. My mom claimed it was b.c everyone would answer for me. I would just ask your pediatrician for some guidance. Unless you see physical as well as verbal issues and a distance in his eyes sometimes it is probably nothing.

Hi Stefanie,

Your story sounds just like mine. My son is now 4 years old and he too was a screecher! My son is very smart however he can't articulate what he wants to say. I regret not having him evaluated by early intervention. When he turned 3 I had him evaluated by the local school and learned that he was not communicating at the level he should be. My son is now in pre-school and receives 30 minutes of speech therapy a week (we don't pay for pre-school because of the results of the testing). The interaction with peers along with the therapy has helped him tremendously. It wasn't until he went to pre-school and began receiving therapy that the screeching stopped.

Hello Stefanie,
My advice is not all that different from others you've recieved. I started my son in early intervention at 18 months, he didn't have any purposeful speech. A lot of people made fun of me and thought it was silly. He is now 2 1/2 still gets speech and has been identified with a motor planning issue which they are working on. He is speaking a lot more, but clarity is an issue. It is easier to get services from early intervention then the school system, so i would recommend having an evalution sooner rather then later, then they will transition him to the school system when he turns 3. It is also convenient, they come right to your house.
good luck
karen

Keep trying. If the therapy thing works for you then great. Honestly though, he JUST TURNED TWO for heavens sake! It is annoying but maybe he just doesn't have the skills yet? Keep being paitent and when he screechs and you actually know what he wants, don't just give it to him to "shut him up". Put words to it as much as you can. Ex: he throws a book at you and screechs. "Oh you want mommy to read to you?" I would love too! We say "READ PLEASE" and hand mommy the book, we do not throw." (that was a personal experience one for me!) then repeat, repeat, repeat!

Good Luck!

Hi there,
I had my son evaluated by early intervention at 18 months when he was just saying those words and he qualified for speech therapy. He is now 2 1/2 and has completed speech therapy. I could just be a matter of time for speech to kick in, but it is best to start early as services are free until 3 years old. I had a similar problem, that my son was screaming and crying for a long time when he couldn't communicate. The speech therapy really helped. You can ask your pediatrician for a referral. Good luck!

Hi,

The best thing for you to do is call Early Intervention and have your child evaluated. My twenty-two month has only three to five words and just began receiving speech therapy last week and he loves it! He scored at his age or more for all other milestones and this was a huge relief because my five year old is mild/moderate autistic with sensory issues. I didn't know about EI when Jack was a little guy but am fully utilizing it now with Aidan. The best part is all the services are free. : )
Barb

Hi Stefanie,

I had similar concerns with my son. Try looking in your area for a program called Early Intervention. They can evaluate your son and make recommendations, provide speech therapy, etc. All services are billed to insurance, not families. I know how frustrating it can be when your child can't communicate. It's even more frustrating for him. Good luck.

You should talk to your pediatrican about receiving services from Early Intervention. Of course, it can be extremely frustrating if you cannot express yourself. EI will probably utilize American Sign Language to bridge the gap. ASL does not hinder speech. It allows communication and stops frustration. EI provides services for children until the age of 3 (in most states), and then the public school systems take over.

My friend's son was not talking at age 2. He was referred to EI. EI came to the house and he took part in a toddler playground one day a week. They were concerned because he was not talking at age 2. He is now three and is talking fine. He loved the play group and will start a preschool in the fall.

Hi Stefanie, I'm on board with all the other moms recommending Early Intervention. My DS is 22 months also and he had delayed speech, so I called EI 2 months ago and his evaluation was last month and his first therapy visit is next week. I've had 3 friends with kids in the EI program (we're in the Minuteman ARC group) and everyone raves about what a successful program it is--and FREE to boot. Please do NOT delay. As a courtesy, let your pediatrician know in advance that you're going forward with an evaluation (they'll contact the Dr. anyway). And whatever else, DO NOT let anyone make you feel like there is some kind of stigma attached to having a young child in therapy. ALL help is GOOD help!! You may also want to try ASL (American Sign Language) for babies. I have a kit for sale on Craigslist (Sign with Your Baby) that I used with both my DSs and IT WORKED! Despite Jake's lack of speech, he can sign many common words and it greatly eased his (and our) frustration levels early on. Lots of patience in the meantime, which I know is hard to find when you've been screeched at all day, but it does help more than losing your own cool (which has happened to me). Best of luck!

I would start with a call to your peditrician, and I would also call early intervention for an evaluation. It won't cost you anything for the evaluation, (and then a flat fee for the year based on income if he needs services, ours is $60 for the year) and they are amazing. My 2 year old was diagnosed with a speech delay at 25 mos. and they have been working with him once or twice a week since, and we have seen some tremendous gains. He can now ask for things when he wants, and uses a lot more pointing a gestures. He often calls me dada and my husband Mama, but it is better than the grunt we used to get. They might be able to offer some different approaches for calming him down too.

Hope it helps
Sharla

Hi Stefanie,
Have you considered early intervention? This is provided at no cost by the State and most children are evaluated around your son's age (about 24 months). Someone will come to your home and evaluate to let you know if speech therapy is something that should be considered. Also, all children develop at different times, so please try not to be overly concerned. Just a suggestion, as I know we always try to do what is best for our children's development! Best of luck!

Victoria

Hi,

It sounds like your poor guy is frustrated. I don't have much new to add, but I can tell you that my nephew was put into EI for his speech delay and my SIL used sign language to help him communicate. It helped cut down on his frustration level, especially when dealing with people outside the family. She could tell people signs to look for instead of trying to help them interpret his various noises that only mothers seem to understand!

I use ASL with my son, now 2, and I can't tell you how amazing it has been. He is extremely verbal and doesn't sign as much anymore, but he whips them out at least a few times a day. Also, he loves to watch the videos and listen to the music. We have always used Signing Time www.signingtime.com and found them easy to learn and fun to watch.

Good luck!

Hi Stefanie,
You must have your son's 2 year check up coming up. You need to request that your child's doctor send him for testing. Some doctors are not too worried that children are not speaking at 22 months and others are. We did have one of our six children who did not speak until 24 months but it was because he didn't need to because his siblings said everything for him. What worries me is the screeching. While I don't have a child with Autism, I have friends who do and having been around them, what you describe with your son (the speaking only a couple of words and constant screeching ) sounds like it could be autism. Thus I would ask your doctor. Somewhere inside there are some beautiful words trying to come out! Best of luck.
Marie