[dacia]

My son is 2yr 8mths old and he's only using single words. He doesn't answer any of my questions, whether yes or no, not even nod or shake his head, even if I speak slowly. And he's still babbling a lot in his own baby language.

I'm a SAHM, and he attends nursery 3 times a week on his own, but since he was a year old, his progress has been very slow. Even if I repeat a phrase slowly, he just can't follow. If I were to say "This is a train", he'll say "Train". If I were to say "Drink Milk", he'll say "Milk". His single words vocabulary is more than 300 words. I write down every new word he says on his own, about 1 new word a day. But he just can't combine words and can't seem to understand my questions.

I would like to take him to a speech therapist to speed up his language skills. I've signed up with the public Child Assessment Centre, already had the first stage of assessment and I've been on a queue for a speech therapist for a whole year and they said I'm still on the queue. Anyone know of a not too expensive speech therapist for children? Preferably in Kowloon?

Many thanks.

[rani]

Hi Dacia,

We've just posted an article on Speech Development

http://www.geobaby.com/articles/todd...nt-%11-part-1/

You can contact Vanessa Eilliot at the Speech Language Centre for an assessment.

Hang in there. D was a late talker too. A friend recommended we do more physical activities like gym and soccer and work on his gross motor skills which in turn would help with his speech development. So that's what I did, we did notice an improvement after a few months. Once he started K1, we saw a major improvement. He was thrilled to be in school with his friends, and now a year later he's caught up with his peers and is a chatter box.

[dacia]

Thanks Rani,

I've read the article and it's really useful. I've never imagine that developing his gross motor skills can help in speech. I'll try that!

My son attends school and enjoys it too but he just insists on using single words and even when I teach him to combine words, the words will sound silly. He can say "Mummy" and "Please Help" but when he combines together, it becomes "Mmplsslpp".

I'm facing the Chinese New Year deadline when we go back Singapore to visit family and relatives and he's not toilet trained nor speaking properly. And most children in Singapore are bilingual in both English and Putonghua. In this age and time, parents can't leave children to develop at their own pace because in reality, it's competitive out there. And if children are really left to develop at their own pace, it's hard to catch up in school. It's as much homework for us as it is for our children!

[goodbye kitty]

Hi Dacia,

I'm a speech and language therapist working at the same place as Vanessa Elliott.

Speech and language delays can be very stressful for parents and families and there are so many different reasons that children have problems with language acquisition. I think that you have made the correct decision to seek help and advice at this stage.

I would advise that you arrange an initial assessment. With our company, this is usually an hour. This time will normally be spent taking a case history and some informal, play-based assessment of your child. Your therapist should then be able to talk to you about the things that you can do to help support language. If you are finding that your son does not always understand you, then my guess would be that the focus would be on developing his comprehension first. This means working on developing his ability to follow instructions and understand basic concepts. A child needs to understand words before he can use them. Also, I note that your son is trying to combine words but that this affects his intelligibility. I would suggest that you focus on the combining by repeating back these phrases to him and don't worry to much about intelligibility; that will come later.

Often there are very simple strategies that you can use to help language development. Your therapist will give you ideas to try at home. It may be appropriate to have some direct therapy and you should find out how many sessions, the price and the targets for the course. Children can also be seen in groups, which is a great idea for little ones, so ask if this is an option. With our company, the cost of the therapy is then shared between parents and this can be a more cost effective way of getting input.

I'm sorry that I cannot give you any 'real' advice, but language difficulties are individual to the child and intervention needs to be tailored as such. Please feel free to PM me your email address and I will forward you the fee schedule and details of our company.

Good Luck!
Karen