Being a parent of many children, I have experienced a child that needed speech therapy in his younger years. He is now 18 years old and shows no signs of ever having a speech impediment.
When my child was around two years old, I started doing some research about some red flags to look for to determine early signs of a possible speech impediment. I know as parents, we want to what’s best for our child and any signs that your child may be developmentally delayed in any way can be worrisome.
However, with all the research and resources available today, there are many solutions that will aid your child in being developmentally up to par for his age. It might take time and effort on your part, but I know you would not be reading this post if you didn’t want what’s best for your child.
Of course, these signs are just suggested red flags, but it can point you in the right direction if needed.
5 Signs that your Child May Need Speech Therapy
- Your baby only makes a few sounds between the ages of 7-12 months. Your child mostly just points to communicate his needs.
- Your child doesn’t communicate or play with others in a social setting after the age of 18 months with peers their own age.
- You or others have a hard time understanding what your child is saying at the ages of 18 – 2 years.
- Your child hasn’t started to combine two or more words to make sentences at the age of two.
- Your child struggles to make easy sounds or words after the age of 2 1/2.
Please keep in mind that these are just signs to look for and you will need to have your child evaluated by a professional. I was able to take my child to the public school for speech therapy even though we chose to homeschool. My child required speech therapy for 3 years. He absolutely loved it. It was a win, win for everyone. The speech therapist provided homework for us to practice daily. It was all fun and games for him.
And this mama was relieved that her son was excelling in his speech.
I hope these signs encourage you that there is help out there for your child with many solutions if they need speech therapy. Call your local school even if you have a preschooler. My child started speech therapy when he was 3 years old.
Can you think of any additional signs to look for to determine if your child may need speech therapy?
My son is 3 now and continues to struggle with speech even after 2 years of speech therapy. When he was about 1 he had 10 words and within a couple of months “lost” those words and could only say 2. Just another sign you may want to add to the list. He now speaks sentences, but many of his words are hard to understand even for me, but especially for those outside our family. I purchased the special needs bundle during the curriculum bundle sale and plan to use the Speech book that came with it this school year. The only way we can get help in CO is through our insurance since we don’t want to put him in the public school preschool program.
My son is almost 4years old and still havn’t found his words, doesn’t really give direct eye contact,very distracted,he shouts a lot(i guess thats because he cant communicate his needs) has no interest in food,I still dont know what his favorite food is,i still blend his meals,he doesn’t snack at all,he has never really used his teeth to chew anything,he just swallows.He doesnt really play with other kids.Because we live in Nigeria, there are not many options for help for kids like him,trying to get a vitamin supplement i saw online that a lady claimed worked for her son.
Hi Firi,
I’m sorry to hear that about your son. I’m not a speech therapist, but it sounds like some other issues might be going on. Have you been to a doctor yet?
My son is now 6 1/2 years old and speaks 4 different languages. When he was born, we found out that he had bilateral hearing loss and can not hear. We had to purchase hearings his at 3 months old and we started speech therapy immediately. The speech therapy was covered by the school district (I live in Ca), he had 30 min of speech therapy 1x per week. At 2 years old my son was saying a few words and we had speech therapy 90 min 2x per week covered by the school district. By 3 years old he was talking in sentences and he was offered group speech 120 min 2x per week covered by our school district. During this time, my son’s speech started to really developed and he was talking full sentences. The school district stoped the speech services. When this happed, I was concerned, since my son had hearing loss, his speech might be good at the time, but what if he start having speech delays later on. I was worried so I funded for his speech therapy myself. When my son turned 4, i had him in a language class where he started to learn multiple languages. Of course, being a worried mom, i still funded for his speech myself. Now at 6 1/2 my son reads and writes in 2 languages fluently, the other 2 languages he can speak and recognized the letters. Getting early intervention for a child is the best thing I did for my child. It’s never too early to start intervention.
Thanks for sharing! I think it is hard for first time parents to identify this, but thankfully there are more resources and others are open about their story.
Hello to all moms out there! I have a 3 year old (will be turning 4 in Nov) and Iam worried because I dont really hear him saying full sentences yet. He speaks and tells me his basic needs, but to fully say a sentence he still struggles. I live in the city of Compton CA and Iam a new parent my son is my first child, and I wanted to know where could I find help?….