My 16 Month Old Not Talking - Speech Therapy Insights — Toddler Talk (2023)

FAQs

What to do if my 16 month old isn't talking? ›

The age at which kids begin talking typically ranges from 6 to 18 months. In general, there is no need to worry if your toddler isn't talking and seems "behind"—even if they are at the older end of that range. Of course, if your child is 19 months and still not talking, you may be concerned, but this too can be normal.

Speech therapy can help toddlers speak more clearly and improve their language skills. Pediatric speech therapists will work with your child to identify sounds, learn new words, and improve pronunciation.

Between 70–80% of Late Talkers seem to catch up to their peers by the time they enter school. Sometimes these children are called “late bloomers” because they eventually seem to catch up to other children their age.

Speech/Language Milestones

Boys tend to develop language skills a little later than girls, but in general, kids may be labeled "late-talking children" if they speak less than 10 words by the age of 18 to 20 months, or fewer than 50 words by 21 to 30 months of age.

While early intervention offers the best outcome when it comes to helping someone with a speech or language disorder, speech therapy can be highly effective and beneficial to adults as well. No age is too old for speech therapy, and it is never too late to start working towards meeting your communication goals.

Your 16-month-old may be able to say as many as seven words — or even more — clearly. But she will still rely mostly on nonverbal communication, pointing and gesturing to tell you what she wants or what she wants you to see. Your toddler understands much more than she can speak.

The two most common reasons why are: A child is developing talking or pronunciation skills at a slower pace than their peers. A child is having trouble learning the coordination for making sounds for speech.

According to Heathline, speech therapy for young children has been shown to be most successful when started early and practiced at home with the involvement of a parent or caregiver. In one study, 70 percent of preschool kids with language issues who went through speech therapy showed improvement in language skills.

Singing and rhyming

It is a vital part of your speech therapy activities. They encourage speech because of the presence of rhythm and rhyming words. It brings your child closer to you; you are both having fun and learning too!

What activities help a toddler talk? ›

Recite nursery rhymes and sing songs. Play rhymes, stories and songs in the car. Copy your child's attempts at words to encourage two-way conversation. Also build on your child's words – for example, when your toddler says 'train', you can say, 'Yes, it's a big red train'.

Delays can also be caused by neglect, abuse, or an event or circumstance that was really disruptive to development. These are atypical scenarios though that we rarely encounter. For the average parent doing their best, you can rest assured that your child's speech or language delay is definitely not your fault.

Vitamin B12 (Specifically MethylB12)

Methylation is important for cognition, mood and sleep regulation, and speech development. A methylated form of vitamin B12 can help improve all of these issues.

Nearly every parent wonders, “Did I cause my child's speech delay?” But, being a “late talker,” having a “speech delay,” or having a “language delay” is often just the way a child is and is not the result of something that a parent did wrong.

According to the AAP, very early signs of autism include extremes of temperament; poor eye contact; poor response to others' voices (particularly the child's own name); poor interactive play; more interest in looking at objects than people; delayed pointing when sharing or asking for something; decreased interactive ...

At 18 months, according to the CDC, developmental red flags may be when a child is not copying others, not gaining new words, and losing any skills they may have once had. For a 2-year-old, look out for an inability to follow simple instructions, walk steadily, or use common items like a spoon.

Early Intervention Speech Therapy Helps Late Talkers Catch Up. Speech therapy has been proven to help children with speech-language delays “catch up” to their peers.

Not necessarily. While speech delays, language delays, and learning differences are often a hallmark of ASD, a speech delay by itself does not mean a child has autism. In fact, there are key differences between communication delays caused by autism and other types of speech-language disorders.

To be sure, most late talking children do not have high intelligence. However, there are certainly many cases on record indicating that there may be trade-offs between early, precocious development of reasoning and analytical abilities and the development of verbal skills.

At what age did speech therapy start? ›

If you are finding it hard to understand most of what they are saying, speech therapy for children may be necessary. 48 months and above – Between the ages of two and four, it becomes most obvious if your child needs assistance.

By 16 to 18 months, most kids have a vocabulary of 10 to 15 words. And it doesn't matter if only you can understand the words -- we still count them, and so should you!

by 18 months: has trouble imitating sounds. has trouble understanding simple verbal requests. by 2 years: can only imitate speech or actions and doesn't produce words or phrases spontaneously. by 2 years: says only some sounds or words repeatedly and can't use oral language to communicate more than their immediate ...

16-month-old milestones

Most 16-month-olds are walking well, which is the lead-up to next steps: climbing, running, walking backward and dancing to music. Speech. About half of toddlers at this age are saying at least three words, and some especially chatty tots are uttering 15 words or more.

Doctors and healthcare professionals do not diagnose ADHD in toddlers. They may diagnose the condition in school aged children. Many behaviors associated with hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention in school aged children may be typical behavior in toddlers.

Romski et al (2010) defined nonverbal toddlers as those whose Mullen expressive language scores were below 12 months and had fewer than 10 intelligible spoken words.

If your child is age 15 months or older and has not said their first word, or seems to be struggling to communicate, this could be a sign of a language delay. A speech or language delay can cause concern for many parents and lead to feelings of frustration and stress.

It depends on the problem a kid is working on. Kids might see a speech therapist once a week or a few times a week. Treatment can take a few weeks, a few months, or a few years. If you have speech problem, the best advice is to practice, practice, practice.

What happens at the first speech therapy for toddlers? ›

During the child's first visit the therapist will ask for an overview of your child's strengthens and weaknesses. Be prepared to discuss your concerns regarding your child's speech, language, social, and/or feeding difficulties.

It helps people develop skills like comprehension, clarity, voice, fluency and sound production. Speech therapy can treat childhood speech disorders or adult speech impairments caused by stroke, brain injury or other conditions.

The younger children, and even older children with memory challenges or articulation disorders, benefit from more frequent sessions. Research shows that children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech may need therapy four to five times weekly. We often analogize going to speech therapy to working out.

Focus on nonverbal communication.

Use both your body and your voice when communicating – for example, by extending your hand to point when you say “look” and nodding your head when you say “yes.” Use gestures that are easy for your child to imitate. Examples include clapping, opening hands, reaching out arms, etc.

It is true that boys produce their first words and sentences later than girls. However, these differences are only in terms of a matter of a few months. There is a normal range within which children acquire certain language milestones.

The conversation around how beneficial the show actually is began when one mum voiced her concern on TikTok. Mum Sierra, whose two-year-old suffered from speech delay, claimed she didn't realise that the show was holding back her child's development until she switched over to another popular kids' program.

Red flags for a speech or language delay include: No babbling by 9 months. No first words by 15 months. No consistent words by 18 months.

Can too much TV cause speech delay? ›

Studies report a link between TV and language development in young children. The more time kids spend watching television, the more slowly they learn to talk.

It is well documented that B ₁₂ deficiency can cause developmental delay, hypotonia, tremor, seizures, failure to thrive, reduced IQ, and mental retardation. Children with B ₁₂ deficiency exhibit speech, language, and social delays, behavioral issues, and problems with fine and gross motor movement.

To strengthen the tongue and lips, put honey or a sweet, sticky food on the upper and lower lips.

Some methods include playing with toys, reading books or using other objects to stimulate growth. They may also use articulation exercises to demonstrate and practice sounds children might struggle - like the “r” sound.

Some children are simply late bloomers and may hold off talking for a bit. For others though, a delay in reaching language milestones signifies developmental speech problems. The major underlying causes of developmental speech problems stem from hearing issues, autism, and neuromuscular disorders.

Children with speech delay is one of the concerns for many parents. Many opinions believe that children with delayed speech affect intelligence. However, so far, there has been no research to prove that children with speech delay are less intelligent.

Developmental Delay of Expressive or Receptive Language

Trouble with language processing is usually caused by one of four problems: delayed expressive or receptive language, autism spectrum disorder, hearing loss, and global developmental delay.

Speech at 16 months old: Getting Chatty

Your 16-month-old toddler may be able to say several words that you can understand and probably still 'babbles' a lot too. Don't worry if your 16-month-old is not 'talking' as much as other children around the same age – all children are different.

Also call the doctor if your child's speech is harder to understand than expected for their age: Parents and regular caregivers should understand about 50% of a child's speech at 2 years and 75% of it at 3 years. By 4 years old, a child should be mostly understood, even by people who don't know the child.

Children with speech delays will often have difficulty producing specific speech sounds. Autistic children may also have trouble making speech sounds, but they may also use persistent repetition of words or phrases (echolalia). Children with speech delays may also have difficulty with motor skills.

What noises do autistic toddlers make? ›

What noises do autistic toddlers make?

What are the signs of a non verbal autistic child?

As your baby babbles more expertly, around 6 months old, you may hear word-like sounds like "ma-ma," "ba-ba," and "da-da." This doesn't count as real talking, though, because your baby doesn't yet understand the meaning of these words. By around 12 months old, your baby will say a few words and know what they mean.

Vocabulary – Your child should use single words by 15 to 16 months of age at the latest. They should have a 10-word vocabulary by 18 months of age. Following directions – They should be able to follow simple directions by the time they are 21 months old. An example would be “Come here.”

At 18 months, according to the CDC, developmental red flags may be when a child is not copying others, not gaining new words, and losing any skills they may have once had. For a 2-year-old, look out for an inability to follow simple instructions, walk steadily, or use common items like a spoon.

Causes of a speech delay

There are several things that can cause speech delays, such as hearing loss, physical problems in the roof of the mouth, learning disabilities, or certain diagnosable conditions like autism spectrum disorder or cerebral palsy.

MENTAL RETARDATION. Mental retardation is the most common cause of speech delay, accounting for more than 50 percent of cases.