Need Ideas

[wahmof3]

I am looking for ideas to encourage a 20 month old to talk. He doesn't say anything. Thanks!

[SilverSabre25]

Literally doesn't say anything at all? Ever?

That's a red flag to me if that's the case. His parents need to contact your state's Early Intervention and get an evaluation, ASAP.

[SilverSabre25]

And start teaching him sign language in the meantime--Signing Time DVDs are a great way to go for this.

[Michael]

https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.php?tag=won%27t+talk

[Yhadi86]

babysignlanguage.com Has some great flash cards that you can print out and incorporate into your daily lessons.

Sign language has been shown to encourage communication from young children so this might help. Really though, if this kid isn't even saying mama at 20n months, its time to get some expert help.

Its so tricky though. Ive been in the situation before, where I suspect something is wrong but am afraid to say anything because A) Im not an expert and could be totally wrong about my suspicions and all I did was worry this poor family about nothing, and B) because Im always afraid the parents will get offended.

I typically run it by my sister who is a family therapist. She knows a lot about infant and child development and can usually tell me if a certain behavior is strange or perfectly normal.

Either way, talk to all DCPs and tell them about your new sign language program and encourage them to practice it at home. According to the website, you should see results in two months.

[Unregistered]

I have a 23 month old that didn't start talking until very recently. I did absolutely nothing different than with other children. Just kept talking to her just like everyone else and encouraged the older children to include her in the mealtime conversations. Some need specialized help, others just need time.

[frgsonmysox]

My 19 month old son doesn't talk and is currently in speech therapy. Some of the things his therapists do are picture books (a book with Velcro pictures that he can unvelcro and hand to me to signal what he wants), sign language, and a program that talks for him.