Should I call the ped about this? possible hearing/speech problem

[deborah_r]

I truly do not believe there is anything "wrong", but the way DS says a couple of words has us worried. It started with "Baby". I taught him the sign for baby while we watched Teletubbies (that freaky baby in the sun) He gets totally excited to make that sign when he sees the baby. In the last week or so he started making a weird nasally sound to go with it, that does not sound like baby, but does have two syllables. It's like a noise you make in the back of your throat...like "gnugh, gnugh" DH thinks maybe he is imiatating the baby's squealing noise. Could be. But now he is making a similar sound when he wants his binky. FWIW, the Teletubbies baby does not have a binky.

Now, he can say "ball" perfectly. I mention that because it is another "b" word. He also says "Laa-laa" very clearly when he sees Laa-laa, the yellow Teletubbie. What do you think? Would you be concerned?

[JElaineB]

I'm not expert, but I'm sure he is totally fine. Jacob just learned how to say "cookie" a few weeks ago (he's been signing it for a while) and it was a very throaty sounding "coo" followed by a hissing "kee". Was actually kind of scary sounding! But he's gotten better with it recently. I think they just make lots of different sounds when they are learning and will eventually figure them out.

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

[jec2]

I don't know but finn says "my my" instead of "bye bye" so I was kind of wondering too what to expect as "normal" speech progress.

[amp]

I don't think it's a concern, but you can surely mention it and see what the ped says. I think that he's saying any words correctly and clearly at this point is probably considered right on track or ahead of the game. I remember reading somewhere that if they aren't saying *anything* by 18 mths it's more of a concern, and he clearly is saying some things. Imagine how hard it must be to figure out how to correctly say words you've never said before! He has to try out different sounds to get it right. Sounds appropriate to me!

[August Mom]

FWIW, DS makes similar sounds to what you are describing sometimes. To me it sounds somewhat like a gutteral sound. He especially does this when words have a "k" like hockey. I haven't been worried about it. It just seems to me that he's trying to work through making the sound.

[alkagift]

If this is the only thing that worries you, I wouldn't be worried! The fact that he can say other things that are clear, particularly in our experience "L's" are hard to hear, I wouldn't think he's got a hearing problem.

DS is having some difficulty and we're going in for our eval on Tuesday but he does work on sounds for a while until they're clear. If he has trouble with a particular consonant he replaces it with one he thinks is easier (for some reason it's always "y" for us--"yock" for "rock" and "yit" for "light"). Maybe Kai's working on that long A sound in baby?

Allison
Mommy to Matthew Clayton, 5/19/03

[cchavez]

I am a speech language pathologist....all children use "processes" when they are acquiring speech. The actual descriptions of these processes would take too long to describe but they are still learning to make these sounds and in many cases it will be a while before they can make all the sounds. The final sound to be mastered is the "r" and the age for mastery is 7/7.5 years!!! I don't think you have anything to be worried about. Just note that they are still in the process of learning to speak so they still need alot of practice in learning how to make these sounds correctly.

[Karenn]

Colin was like that. He had some words that didn't sound anything like the real one. He made a grunting noise like the one you describe for "Tigger" and said "Hee-who" for baby. Those lasted for the longest time and then one day he just started saying the word correctly. DH and I were worried about the funny words at the time, but now that he's saying normal words, we really kind of miss his made up ones! :) Kai sounds normal to me!

[MamaKath]

I wouldn't worry too much. DS had a similar pattern, and we were very concerned at a similar age. He had a mouth injury earlier this year and his speech blossomed, probably just because it was easier to say something than to have to repeat it. Even now his speech is somewhat more gutteral than his sister's was at a similar age. I notice a similar trend with my nephew who is my dd's age. Some sounds are still a bit more gutteral. I sometimes wonder if it is partly an attempt to emulate the men in their lives voices. Mention it on the next dr visit, but I would think you are probably fine.

If you are noticing other hearing issues (doesn't respond to his name, a loud noise wouldn't get him to turn his head, etc) you might want to have him checked. He could even have an ear infection that would affect this on a temporary basis. He is lucky he has such a great mom to notice this stuff!!! Many folks do not even notice speech/hearing issues and seem shocked when a teacher or school nurse mentions a concern.

HTH~

[Momof3Labs]

Honestly, I wouldn't be worried. He sounds like he is right on track. When Colin was his age, he said "die" instead of "bye" - we had to explain that to a lot of people, as Colin waved and yelled "die" at them...

[deborah_r]

Thank you for your responses. It's probably nothing, but I will pay close attention to his speech/hearing and see if I notice anything else. He starts making his "bird" sign outside when he hears birds, and he's started trying to imitate their noises (and we have awfully loud, wild parrots here - egads!) so I think he is probably hearing just fine. He has started saying "please" in the last couple days (oh, how much does that melt your heart and make you want to give them *anything* they ask for???) and it is very clear, so I'm probably worried about nothing!

Thanks again!

[deborah_r]

Thank you for your responses. It's probably nothing, but I will pay close attention to his speech/hearing and see if I notice anything else. He starts making his "bird" sign outside when he hears birds, and he's started trying to imitate their noises (and we have awfully loud, wild parrots here - egads!) so I think he is probably hearing just fine. He has started saying "please" in the last couple days (oh, how much does that melt your heart and make you want to give them *anything* they ask for???) and it is very clear, so I'm probably worried about nothing!

Thanks again!