Devleopmentally normal or not?

[sunnydays]

I know there have been a few posts about developmentally normal behaviours at certain ages, but I seem to remember somebody saying that it is a bad sign if a child stops saying some of the words he/she used to say. I have a 22 month old in my care who has been late to do everything...he walked at 19 months, napped a lot until about that age, and talks very little. He now has probably less than 10 words that I hear him say. He used to say "uh-oh" and "thank you"...but in the past weeks I noticed that he doesn't say them anymore and I have been trying to get him to say them to see if he can...he just looks at me blankly. I know that all kids learn to walk and talk at their own pace, but should I be worried? Should I mention it to the parents? They recently mentioned that they thought he was hitting the terrible twos as he is for the first time putting up a fight to do things he doesn't want to do...but for me the behaviours he is exhibiting are more like a 16-18 month old...in that stage where they suddenly realize they can resist. I am not even sure how I would broach this topic with the parents as I don't think they feel he is delayed (except for the walking). And, I am not a doctor and don't really know if this is just his normal. Advice?

[Inspired by Reggio]

Yes .... LOSS OF LANGUAGE is a red flag .... in my experience children who've had language and lost it or stopped using it so to speak did so because they had permanent hearing loss either due to repeated scarring from ear infections that were not treated OR because of some physical abnormality in the ear canal ... I would have to say something to the parent for sure and push them to not only be seen by the family Dr but a SPECIALIST who deals with children and hearing loss because sadly too many DR are not ON BOARD with early intervention and will just say let it wait .... however the longer you wait the longer it takes to get to see the specialists and so forth and the longer this child will struggle and have ALL his areas of development affected .... communication is KEY to so many stepping stones for children and when hearing loss or impairment prevents proper communication from being engrained children suffer in their social emotional, cognitive and often physical domains as a result

[sunnydays]

Thanks Reggio! I have been wanting to find a way to broach the topic of this child's development for awhile, but was hoping with time he would catch up. To me he is about even with the 13 month olds I have in care in pretty much every way. My husband thinks I should not say anything and that all kids are different, but he has no experience with this sort of thing...it just makes me feel like I am being nit-picky to even notice such a thing. I would just hate to see him go undiagnosed for something that could be treated. Any advice on how to say this to them without making them feel overly alarmed or defensive?

[kidlove]

Regression in skills such as talking and potty training are also signs of autism....if I were you I would definitely keep an eye on his development and try making a loosely based comment to Mom or Dad, don't make a big deal of it, maybe just comment that he has not been using certain words he had for such a period of time now, ask them if they have noticed anything lately?

[sunnydays]

He is very loving and makes eye contact well, will try to copy actions for songs, etc...so not sure about the autism. He just doesn't seem to be making progress with speech and even his receptive skills...I can tell him things and he just looks at me blankly. I will have to find a way to mention these things in a non-threatening way.

[kidlove]

Do you ever speak to him from behind, perhaps he has a hearing issue, a lot of kids around that age do develope issues with hearing due to a few too many ear infections or just undeveloped ear drums and such, it seems very common for kids around the age of 3-4 to have those disolvable plugs put in to help with hearing loss due to underdevelopement.

[Inspired by Reggio]

Sunnydays ... I have a child who is now 18 months both his parents and I were concerned about his speech and language ... he could follow simple directions, he would hum tunes but he would not TALK ... her family Dr was not concerned however she pushed to have him tested hearing wise as well as to see a pediatrician.

First hearing test showed he was missing certain 'tones' ... so depending on how high or low your voice tone was he was not hearing you ... they said he might 'outgrow' it but they would monitor it.

Peditrician told them that because he has an anaphylaxis allergy to Penicillian that he could also be having allergic reactions to MILK because while Canadian cows are not suppose to use growth hormones they still use antibiotics to prevent mastitis in the cows and that gets passed on to the milk ... they took the child off ALL cow dairy including anything that said 'may contain' .... within a week the little dude when from virtual no words to taking in 2-3 word sentences with about 40 clear words ... it was AMAZING the difference and every day more language is emerging .... apparently the dairy allergy reaction caused excess mucus and so forth in his system and sinuses and it made it hard for him to hear properly and figure out how to make the 'sounds' needed to talk so he just wasn't trying to talk likely cause no one understood what he was saying when he tried to 'babble'

His most recent hearing test after a month off dairy ~ perfect!!!!

[playfelt]

What about suggesting a visit with First Words here in Ottawa and from there they will show them what is normal for his age and what is not and make sure they take your observations with them.

If you come right out and say that you have observed that many of the things he was saying he is no longer saying and it appears to be frustrating him and that you think it might be one of the reasons for some of his negative behaviour. Once you point out the speech specifically to the parents even if they disagree you have planted the seeds of doubt.

Loss of language is definitely a sign of some sort of health or learning issue.

[JennJubie]

He is very loving and makes eye contact well, will try to copy actions for songs, etc...so not sure about the autism.

My son was also good with these things at that age, and he's just been diagnosed with Asperger's. He's 5 now.

[mlle.coccinelle]

He is very loving and makes eye contact well, will try to copy actions for songs, etc...so not sure about the autism. .

I go the same way that JennJubie on this one. My niece is great with eye contact and is autistic. they are SO meany different kind of autism these days....