2 Year Old With Speech Delays

[raea2002]

Has anyone else had a toddler boy who has had speech delays? He's barely forming 2 word sentences. Our daughter at this age was talking in complete sentences. I know you cannot compare girls/boys and one child to the next. The dr was concerned snout it at his 2 year check up. I am on a gluten free diet and have tried both my kids on it as well. My husband and I both swear his speech improved when he was on gluten free. I've reintroduced gluten into his diet and his speech has maybe taken a step back or about the same.

We are trying another round of gluten free to see if thats what it was or not. I have tested negative for celiac but all my ailments improve on gluten free.

What is the next step? I've mentioned to the dr before that celiac runs in my family but he thinks that only older children can get celiac. I love my ped. And heis very cautious but I don't know how serious he will take me so we are trying gluten free again. I'm not going to switch peds because he is really good and my kids trust him.

[pricklypear1971]

If your ped is good he'll listen when you print out medical studies about Celiac in children, and place them in his hot little hands.

Try the diet and document, document.

[Cara in Boston]

My son was put in early intervention at age 2 because of speech delays. He did fine. Started Kindergarten with no problem.

He did have other "issues" that people noticed - and encouraged us to have him evaluated for autism. (Overly sensitive to smell, touch, etc., no eye contact, repeated himself often, hand flapping when agitated, extremely bright with excellent memory, etc.) In any case, each time he was evaluated, he didn't fit the criteria for Autism and he was very social with other kids.

Just before his 6th birthday he was diagnosed with celiac disease - no symptoms other than a sudden behavior change (tantrums, meltdowns, etc.). Once gluten free, all of his "quirks" seemed to disappear.

Having read on this list the number of kids who had speech delays and other delays (my son also had some gross motor delays and low tone) I wonder if it is all related to gluten.

My son is now in first grade and is doing great - no problems at all.

Cara

[Kelleybean]

I would recommend that you go after this 2 ways - getting him checked out physically and also going after the speech delay. Every area has an early intervention program that can evaluate him and if he qualifies provide free therapy. If there is a speech delay, then early intervention like speech therapy is most effective early. If your insurance covers speech therapy, you can probably get a referral for an eval from your pediatrician.

My son had a speech delay and was diagnosed with autism at 18 months. I am not at all saying that your son is autistic, but the reason why I'm mentioning it is that going after those delays as early as possible made all the difference in the world for him. And if it turns out that you have him evaluated and they say he's on track, then at least you won't have to worry.

[raea2002]

Thanks everyone. I do not believe he is autistic because he is "normal" in all other areas. He is very affectionate keeps eye contact, pretend plays, et.... We have had a referral for speech therapy but my husband didn't think it was "necessary" at the time. I think he's finally realizing that there is some thing off. We are going to doucument this next round of gluten free and then bring him in. He does a lot of head bashing, and temper tantrums. But he is 2 and cannot express himself.

Counted his vocabulary and he says 18 words at 27 months.

My other concern is that he doesn't even attempt to repeat or mimic you with words. You ask him to say papa and he just says no. Always. He's not being stubborn it is always no. I have no idea if any of this is related but wanted some outside guidance. Thanks!

[Mom2J112903]

My son did not start forming sentences until he was over 3yrs of age. With all of the GI problems he has going on, his little body just had other more important things to worry about. Just think about it, if you don't feel good do you REALLY want to meet your developmental milestones? I didn't think so.

I agree, if your ped is good he would listen to you and do what is best for the child. Get a Celiac panel and/or a refferal to a GI and then a refferal for ST.

[raea2002]

Wahoo! We learned a new word over the weekend! He said cookie! I am keeping a very detailed journal to bring to the ped. Thanks everyone!

[sarah.allgood1019]

My son, now 9, had speech delays. When he was 5 he was diagnosed with apraxia and put into speech therapy. He was speaking perfectly by 7. Now he has rushes, is constipation, and has abdomen pain. I believe its celiac, bit we just got our paperwork today for the blood test.

[deb445]

My son did not start forming sentences until he was over 3yrs of age. With all of the GI problems he has going on, his little body just had other more important things to worry about. Just think about it, if you don't feel good do you REALLY want to meet your developmental milestones? I didn't think so.

My little guy too. And he also walked late. Both talking and crawling picked up after he was glutenfree. He used to need to be picked up all the time - probably too achy to move. Mobility was the first to significantly improve, and the language too, although language has lagged. There have been vast improvements in the last two months (he is 3 1/2 ). Small sentences! His last day at daycare is in 26 days, and although I love his daycare because she has been VERY accomodating, understanding and loving, I can hardly wait until he is home with me because I know he'll make even greater strides because he won't be getting crosscontaminated. As much. I hope.

[Sesara]

My DS, who we will be getting biopsy results back on Tuesday, has been a "high needs" or "fussy" baby from birth. He also has a diagnosis of SPD from EI and gets occupational therapy 2x per month. His speech has also been slow to develop, even though DH and I were both extremely early talkers and he has excellent receptive speech abilities, he just can't seem to get it out. Until his growth and weight gain stalled out and the chronic diarrhea and bloating started, I would never have connected these things to anything but part of his personality, but since he has so many other Celiac symptoms, I can't help but wonder if many of our issues were caused by sensitivity to wheat, which he would have gotten through my breastmilk before officially developing full blown Celiac around 9 months of age, which is when he probably started showing the first symptoms of it.

[BitterGrad]

I have two kids who are speech delayed and one of whom has Celiac. He had mERLD, which is often mistaken for Autism. My other child has childhood apraxia of speech. The speech therapists who have worked with my kids don't discount the Celiac/speech problem connection but ultimately there is little research on this.

I would say if you are concerned contact your county/city Early Intervention program. They will assess your child and determine how to proceed. I will add that your pediatrician might not be concerned because boys tend to speak later than girls. Go with your gut instinct though.

[MTsky]

My son is almost 5 and has childhood apraxia of speech. His speech therapist is convinced there is a connection. She says that she sees two other kids just like him who are celiac, small in size and have similar speech problems. I am really hoping to see an improvement in my son now that we are gluten free.

[scstampin]

Interesting question.... I am curious to know what others have experienced too!

My husband and I were just discussing this issue tonight! Our 3 1/2 year old daughter was just diagnosed with celiac. She does not have a speech delay, but her twin brother does, and is in speech therapy. He does not have the digestive issues she has had, but they both have had low iron since about 1 year of age. We have 2 other kids as well and they all went in yesterday to get their celiac panel done.

We are curious to see what his blood results show, and if he does have it, if his speech delay and celiac could be connected.