Too Late to Sign?

It's not too late! I agree with what everyone else is saying on this response. My sister's boy had the same problems. She went to a speech pathologist and there was peace in the household ever since. Please do it ASAP!

Best wishes,
L.

No it's not too late to sign and if he's having trouble communicating verbally this will help him a lot. Use basic signs for things he may ask for a lot and go from there. Ex - Food, more, thirsty, milk, apple, please, thank you, play and my son's favorite chocolate. I didn't always give him chocolate when he signed it but sometimes would give him chocolate milk instead. All of these are pretty easy to do and pick up and it will help you to understand exactly what he's asking. More comes in handy when you have given them a bowl of grapes and instead of him handing you the bowl to either give him more or he's done you know which one it is. Signing didn't slow my son's progress for speaking but made it easier for us to understand each other.

As per the speaking you might want to have him tested. I think the school district does some kind of testing but not sure. Good Luck
M.

It's not too late to teach him to sign and there is no evidence that using sign does anything but allow pre-verbal children to express their needs appropriately until they are able to verbalize these needs.

Has he ever made other sounds other than AAAA? Many children use that AHH AHHH AHHH sound when they're on the verge of speaking so if that's a more recent thing and not the only sound he's ever made, I wouldn't be surprised. If that's the only sound he's made basically, I'd consider having him evaluated by a speech/language specialist if that's possible for you. It's not that unusual for bi-ingual boys to be at the later end of the scale in acquiring speech but if that's the only sound he ever babbled or anything, that's another thing.
Good Luck!
L.

It isn't too late for signing, it never is. But, I would reccomend speaking with your pediatrician as well to make sure there are no other issues. Even bilingual children should have at least 2-4 words by their first birthdays (mama, dada, and something else like no, dog, moo, etc...). My child knows that our cats have two names "kitty" versus their real name "Laila" and may use kitty or their real name interchangeably but he still has words for them. Also, mama, dada (or whatever you and your hubby call each other) shouldn't matter with the language difference. Plus animal sounds (moo, meow, roar) are considered "words" by pediatricians if your child uses them to refer to the corresponding animals and they shouldn't differ too much from a language change.

If your child has the type of language skills above, don't worry too much, but if not I would talk to your doctor, there may be something more serious wrong.

It sounds like your son is confused. Think about if he hears two different languages how will a small child know which to use and when, put yourself in his place, he's still a baby. A bilingual home is fine but my advice would be to give your son a base language. And then use the other after he establishes one or the other.

No, it is not too late to sign, and signs do not delay speech development. But you can do more. A speech-language pathologist can assess whether or not your son is having significant difficulty with his communication development, and work with you and him to give him extra help if he needs it. There is a program called Early Childhood Intervention that provides services to children under 3 who need extra help with their development. You can call the state office to find out what your local agency is, and then call your local agency and ask for an assessment. They provide services regardless of your ability to pay. Good luck!

Go see your doctor to get him into Early Childhood Intervention (ECI). When was your last well check? Not speaking ANY words at this point is a big deal, even if it is a bilingual home. There's still time to help him, you just need professional speech therapy help ASAP. The earlier they intervene, better the prognosis. Maybe THEY will decide if he needs to learn to sign, but it's really time to get serious about developing his language skills and this is not something you can do alone.

My best, hope this helps.

Hi L.,
My 20 mo. old doesn't really talk to much, either. As far as what some of the previous posters said (concerning testing) think the key is whether or not they understand what you are asking/talking to him about. I know that my little one will respond only with the bare minimum but will do complex "demands".
In answer to your question about signing...we have had luck getting him to learn milk, out (for swing time) and more.

Hi L..
My daughter did not speak until she was 3. At 24 months I noticed she was grunting instead of speaking words. You can have your child evaluated by your school district. If the child shows a speech delay, they can start PPCD , which is early childhood development (preschool) in the public school system. It is free and is a half day program. They even pick them up from your house in a school bus if you need them to.The kids get to work with the school speech therapists and they are awesome.
My daughter qualified, of course, and she started at Pond Springs elementary. The very first day she came home from school (she was 3) and when I said "I love you" she said it back to me. That was the first time she ever spoke words to me. Naturally, I cried like a baby! The speech teachers told me that someday I would regret getting her to talk! :) Now that she is 10, she doesn't stop talking, so I know what they mean.
So my advice is to call your school district office and they will direct you to the place to go to have your son tested. It's all free, paid for by your taxes. So take advantage ! The teachers at Pond Springs were so wonderful and they worked with the kids to help them get out what they were trying to say. They coordinated their snacks to work the muscles in their face/around their mouths. Example: they would suck pudding or jello through licorice straws or feed a pretzel through their mouth without using their hands.
Anyways, it's worth having him tested because the earlier you catch any type of speech delay or learning disability, the better. It might be too early at 21 months, but they will let you know.
Good luck!
L.

It is never too late to teach your son to sign. I don’t know if that would delay his speech development, but it would be one more tool he would have to communicate. As long as you have had him check thoroughly by a doctor I wouldn’t worry too much. I understand that boys generally talk when they are darn well ready and then most talk less than females. When he is in school he will have to have some words to communicate to the teachers and other students. The men in my family are silent types but they get their point across.

We were told by my grandmother that my father (born in 1919) didn't speak a word until he was about 5 years old and then he started speaking in sentences. Dad was the first born child in a large family of all adults (aunts and uncles – grandparents). He remained an only child in his immediate family. He just pointed and shook his head yes or no and the adults in the house would get him anything he wanted. Grandma took him to a doctor who did surgery on his vocal cords when he was school age and then he was able to speak. As a grown man, Dad was a leader and able to do public speaking. However, he had problems projecting his voice in a large room and I wondered if that was because of the surgery (and IF the surgery was even necessary at all). Dad could go for entire days without saying anything and then if a certain topic came up he could speak about it for hours. My brother is the same way.

My grandson used to babble all the time as a baby but then went totally silent on us until he was about five or six. He understood everything. He would gesture and sign for what he wanted. Again, he was the first born raised in a bilingual home. He still has some difficulty speaking after years of speech therapy. The best thing that happened for him recently was his cell phone. He communicates pretty well with that phone.

It's never too late to start signing! I started in 5th grade :-) I started signing to my daughter at around 9mos. I didn't sign to her everytime I spoke. It was more just some key words for her - milk, more, food, please, potty. From there we moved to types of food - bread, cheese, apple, banana, orange, etc. I did a little bit at first but didn't really expand it much until she was about 18mos old. She seemed to be very frustrated at her inability to effectively communicate. DH and I could figure out what she wanted, but it was taking us to long I guess.
I've never shown her a signing video of any sort, though she has caught a couple of the "Signing Time" shows on PBS. I have a book, "The Joy of Signing". I simply taught her what I remembered and got what I didn't (remember) out of this book. There is likely a newer version - mine is from when I was in 5th grade :-)
As for whether this will further delay his using verbal words...I don't know. I do know that our pediatrician (in Oregon and here in Austin) count signs as words. So when we went for her 18m well baby check up, the Doc counted the 18 signs she knew as words on her chart.
I hope this all makes sense.
Feel free to email me if anything I wrote needs clarifying.

K., mama to
Catherine, 4.5y
Samuel, 18m

L., It isn't too late to sign. you should look into ECI, if you live in Texas, or whatever state program your state has for speech therapy. My son turned 3 in April and is just beginning to speak, but very slowly and very hard to understand. He received speech therapy from ECI until he turned 3.. The therapist would use sign with him, but he really didn't use it or take to it. BUt I know of some children who used it. We too are a bilingual family, but probably not as much as you. We only speak spanish when we are with my Dad and his family... Good luck, feel free to email me... J.

signing will not keep your son from talking. Just don't stop speaking to him. I would support my speech with signs. You don't have to sign every word. Good luck.

It is NOT to late to sign. My son loved signing and still does today. Sign is still a language, but since you don't have to verbalize, it is easier for the kiddos. My son didn't even DO his first sign until 13 months (even though I had been trying for 4 months previous) he just couldn't get the hand coordination down. Once he did, it was sign everything!!
Besides, when they learn signs like no- touch and please and thank you and milk and such, it works out great if there is noise going on or you are in a crowded place. You can sign to them and don't have to yell or SPEAK UP to get their attention. Just a sign imediately draws their focus to your hands so they "don't miss what you're saying".
It has really helped me and my kids greatly.