Sudden hard to understand speech

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amother

Sun, Oct 28 2007, 7:34 am

My son is/was very very verbal. People were amazed it what speech he had. Before age 2 he could identify any truck (steamroller, grader, cement mixer, land rover) and tell you all about it. He uses words way above his level - "actually, probably..I need to be responsible." And he knows what it means and how to use it in the right context. All of a sudden his speech has become much more unclear and he sometimes sort of hesitates with speaking and uses hand motions like a mentally [crazy] kid as he tries to express himself and it's freaking me out.

Now I could see a few possible reasons for this:
1- he underwent a big change about a month ago (though he didnt react much to this in other ways).
2- he is starting to make much more complicated sentences so maybe he is trying to adjust his speech.
3-I speak very quickly. Maybe he does too.
4- It could be that along with #3 his thoughts are coming to his head a lot quicker than he could express himself.
But I am worried. I am not sure he expresses himself normally... like I understand everything he says but I notice he is definately less clear than he used to be. And also especially when he sees new ppl he starts speaking a lot of nonsense... real thoughts but fleeting things "there was an ambulance there, and sometimes a digger drives past, and I made on the potty." Or he makes weird laughs...
Is he just a 2 yr old, or should I be concerned?

GAMZu

Sun, Oct 28 2007, 8:44 am

What happened a month ago?

It might be that you speak very fast. Ask him to slow down and demonstrate. S-p-e-a-k l-I-k-e t-h-I-s...
I know my son speaks fast and unclear because of the way I do.
Reacting in a funny way to strangers is normal at this age.

This sounds normal for a 2 year old, but you know your son better, so you'll see any changes...

amother

Sun, Oct 28 2007, 8:51 am

I would go to a speech therapist and get him assessed asap.

amother

Sun, Oct 28 2007, 8:56 am

why?

Clarissa

Sun, Oct 28 2007, 9:07 am

My first son also spoke very early and had an extensive vocabulary. My father started to find him difficult to understand (not sure if there was a gradual or sudden change, I just remember that he commented on it and was concerned) and suggested I ask the teachers. I did, and they brought in a speech therapist for evaluation. She did an extensive evaluation and concluded that 1) there was some fuzziness on certain consonants, but felt it was age-appropriate and 2) he was having trouble keeping his speech up to the speed his mind was working.

He outgrew this and speaks quite clearly.

BeershevaBubby

Sun, Oct 28 2007, 9:14 am

Also you might want to have his hearing checked.

gryp

Sun, Oct 28 2007, 9:18 am

Any time a child regresses in any area, it has to be checked out.
Hatzlacha, you should have good news to report back to us.

amother

Sun, Oct 28 2007, 9:18 am

Clarissa-
Yea, that is similar to what I said in point #4. Good to know, although of course I know every situation is different.

Kmelion- His hearing was evaluated routinely about a year ago and was fine, though it wasnt a very in depth or scientific test. He was the baby who when I was nursing would jump up if he heard a plastic bag rustle 2 rooms over. That is one thing I am really not worried about. But even if he did have a hearing problem, why would he start out with better speech and then go worse?

amother

Sun, Oct 28 2007, 9:21 am

GR wrote:

Any time a child regresses in any area, it has to be checked out.
Hatzlacha, you should have good news to report back to us.

Thats not true though. In so many books about children it says they might regress in one way if #1 something is going on in their life (which I said happened) that was a big change, #2 if they are learning other skills and need to integrate the old with the new.

gryp

Sun, Oct 28 2007, 9:25 am

I'm not sure what you're thinking of as a regression. Maybe you're thinking of very minor regressions. I was thinking along the lines of major milestones babies/toddlers reach and then regress.

HindaRochel

Sun, Oct 28 2007, 9:51 am

Children do sometimes regress for major life-changes (moves, new child in the family divorce major illness among some memeber of the family etc.) BUT to change suddenly and without any other intervening issue is a warning sign.

Call and make an appointment with the doctor TODAY for TOMORROW.

It may be something mild, but you don't want to chance something that goes horribly wrong because you put it off a week.

amother

Sun, Oct 28 2007, 9:54 am

But there was a major life change.

amother

Sun, Oct 28 2007, 9:58 am

So then there's your answer!!! like you said: THERE WAS A MAJOR LIFE CHANGE.

It'll take time for him to adjust. If youre very worried then call the dr. Hearing this advice over and over again from us here won't help you a bit if you don't do something about it now. Rolling Eyes

amother

Sun, Oct 28 2007, 10:02 am

I wrote in my original post as te 1st of 4 possible reasons that I see, that there was a major life change.

I will do something if it persists. Just wanted to hear what you had to say. BTW of course it's worse when he's tired.

gryp

Sun, Oct 28 2007, 10:08 am

amother, since you're amother anyway, can you tell us what the major life change was and we can try to see the situation better?
it seems like we're just going around in circles, not helping much.

amother

Sun, Oct 28 2007, 10:11 am

I dont want to say what the change is bc based on other info I can be indentified and dont want to be. I am not sure how it is a difference though - for a child any major change- illness in the family, new child born, a move, even a parent going away for a few days... it's all a big thing and they can react to each of those the same.

amother

Sun, Oct 28 2007, 10:19 am

If he just recently had any vaccines (or an shots, I.e flu), I would def be concerned and see a dr

amother

Sun, Oct 28 2007, 10:26 am

No it's been almost 3 months since a vaccine.

Clarissa

Sun, Oct 28 2007, 10:31 am

I have heard that as a child learns a new skill, or focuses on some life change, skills do fall by the wayside. I've certainly seen it with my own children. These days, every change makes us panic that something big is going on. But kids are so unpredictable! My son, when he went through some anxiety at school, sometimes reverted to some pretty infantile behavior, but he was just nervous and unfocused.

Talk to your pediatrician and see if he/she thinks this warrants a speech evaluation or a visit to a developmental pediatrician. This is obviously a kid who has a lot going on in his head, is very advanced, and he may be just overwhelmed with things right now, causing some speech deterioration. An evaluation might clarify this and help you to relax and help him get his thoughts out.

GAMZu

Sun, Oct 28 2007, 12:23 pm

BTW, gesturing with hands isn't a feature of mentally impaired people

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