My son is going to be 17 months and has can only speak these few words: daddy, eat, egg, out, etc.
I am a little bit concern whether he is slow in speaking. However, he can understand our instructions and what we are saying.
Anyone to share and give some advice?
We have a recent thread about this same thing here http://forum.brillkids.com/teaching-your-child-other-topics/speech/
Speech is like any milestone in a baby - it varies as to when they speak clearly and when they use phrases and sentences too. They say there is a vocabulary spurt around 18 months old when children start speaking a lot more words, so you might just have to be patient til then or even later.
My daughter is 15 months old and although she has used a fair number of words, she is not consistent and some days I will get almost no words out of her (except perhaps mama)
I do find that teaching signing, letting her do actions to songs and hear music, teaching reading, speaking to her a lot and using Little Reader does also help as the more language they hear the better. In the end though I have also heard of children who start speaking late, but often start speaking in full sentences rather than single words or phrases - its partly a personality issue too.
I would not advise holding things back to force your child to speak as this could make speech a negative thing for him. Rather just keep introducing language to him in whatever way you can and praising any attempts to talk even if the pronounciation isn’t great.
Like everything you teach learning to speak should be fun too.
Animal & vehicle sounds are a great way to work on sounds. Remember experimenting with sound comes before actual words. Make a game of playing with toys and saying their sounds.
If he has mastered a sound such as B then work on B words like ball.
If he says a word you can add to it. eg: If he says dog you can say brown dog.
If you are talking to him consistently I wouldn’t be too concerned. My nephew Anthony, who just turned two, didn’t start talking until he was about 20 months old. He said a few words here and there, but not as much as we would have liked. We were a bit concerned, not a lot, just a little, but now we can’t get him to stop! He talks very well and many people comment on how good he talks for a two-year-old.
My son had the same “breakthrough” type experience with talking, except he had his speaking-burst at about 15 months old. I remember when the “breakthrough” first started he would be saying one or two new words every day, and I wrote down each one of them for his baby book. However, by the time he was 16 months old he was saying so many new words a day that I couldn’t even try to keep track of them. Anthony had the exact same thing, except his breakthrough started when he was 20 months old. The point is that all kids are different - maybe your little guy will start speaking next month, maybe not till he turns two! It doesn’t make him any more or less intelligent, just different.
The best thing you can do to encourage him to talk and to give him a firm foundation of understanding the meanings of words is to talk to him non-stop. There is a thread discussing the product “LENA” which is basically a little machine the size of a deck of cards that you’re supposed to attach to your baby to see how many words they’re hearing each day. The ideal amount of words a child should be hearing between the ages of birth and 3 years is about 20,000 - 30,000 a day. The product “LENA” costs several hundred dollars but in this post we talk about why you don’t need an expensive word-counting-machine to give your baby an optimal language development environment and can keep track of how much you talk to your baby without this pricey equipment. The link is here: http://forum.brillkids.com/general-discussion-b5/lena-enhance-language-development/msg5693/#msg5693
So, in short, as long as you’re talking and interacting with your toddler and encouraging him to talk you have no reason for concern, all kids are simply different. Encouraging him to talk is as simple as if, for example, he wants his cup that is on the counter do not allow him to simply whine and point at it - instead ask him “Do you want your CUP? Say CUP!” and encourage him at least attempt to speak instead of allowing him to point or whine. Hope this helps!
So many good suggestions! 
I have boys and found that many of them just didn’t want to communicate with words until they were older than most of the girls that were chatting away. If your son’s hearing is fine and he is happy, content, active and reaching other milestones, I wouldn’t worry about it. Relax and enjoy the stage he is in. Don’t push (I found my boys would “push back” if I tried to push them into doing something).
Listening to you talk, sing, read, and do Little Reader with him gives him lots of opportunities to learn words. He may just be waiting until he can start speaking in sentences. 
I totally agree that each kid is an individual and they have their own pace. I shared how I was worrying about my son’s speech development when he was a few months over 1 year old, then we started a right brain training program for him and it seems to work very well:
My son continued to see the speech pathologist until 2 months ago when he was graduated!!! :yes: He was “behind” other kids and now at 2 years of age I can say he speaks more complicated words than a lot of kids at his age. He is speaking 6-7 words sentences. His older sister (4 years old) talks to him a lot and he loves to mimic her.
So I guess as DomanMom said, just wait patiently for the “breakthrough” and your kid will surprise you by how much he know! Continue to talk to him like talking to an adult will certainly help him to structure his sentences and add more vocabularies. Just relax and be persistent!
Teresa
The children all take their own pace. Important not to just give him what you assume he wants immediately. Let them take the initiative to communicate with you and actually request what they need.
agree! this is one of the tips given by the speech pathologist. :yes:
How does your toddler manage to communicate his needs? If pointing and gesturing are getting his needs met, there might not be a need for much speech. Are there siblings speaking for him? I really believe in exposure without expectation. If a child is exposed to a lot of language experiences and not expected to perform or repeat, development will occur at their own individual pace. When there are set expectations and time frames, problems occur.
I had a little girl who was 18 months old that I provided childcare for. Her mother was constantly having her say things (insisting on correct pronuciations). She lagged behind in her speech. Almost as if she was afraid to say anything - or looking over her shoulder constantly for mom to communicate for her.
If your toddler has ways to communicate and is not overly frustrated, the speech will come in time. Einstein didn’t speak until he was 4. Some kids are observant and like to rehearse in their minds before talking. Instead of one word, you might get sentences.
As mentioned in the other thread, we encouraged Felicity to speak from young by withholding what she wanted until she said what we asked her to say.
Tanikit and others make a very good point though. There is a risk that if you do that, you could turn the whole process of learning to speak into a nightmare for the child, and you may even end up retarding the process and having the child associate speaking with frustration.
Like the entire process of early learning (such as learning to read), the key is really whether the process is one of fun or frustration for your child. Are you encouraging your child to speak in a loving way (encouraging the process with rewards), or like a strict parent forcing the child to learn (and failure means punishment)?
Based on what we did, I would suggest these would be the guidelines if you want to use withholding:
1. Make sure you are asking your child to say something you know she CAN say
). As her vocalization abilities grew, it then became “more please”, “may I have more please?” etc.2. Never frustrate your child, or push too far
3. Always make sure the process is joyful and lighthearted, like a game
Many thanks to all the advice and suggestions!
I use sign language and keep talking to him.
Now I am wondering whether using sign language is a mistake. He is still responding with sign language and not speaking more words. :S
Actually studies show that babies using sign language speak faster than those who have not exposed to sign language.
Initially I thought that was strange 'cause I was thinking the same thing as you did. But later I think that can be reasonable because babies who are communicating with sign language are used to expressed themselves. So it makes sense they are expressing themselves better when they learn how to speak. :yes:
Teresa
I wasn’t the least bit concerned about Marina just starting to say words until I read this thread. She’s been able to communicate her wishes in most things through basic gestures and then signs since she was 5-6 months, so it never occurred to me that she might be lagging. The last week or so she has been quite proud to show me that she can say most of the letters in the alphabet. She’ll pick them out from the magnetic ones she got for Christmas and announce their names. I’ve never tried to teach her the alphabet, but Dr. Seuss’s ABC was her favourite book from 6 -14 months, so I guess that’s where she picked it up. She amazes me everyday with the signs she remembers from me and Signing Time - I’m thinking that by the time her 2nd birthday rolls around, she’ll be a non-stop source of aural info!
at what age should you child be saying mama and dada my son babbles all day long but not say and words i repeat some words over and over to him everyday but it seem like he would rather babble
I wouldnt worry, each child is unique. The very fact your child is babbling that is good sign, that is another way of communicating non-verbally.
you continue doing what your are doing. And your child eventually start to say words.
yeah speaking is very individual to each child though hereditary factors play a role, like my son his dad spoke late and his paternal grandpa apparently spoke well only aftr 5yrs of age! so i wasnt much worried. just kept teachin him all the way. he did say mama n bappa(local language word for dad!) before he turned 6months and dhahtha (sister) at 6months… but thats just it…he rarely babbles even…but was hyper active and communicated his way around somehow…
and thenwhen he turned 22months he just started talking and with a week he had more than 100 words vocabulary…
one incident i just wont forget and would love to share so to encourage you all is one day brought this sorter with the circle and called out “Mummy look circle!” n then came and asked me to draw an oval on his board! what i taught him when he cant speak
i’d say dont worry if hes not talkin until he reach 2yrs, if he still dont talk show to a speech therapist. they will help u find out if theres a problem. as long as he is active n not frustrated just be happy!
What does it mean when a child is late talking?
Stephen Camarata
John F. Kennedy Center on Development and Disabilities
Talking is one of the most salient developmental milestones in early
childhood. To a parent’s delight, most children start talking about
the time their first birthday is celebrated. Over 90% of children
begin using words by 18 months of age. But what about the remaining
10%? Is the late onset of words simply normal developmental variation
without any long-term impact or is it an indication that something is
wrong? The answer is that late talking can be either and it is
important to determine whether this is a passing phase or a condition
requiring intervention.
What is late talking?
A parent once contacted me and was concerned that her child was not
using words at 13 months of age. She had read that first words come
in by 12 months and was rather distraught that her son hadn’t met
this milestone. Like many developmental milestones, talking has a
rather variable onset, with a normal distribution of approximately
9-18 months. That is, according to a large normative study (Fenson et
al, 1992) a majority of typically developing children will begin
using first words somewhere within this age range. In terms of
age-equivalency, this is a huge span! Consider that an age deviation
(age of onset minus median divided by median) would yield a “50%
delay” for a child who in actuality has normal onset of first words
at 18 months. In the absence of a more general developmental
condition (e.g., Down Syndrome), this would simply be normal
variation.
If a child is late talking
The first thing to be said about all late talking cases is that a
medical evaluation should be completed to rule out any medical
factors contributing to the late onset of language. In addition, an
audiological examination should be performed to ensure that a major
risk factor, hearing loss, is not the cause of the late talking. If a
child is not using true words by 18 months of age, this would be
considered a form of late talking. But is this a stage of development
or a symptom of a broader clinical condition, such as autism, that
will require treatment? A number of clinical conditions include late
talking as a symptom. The fourth edition of the diagnostic and
statistical manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-IV,
APA 1994) lists a number of conditions “first appearing in childhood”
that include late talking. The most prevalent include expressive
language disorder, mixed expressive-receptive language disorder,
phonological disorder, mental retardation, and some of the pervasive
developmental disorders, including autism, Rhett’s syndrome and
PDD-NOS (not otherwise specified). Note that Asberger’s syndrome is
characterized in the DSM-IV as normal onset of language, indicating
that late talking is not a symptom of this condition. It is also true
that many children who talk late are “nonclinical” in that they may
not begin talking until two, three, or even four years of age, yet
when talking begins they quickly catch up and have none of the
clinical conditions mentioned above. But how can a parent know what
is happening with their own child two or three year old child who
isn’t talking yet? The uncertainty can be quite difficult.
Differential Diagnosis of Late Talking
Here at the Kennedy Center, many researchers are studying ways to
differentially diagnose developmental disabilities. For example,
Wendy Stone is researching methods of accurately identifying autism
in young children, a process that historically has been difficult to
identify with a high degree of certainty until a child is a bit older
(e.g., five years of age). In addition, she is working with KC
investigators Paul Yoder and Mark Wolery to study treatment for
preschoolers with autism. But the broader question is how one can
tell if a child has mental retardation, autism or other PDD, language
disorder or will simply “grow out” of the problem. Basically, the
process of differential diagnosis requires careful observation of the
child and the evaluation process should include a detailed
examination of the risk factors. In general, the fewer risk factors
evident, the more likely the late talking is a developmental
variation rather than a clinical condition. For example, several
studies over the past decade have indicated that if the only trait
evident in the child is late onset of words at age two, there is a
very high probability that the vocabulary size will be within the
normal range at the age of four (Paul, 1993, 2000; Whitehurst et al.
1992). But, Paul (1994) reported that a child with phonological
(speech sound disorders) was more likely to continue to have language
difficulty beyond age four. This suggests that a diagnostic model
should provide a systematic analysis of risk factors when
recommending treatment for late talking.
Risk Factors
If a child is not talking, what skills are also important? As
mentioned above, the quality of the child’s vocalizations (e.g., are
a variety of sounds used in babbling?) is predictive of late growth.
In addition, the child’s receptive language skills are important. The
children who normalized in the Whitehurst et al. report had normal
(age appropriate) comprehension and our own baseline data on late
talkers suggests that those with normal comprehension are much more
likely to normalize than those with significant comprehension
deficits. Another important domain is the nature and quality of the
child’s nonverbal social interactions. Child with serious problems
such as autism are less likely to initiate nonverbal social
interactions than are children who are likely to normalize. Indeed,
reduced social interaction that can not be accounted for by the late
talking itself is a hallmark characteristic of autism or other forms
of PDD (DSM-IV). Finally, a child’s nonlinguistic cognitive abilities
are an important factor. It is not surprising that late talkers often
fall below expected levels on verbally based intelligence tests.
After all, how many of us could do well on a test given in a language
we don’t understand? But, late talkers who are otherwise unimpaired
should fall within the normal range on tests that examine nonverbal
cognitive abilities (e.g., the revised Leiter International
Performance Scale, Roid & Miller, 1997). If the late talker is below
expected levels on nonverbal tests (in addition to verbal tests),
this suggests a more comprehensive disability. In simple terms, these
kinds of tests predict a child’s rate of learning and if cognitive
abilities are below expected levels, it is likely that the child will
learn more slowly and require more attention than peers.
Treatment for Late Talking
The language skills of any late talker, regardless of diagnosis, and
typically developing children as well, can be accelerated by applying
focused stimulation on words, word endings, sentences, and speech
sounds. Researchers at the Kennedy Center have a long and impressive
history of developing ever more effective treatments and this work
continues. If the only factor in the late talking is the late onset
of words, there is a very high likelihood that the child will
normalize within a relatively short time. All children with
disabilities can learn, so more serious problems can be improved with
appropriate treatment. It is comforting to know that the overwhelming
of people with disabilities learn to talk. An important challenge in
these more serious conditions such as autism, is making sure that the
focus of language intervention is on truly functional skills (e.g.,
useful words) and making sure that the goals are coordinated among
the special educators, preschool teachers, speech-pathologists, and
parents as these children will likely benefit from learning the same
words in each context. Unfortunately, there are many unproven (and
often expensive) treatments being offered to families that do not
directly improve talking. At this time, unlike the research to
support directly teaching a child to talk, there is not scientific
evidence to support the use of special diets, massage, muscle
exercises, nonlanguage auditory training, or chelation to treat late
talking. Moreover as Paul (2000) notes, late talking may simply be a
developmental stage or it may be a symptom of a more severe
condition. Many late talkers will normalize without treatment and
many others will normalize with an appropriate treatment program, but
regardless of whether the late talking is a stage or a symptom, all
can learn. It is important to have an accurate diagnosis, and if
needed, appropriate treatment.
Also another article on Talking and babies
http://www.babycenter.com/0_developmental-milestone-talking_6573.bc?showAll=true