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Hi,

I just found your board, and I think I really need to be here. My

son has not received a dx yet because he is only 22 months and my

developmental pediatrician won't do a thorough evaluation of a late

talker until 24 months. Still, I have been voicing my concerns to

his regular pediatrician and later to this developmental

pediatrician since he was 9 months old. I was finally referred to

the developmental pediatrician at around 14 months, and my son

didn't even get a thorough hearing test (ABR) until 17 months. His

hearing is normal. I live in Japan, and so advocating for my son has

been more difficult than it would be for me in an English-speaking

country. Getting my husband to recognize that there is a problem

that my son won't just grow out of has also been a challenge, though

he is coming around.

His symptoms? He has one consonant, and though his receptive

language in both languages is advanced and he tries hard to speak,

he only can communicate in grunts and a very complex language of

gestures. He can say " Mama " , but that is it. The other consonants

and words he just forms with his lips. He will try to mimick the

mouth movements of the words he wants to say, and I sometimes

understand what word he is trying to say. In fact, at 17 months, I

had a list of 80 words he said like this, though no one else

believed me that he had any words at all because he won't make

sounds when he tries to say them. He sometimes gets excited and

says " Ampanman " , the name of a cartoon character he likes. Of

course, I can't get him to say the word when I ask him to repeat.

My son didn't walk until 20 months, but we have always assumed that

was because of his congenital heart defect that was surgically

corrected at 16 months. He had extremely poor weight gain before

that, but now that problem is completely corrected and he has

achieved normal weight. Still, we met some kids his age in the

hospital who had the same heart condition but were walking. Now I am

beginning to think that he has been exhibiting " soft " symptoms of

verbal dysphraxia all along, but that none of us could see beyond

his heart problem. He has advanced fine motor skills, and he is

making great advances in large motor now. I don't think of him as

clumsy or anything, and he seems strong when he wants to apply

himself (like when fighting over a toy). He actually can forget

himself for a moment and use his large motor skills with surprising

dexterity, considering. But, his large motor skills right now are

normal for a 17-18 month old child. I use the Peabody Motor Scales

at home to monitor this.

My son has exibited signs of advanced cognitive skills. He knew his

shapes by 12 months, and all his colors by 14 months. He has a very

long attention span, and he has obsessive hobbies like learning

about fish (in great detail) and the solar system. He can read many

sight words and can count to objects with his fingers up to five

with consistancy. And, yet, he hasn't learned his alphabet as

quickly as these other things, despite the fact that I have put the

information in his environment with a wall mural, alphabet books,

and an alphabet song that includes the letter sounds, and have been

singing that song (among many others) since he was two months old.

Please don't dismiss this with " but he is just a baby, so don't

worry " because I know my son and what he can do, and I think it is

odd that he can't do this yet. I suspect it is related to his speech

problem. He points to words in familiar books that I forget to read

to remind me to " do it right " , but he can't associate his letters

with sounds? Sometimes he seems to be able to, but then he " forgets " .

He actually sang the melody to one of our songs when he was 11

months in his excitement of getting a new dumptruck, but that was

the last time I ever heard him sing. I think he tries to sing

because I hear rhythmic, repetitive sounds coming from him, but

there is no recognizable tune despite my having made great efforts

to fill his baby world with music. He loves to listen to music, and

will watch live musical performances with utter fascination, but...

I guess I have known from very early on that his expressive language

hasn't developed appropriately with his receptive language, but it

has been hard to convince a doctor up until now that anything is

wrong. Some have actually dismissed me as an over-zealous first-time

mother. Yes, I admit to being overzealous in trying to be the best

parent I possibly can be, but that doesn't mean that I worry

needlessly.

Perhaps it is premature that I am here because my son doesn't have a

dx. I joined the NaturalLateTalkers board when my son was 9 months

old, and I worried that I was being premature at that time, too. But

I have learned a lot from the posters there, and I know that my son

does not fit the descriptions of many other late talkers. He

UNDERSTANDS language. He doesn't have problems with sequencing

tasks, so I doubt it is a phonological disorder (though I would like

a professional to rule that one out). I want to focus on reading

posts from people with children who exhibit similar symptoms, and so

I think this board might be helpful for me.

I look forward to following the stories of your children.