Q&A

Subject: Problem pronouncing words
From AF

Is there a reason to be concerned about my 23 month old grandson. He will repeat certain words but they are not pronounced as they should be. More often it is like the sounds of a mute person. He responds to sounds so I do not think that he is deaf. He is very bright and imitates almost everything anyone does, like locking a door, putting video tapes in and starting the tape, playing basketball, etc.

Dear Annette,
Yes, I would be concerned. A youngster of almost two years of age should be putting words together into short sentences like "more juice." The fact that they are not pronounced exactly correct is fine. Some sounds of English do not become established until age 4 or 5. In this case, though, you say he "repeats," not that he is using speech to articulate needs or to interact with others. I think you would have better information if you had him evaluated by a speech-language pathologist. Part of that evaluation should include a hearing screening test to rule out the possibility of a hearing loss as a factor in his development. You can find a speech pathologist in your local children's hospital, employed in your county's "head start" or "child find" program or in your yellow pages under "speech pathologist." An evaluation is always a good idea so that you can stop worrying.
Good luck!
Solveig