My Toddler Understands But Isn’t Talking [Learn How To Help From A Speech Therapist]

In this video, I discuss one of the most common observations from parents in speech therapy, “My 2 year old understands everything, but hasn’t started talking.”

I begin by explaining why your child can understand so much but not be talking yet. We explore the two of the common reasons why toddlers can understand so many different words but not say any (or only say a few words). You will learn when it is time to talk to your child’s pediatrician about your observations and the possibility of speech therapy. By the end of the video you will have a better understanding of why some 2 year olds understand everything but don’t talk (yet), and a few things that you can do to support them starting today.

TIMESTAMPS
0:42 Think like a speech therapist
1:55 2 Common reasons toddlers understand but haven’t started talking
3:26 When it’s time to take action if your toddler isn’t talking
4:30 3 Things you can do today to help your toddler

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[Stephthechickenlady]

My toddler turns 2 in a week. He understands everything, but can say mum and dad but that's it. He mimics sounds, like cars, birds, dogs. He points at everything and very active, runs everywhere since 9 months old. He's my 4th child so we have a very busy and loud household. None of my other children were this slow at talking.

[theofficialfamilygurl]

Your video was so helpful, my son starts school September and I'm a little worried he'll be behind as he cant speak as fluently, I promise to take time out to start working with him to see how best he can develop with colour numbers and letters

[mj]

Omg I feel so bad as a mother, I feel like I failed my 3 yr old. 😒
I have 3 older boys and I never had an issue with them speaking.
But with my last child his 3 yr old and he understands everything, but speaks very little I finally asked hi Dr. And he referred him to speech therapy and he has started therapy already, but now I feel bad for letting it go this far, I wish I could have asked for help sooner, now Im spending all day trying to play with him and teach him with learning activities and he seems to really enjoy play time but gets very frustated when he can't Express what he wants or needs. 💔
New subscribers, will definitely be watching more of your videos, I just want to be able to help my boy start learning more and more words esch and every day. Thank you.

[jaylaure]

I think one of the things that can help the kid on speech delay is interaction wth other kids

[dailylifeofanything]

Hi. Been watching few of ur vids and they give me some comfort and relief as a parent. I habe a 30 month old who is very energetic but may be slow in learning speech. He does learn alot from kid videos, sounds he hears from things around the house. He does say few commands like if he dont see mom around, he will says wheres mommy or go mommy or say baby brother sleeping( i tell him mommy and baby brother are upstairs sleeping) he mimmicks alot of noise, whirling sound of wash dryer, fans, loves clicking on buttons for effects, opens the fridge to tell me yogurt etc. But is this enough? I can probably guesstimate he knows good 50 words or so knows instructions by body language somewhat, but kids being kids, sometimes gets preoccupied with their things, dont listen sometimes. We hav speech development session lined up for feb thru aug, right before he goes to 3k. Is this delayed or on the right path

[j-scribble]

My first child didn’t speak until he was 2. My second child is speaking more than my first did, but not as many words as he should; he’s almost 2 and understands everything. Every child learns to talk in their own time - evaluation and testing is unnecessarily stressful.

[esstee]

Hi there, i come from a developing country and just came across this video. We don’t have speech therapists here and only 1 specialized pediatricians here usually hes always occupied. How can i seek help to get my 3yr old daughter speaking. She understands but the expressing part i see her get frustrated sometimes when i don’t understand what she wants

[AidiaP]

My son has said many words but never repeats them.

At 7 months old he said mother and father and when prompted to say it again, he just stopped and now at 2 has never said those words again. Then at church he said Amen 2 times, and has refused to do so again.

I've counted at least 50 words he has said and we have recordings of him saying them and right after not saying them again. Its getting a bit frustrating because he just does not WANT to speak.

[rachelsaoleititi]

My son, it's almost 3. He used to say words, but when his little brother was born, I focused more on the baby than him, and now it makes me sad because now he doesn't say anything sometimes 😢, so his doctor referred us to a speech language or something and everything went great until the therapist heard my son singing the song open and shut from miss Rachel then she ask if I've heard of the word autism I said no... She said some kids who watch and learn from watching TV might be like that, and I was lost of words. Is this true?? I'm waiting for my sons language evaluation or whatever they called it, and they said it will take 2 to 3 months, and my son will be 3 by then so they can't help him when his 3😢..so right now I'm looking for ways to help him talk more so thank you for you're videos it helped me a lot...❤

[patriceh]

My toddler has been in therapy for almost 8 months. He understands sometimes, doesn’t speak or respond to items. He will bring you to items but no sounds. He will look at you but doesn’t respond. I don’t know where to go or what to do

[DZ-eupj]

My baby is 8 month old and we mimick each other in sounds. He seems to enjoy it. He goes tatatataata and i follow his leads and he loves it! Even cute noises he makes or cries.. i follow it and he quickly smiles and does the same back 😂 but he understands things I tell him like water, milk, diaper change etc.

[babyanaya]

Hi, my 3 yr old have right hemiphersis with frontal lobe effected..taking speech theraphy from last 6 months.. he understand everything but speaks only mama, papa, coco and 2 3 more words..and speak few words then forgot them i don't know what to do next?
No tongue tie + no hearing issues..he is hyperactive child.

[lakeshafootemed.]

This was great! Im willing to pay you for virtual services since there are no speech pathologists in my area.

[glandalissaguevara]

hello. may I ask something about my daughter. she's 10 years old. a SPED student at a public school here in the Philippines. my daughter understands everything but can't talk much. she rarely speaks sentences like what are you doing or stop it or where are you or one more or mommy or mama. she can say the word i read to her. she is doing good in school. her teacher told me. but I don't know if she is just speech delayed and has a possibility to talk one day.

[bahamasable]

My 3 year old points and grunts, he can count and identify numbers 1-10, can say his uncle's name and few things, should i still take him to a speech therapist?

[SOFTW]

Can this be related to covid and parents being 24/7 with the toddler due to lockdown?

[andyryan]

Hi my son is 30 month old he can say the alphabet he can count from 1 to 70 but he is not taking in a sentence is it normall or is there something wrong all so when he see truck car bus etc he know them and call there name

[jesumestreet]

My 2 yo. ( his bday in 2 months) can identify all sort of things but cannot formulate a sentence. I feel like im a bad mom and very lacking. Im getting anxiety thinking he might have a problem.

[cubansazon]

Hello 👋 my son is 18 months old. He says mama and dada and he will say the occasional word here and there. I have noticed that he has a hard time positioning his tongue correctly when he tries to speak and he always pushes like he is making a huge effort to say things but it doesn’t come out. I’m going to ask for a referral on our next Dr. Visit but do you have any advice? He does not point yet, he has only done it once but can do things like saying bye bye and understands many more things like come here, jump, twirl, dance, up and down, put in, and mimics everything that his dad and i do…I have tried getting him to say simple things like “go” and “up” and I try to have him complete a song lyric. I exercise these by using toys and when he’s wanting to be picked up but he just stares at me and laughs like he knows exactly what he is supposed to do but doesn’t do it. We speak 2 languages in our home and his Dr. said not to worry until he was two because he’s likely trying to pick up in both languages. But I’m don’t want to wait that long.

[TreasureHuntingNana]

My grandaughter was 2 last March... she has said baby, mummy, nana, daddy, hello and ta. BUT only a couple of times and when she said them they were extremely clear. BUT she refuses to talk. She is around her cousins, aunties and myself all the time playing. She is not behind in anything else except talking. I don't know if she just doesn't need to talk or something else is going on? We all talk to her and try to get her to repeat words.. but she won't have any of it... please help