Dear Ruth,

My two year old son had tubes put in his ears eight months ago. Before the surgery, he was not responsive to speech directed toward or noise around him, and consequently could not speak. Shortly after, he began babbling. Seven months later, he has a very limited vocabulary (about 15 words) and responds much better to instruction.

With his 3rd birthday around the corner, my husband and I feel his communication should be much stronger. Is he "on target"? What can we do to help?

B.E.

Dear B.E.,

Your son sounds like he is coming along well. However, he is not 'on target' from your description, and it is very important to his ultimate language and academic success that he get a boost. He needs to be moving at a rate that is faster than other children his age in order to catch up. Time is critical here since he is at an age where his brain is set to take in and categorize some critical auditory and language information--more readily now than at any other time in the future.

Have him evaluated by a speech/language pathologist, and have her get him started at least and make some individualized suggestions about how you can enrich his listening and language development. He may qualify for a program at school, or invest in private therapy. Progress now will pay dividends indefinitely.

Best Wishes,
Ruth Alice Jurey, M.S., C.C.C.
Speech/Language Pathologist