Nearly 3 and still not talking

Just looking for a bit of advice, my LB is 3 in June and he is still not speaking at all. He has been referred to S&L and he is also due to have a referral to ENT as he has glue ear. We have been told by the audiologist that the glue ear wouldn’t have any effect on his speech but other people, ie, the HV/nursery teacher seem to think this could be causing his speech delay. He has seen the HV roughly every 2-3 months since being 2 and she has ruled out him being autistic (if he has any form of autism she believes he would be far down on the spectrum and that it wouldn’t have any real effect on his development). I just want to know if anyone else has been in the situation or is in the situation and if they have any advice. I am desperate for him to just be able to speak as I can see how frustrated he is getting with himself from not being able to communicate and it is frustrating for us as it just feels like we can’t do anything for him because theres just no communication. TIA 💛 x

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Hi Lucy, My son had glue ear and it was picked up around 2, very limited words etc. he has grommets popped in both ears around 2.5 and finally now at 3 he had loads of words. We’re currently working with a speech therapist for clarity of speech but for the most part he’s caught up. My ENT, gp, paediatrician, and health nurse all said that glue ear can absolutely effect speech, the ENT likened it to them “hearing as if underwater” everything is muffled and distorted. Hopefully once you resolve the glue ear you’ll hear an absolute explosion of speech. You’ll be impressed by how quickly it all just comes together and how clever they really are. Good luck! x

Same for my little boy, NHS said he has glue ear and flat reading on all 3 hearing tests dragged out over 9 months! Went private and confirmed glue ear with a lot of fluid , we are 7 weeks in grommets fitted and adenoids removed I’ve seen massive improvement in him words are coming slow and steady… glue ear can definitely effect your child’s speech, behaviour how they socialise I didn’t realise the effects it could have.. if you can try push for grommets I know NHS do have 18 month waiting list though x

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