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My 15 months old girl hasn't learned any new words in 4 months. The only words she can say are 'Mom', 'Dad', 'Dog' and 'Hi'. She has started grunting for what she wants, but isn't saying anything more. Does this mean she might have a speech problem?

EDIT: I am particularly worried because she was reaching milestones really well until she was about a year old. Now if anything, she uses the four words she knows less than she did four months ago.

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  • When you talk to her, does she look at your mouth or your eyes? Try this multiple times over a day or so. The answer is important.
    – user16557
    Apr 1, 2016 at 14:02
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    I'm guessing her brain is working on other things at the moment. Maybe she's into climbing, stacking, etc and isn't interested in words right now. Don't let yourself be convinced of the whole autism thing. Seems to be a gun everyone loves to fire off. Talk to the pediatrician, who may try to get you to enroll in some kind of speech therapy, which was a gigantic waste of time for us, but by the time you pass through all of that you may find your daughter is talking as expected. People decide to talk in their own time for the most part.
    – Kai Qing
    Apr 1, 2016 at 22:38

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You should get your child in to be evaluated by her pediatrician. There are a number of syndromes that could explain what you are perceiving, some of which are speech related, while others are general developmental issues. I'm not going to name any of them because I'm not a doctor and you shouldn't be getting your child evaluated by some random person in the internet. Wait until you have your diagnosis from a professional and then you can start googling.

If your child has any of them it is so very important to get early diagnosis and treatment. If she does not and this is simply normal development for her, you can at least gain peace of mind. Don't assume either way, but don't let your doctor dismiss your apprehensions if you feel strongly that there is a problem.

Don't be afraid to ask for a specialist's opinion. My daughter's GP dismissed our concerns about her speech delays for years. "Some children just start speaking later than others," he told us.

We finally took her in to a speech therapist who discovered that she has severe aphasia and apraxia. It is hard to strike a balance but I personally would feel better about erring on the side of being a touch paranoid.

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