[SeattleUte]

Cardiac,

Have you spent much time around small children? You don't seem like you have. I've spent my whole life around countless ones. I have five children and dozens of nieces and nephews. My youngest are 7, 4 and two and a half. I visit their pre-schools and schools constantly. I'm the oldest of seven children.

In my experience by two and a half a normal child is speaking in sentences, often somewhat complex ones, all the time repeating phrases they hear, and enunciating fairly well. They jabber constantly, in real English. This is what is NORMAL. If by two and a half a child is not even saying yes and no properly and nothing else, doctors and parents are being irresponsible if they don't have the child thoroughly checked out. I'd also be skeptical if some sort of therapy weren't recommended.

Contrary to some suggestion here, there's more at stake here than utlimately learning to speak. These ages are irreplacable in a child's development arc.