speech problem?

Question

my son is going to be 3 in feburary...all his milestones are bit delayed ...he crawled at 9 months , walked at 18 months (without support), he started speaking at 2.3yrs , his vocabulary consists of 200-300 words but no sentences...we have send him to a playschool , he has learned 1-20 and alphabets from playschool.If u ask him questions what is ur name ,age , school name,how do u go to school, all answers are monosyllables...if he wants me to change TV channels, he will say "change " and point towards TV/remote.. I am asking him say " ma,change the channel "...but
he tries to speak only in monosyllables...he is quite alert, fully toilet trained , can identify all body parts, name most of the animals ... i long for the day to come he will speak some sentences...when i visit his playschool, some kids speak so fluently...i visited a speech therapist who feel our child is lazy and we have to give him some more TIME...any tips on how to
encourage small sentences would be highly helpful

Answer 1

Both my boys (age 3 1/2 and 5) receive speech services paid for by the state. One (the 5 year old) has moderate speech articulation problem and the other has a more severe, but correctable problem, called apraxia. Your son's "symptoms" sound very similar to what my younger son had. The great news is in the 8 months he has received therapy, he went from not putting two words together to speaking in sentences!!! It is a great feeling and you will get there with your son. Hang in there.

Call your pediatrician and request an evaluation by Easter Seals or another service. They can then give your son speech therapy services and any other services they feel he needs. Good luck to you and know you are not alone!! :)

Answer 2

You need to remember that 3 year olds are SO very different from one another, and try not to compare to other children. If he's a second child, they tend to speak less than first children. My son spoke full, clear sentences like a 5 year old at age 2, and my daughter at 2 1/2 is speaking two word sentences.

When my daughter asks for something with one or two words, I (nicely and enthusiastically) say the entire sentence that she is meaning to say. "Oh, you want Mommy to change the channel on the TV for you?"
Then I asked her to say TWO of those words instead of just one. "Can you say Mommy change?"
When she said it, I would clap crazily, and say "yeaaaa".
Soon, I would have her say two sets of two words. This is 4 words of the sentence now, but not all at the same time.
"Can you say Mommy change?" she'll say (mama chain)
"TV please?" (TV plee)
Followed by more enthusiastic clapping.
Soon, you'll be able to put all 4 of those words together.

He sounds like he is doing great with his letters and numbers, many of the kindergarteners at my inner city elementary school still do not know all of theirs. A few of my son's classmates from our upper-middle suburb last year didn't know all of theirs. Take little steps, he'll get there!

(Lazy? You might want to try another speech therapist, just for another opinion. That seems harsh.)

Answer 3

Well, it certainly shouldn't make you worry yet. There is still plenty of time for him to catch up. I don't know if I agree with the speech therapist about your son being lazy. That's a bid odd. Definitively give him more time. If he really is only lazy, maybe you could start trying not to do the things he asks you to do, unless he uses a full sentence. It can get very frustrating for him (and you), and this will only work if he really is lazy and does know how to make whole sentences. Good luck!

Answer 4

I hate to make you worry but my daughter's milestones were almost exactly the same although she crawled later, took forever to sit up by herself, but started initially speaking much earlier. She is moderately mentally retarded. I would take him to a developmental pediatrician for IQ testing. I know that's harsh but you can start getting help if that's the case. Just don't wait around for miracles.

Remember to head for two words before you try for a sentence. So when he says "change" just tell him "when I hear "change TV" I'll do that for you."

Answer 5

If you have taken to a therapist and they see no reason for him not talking in full sentences then the thing to do is this.

If he asks for something he needs to do it in a sentence or not get it. he will catch on quickly. He sounds like a pretty smart kid
so it wont take long at all.

Answer 6

one thing i have learned with my 3 year old who just turned 3 on February 6th you have to be patient and repetitive all the time he will get there don't worry mines not even potty trained yet!!

Answer 7

correct him when he speaks and have him repeat it. monkey see monkey do.