I am concerned about my children's step sister and her development for her age. She only says about three words (mama, baby, bye-bye) and most of the time doesn't use those to communicate. She points to things she wants, whines or just stares at stuff until she gets it. I have never heard her use two words together, which is a concern to me because my daughter is only a month younger than her, and she can say hundreds of words and put together very lengthly sentences (up to about ten words).
I have also noticed other things that seem off for a girl her age. She has some major separation issues when her mother leaves her, even just to go into the next room. When she finally calms down from her mother being gone, she tends to prefer to be around other adults rather than children her own age. She also seems to have a pretty hard time adjusting to differences/changes.
Will she grow out of this, or are these signs of something else?
how do I bring this up to her parents?
2007-03-28 08:23:41 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Toddler & Preschooler
Im a speech therapist- yep its sounds like theres a delay there. I would recommned an evaluation. the trick is doing it tactfully. No one wants to admit there may be something wrong with their child! below is a checklist of skills by age. Maybe have the parent fill it out and then make some suggestions. The sooner the therapy is started, the more progress there will be. A 2 1/2 year old should be using 2-3 word utterances to communicate wants and needs. The pediatrician should have noted delays as well... thye might want a new dr. too!!! It does sound like there may be some other underlying issues... possible autism... but that is something that a speech therapist should be able to give more ideas about. it can't be diagnosed by a speech therapist, but she could refer for further testing. we are trained to look for signs of autism. most states offer free services through age 3 in the home. and then after age three in the school district. The pediatrician will have more information. he needs to write a prescription for a speech eval. and once that is written, you can go to private therapsits or look for early intervention contacts in your area.
2007-03-29 11:35:24 · answer #1 · answered by Meeeeegan 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Her speech certainly sounds delayed a bit, but kids do develop at different rates... however its important to also evaluate her receptive speech - does she understand what people are saying to her, can she follow simple one step directions? If that is delayed as well, she should be evaluated by early intervention or a developmental pediatrician to see whats going on. She could very well grow out of it and be fine, but she should be evaluated to be sure. The issues you mention could be signs for being on the spectrum for autism, but some kids are also just that way and grow out of it. Definitely an evaluation will tell for sure.
Now, how to bring it up to her parents... thats REALLY hard as a parent can get easily offended by these suggestions. You can maybe talk about how verbal your daughter is, and see if that creates an opening, if her parents express any concerns about theirs. I'm not sure how your relationship is with her parents.... if you don't think they will be offended, maybe suggest she has her speech evaluated. Good luck!
2007-03-28 16:35:14 · answer #2 · answered by Mom 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Her parents should take her to the doctor NOW!! Was she delayed at walking and doing other things too??
It could be a number of things..Her hearing could very well be bad..In that case they need to know before she gets much older..
It could be she has some mental disabilities..Which needs to be addressed now also..
My youngest son was like this..His father/my hubby didn't want to face that anything was wrong with HIS SON..Not only did he have hearing problems..He also has mental delays..Had we of did something when he was 2 1/2..He wouldn't of had to go through so much..
He made up his own sign language..Due to not being able to speak..due to not being able to hear properly..
I'm not real sure to be honest how you should go about bringing this up to her parents..It's hard for any parent to face their child has any type of disability..
If your a praying person..Pray first..God will guide you on how to go about doing it..
If your not..Do it with all the love and concern you can..
2007-03-28 16:24:01 · answer #3 · answered by Havin' a good day.. 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
She could grow out of it, or it could be a sign of something else. My nephew still wasn't talking much at the age of 3, his parents finally took him to a speech pathologist, who referred him to an audiologist, and it turned out he was nearly deaf (doing very well these days with hearing aids at the age of 6).
It's probably getting to the point where they will want to take her to a speech pathologist to rule out any problems.
2007-03-28 15:29:48 · answer #4 · answered by Heather Y 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thats difficult, she needs to be seen by a mental doctor.
2007-03-28 15:43:37 · answer #5 · answered by 511@ 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋