My nephew can barely talk and is 3 1/2 is this normal?

Question

My 5 year old niece seems to understand him well but I can barely make out his words. He can't really annunciate most sounds. He can hear well and listens and knows what you are saying. It's so hard to make out what he wants or is trying to say. He does go to daycare so you would think he picks up new words and the teachers talk to him. I managed a small childcare facility and remember that most 2 year olds can even say simple words, and by 3 you should be able to have a simple conversation. Any suggestions or anyone know of other children with this similar problem and what happens?

Answer 1

some children learn late, it was same with my neighbours child.. try to keep him more with other childrens so that he will try to talk to them and learn faster as children learn faster with other children...

personal experience

Answer 2

Some children just naturally talk later than others. However, it is a good idea to start checking out whether he has any hearing difficulties or other conditions, such as autism. These can seriously make a child articulate worse than their peers. Even if the child can hear the instructions right (so we assume) it could also be that he is copying the other children or following our visual cues (like pointing) to complete the instruction.

My suggestion is to start from the simplest check. It is better for the parents to remove any doubt that the problem is hearing related before checking if it's related to his poor muscular control for speech formation. If there seems to be no other major problems or behavior besides articulation difficulties, then it might be ok to wait till the child is older before deciding if the condition is serious enough for speech therapy.

Answer 3

I think the child should be checked...each child learns and develops at different rates, but for the most part they are talking at least a few words understandably by now. My sister's son could not talk and he was almost 4 years old before they finally gave him a name and reason for it. He has aphasia/apraxia....it causes him to stutter, not say the words he wants, and it sort of paralyzes one side of his tongue so he can't speak right. He also is a little bit slow in other ways, and it controls some of his fine motor skills, his gait, etc...but he is 20 years old now....the main thing they noticed at the young age was the speech problem. The other things came with closer monitoring and age. They have been able to provide him with sign language classes, a special computer that can talk for him (he has always drawn social security on it to help him with extras), and he talks ALOT...but you really have to know him to know what he is saying..it causes excess drool...which, a vibrating massager on the lips/chin area can help with that. Anyhoo....good luck. Hope it's not that, it's fairly rare, so I doubt that it is. (My nephew had a grand mall seizure when he was 4 months old and actually died 3 times before they stabilized him. He was premature, got pneumonia, very undernourished....and when they ran a catscan of his brain, they saw a shadow...they said he had possibly had a stroke when his fever got so high and he seizured..???????? Noone will ever really know, but God.)...either way he is a very happy, well liked boy/man, love him to pieces, and is a joy for company. Like I said, it's better to know so they can start the therapy/treatment asap. Not trying to scare you either...!!! Please don't think that. I just wish she would have listened (my sister) a little sooner...we tried and tried to tell her that something was wrong with my nephew....but she didn't see it.
God bless you.
Christy

Answer 4

Language milestones they should have developed by the end of age 4:

-Has mastered some basic rules of grammar
-Speaks in sentences of five to six words
-Speaks clearly enough for strangers to understand
-Tells stories

Language milestones they should have developed
by the end of age 5:

-Recalls part of a story
-Speaks sentences of more than five words
-Uses future tense
-Tells longer stories
-Says name and address

If the child is not meeting the milestones, it would probaly be best for the parent(s) to talk to their pediatrician about it and even the school he attends. They should be able to set up to have him evaluated. The child may very well be autisic..one of main signs of autism is language delays.

Every person with autism is an individual, and like all individuals, has a unique personality and combination of characteristics. Some individuals mildly affected may exhibit only slight delays in language and greater challenges with social interactions. They may have difficulty initiating and/or maintaining a conversation. Their communication is often described as talking at others instead of to them. (For example, monologue on a favorite subject that continues despite attempts by others to interject comments).

Answer 5

I AM SO SICK OF THSE PEOPLE CRYING "AUTISM" whenever there is speech/language delay. There are many disorders that have speech and or language delay as a symptom. By the time a child is 3, strangers should be able to understand 3/4 of what the child says, and by 4, they should be able to understand 100% of what the child says. He is long overdue for a speech and language evaluation by a licensed and certified speech pathologist. Free evaluations and therapy are available through your neighborhood elementary school; you just have to call the principal and request them. The quicker he begins therapy, the lower the impact on his learning once he does start school.

Answer 6

when you say he hears well...is that just your opinion or has he had a medical check up? You should rule out a medical problem with his hearing first before assuming all things are fine. having said that my son was 3 and something before he started speaking in simple sentences where others could understand him...I could understand him before that...lol....but my 2 daughters were speaking at 1 year with no problem....its not the same for all children so dont sweat it yet if the hearing test turns out fine.

Answer 7

My brother-in-law had speech problems like that. it turns out he had multpile eardrums and fluid in his ears so everything sounded like being underwater.

They caught it and fixed it about age 5. He is 18 now, has a slight lisp, but you'd never know if someone didn't say something about it.

Definitely have his hearing checked!

Answer 8

My sister had the same problem when she was little. She didn't speak well at all, our mom couldn't really understand what she was trying to say half the time. She took her to the doctors and it turned out she had trouble hearing. They had to stick tubes in her ears to drain them because she had large amounts of ear wax. It made a huge difference so I would just get that checked out.

Answer 9

No, it's not normal. His mother needs to take him to their district school. This is free for all people (I'm assuming you are in the U.S.). They will evaluate him and do test. If he does have some sort of disability, Or developmental delay he is eligible for early intervention services.

Answer 10

well my 3 year old can talk well but there are sometimes i cant understand him and what words he is trying to say.
but it may just be a fase. try to work with him. talk to him all the time. if that dosnt work i would have him checked...

Answer 11

i had a nephew like that and he was a lil over 4 and my sister had to take him to speeching classes