3 Year Old--communication Skills

Momma knows best. If you are concerned, then you should have it checked into. She may have a hearing difficulty or an auditory processing delay. Since she is 3 years old, you can have the local school district look at her. She may qualify for the PPCD class. It is a special education class for children with different delays. Call one of the elementary schools and ask about Child Find. That is what they call it in Leander. It may be different in AISD. It is the program that works with special needs kids after they are too old for Early Childhood Intervention (birth to 3). Since it is the end of the year, they may not be able to get to her untilt he fall, but you should call now. They have a certain number of days to look into your case. If you start now, they may be able to get her started in the beginning of the year. Also, you should have her hearing tested. Dr. Busse is a very good pediatric audiologist. He is located in north Austin. Also, you might look into speech therapy. Children's Therapeutics of Austin is very good.

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K.

Keep a journal of anything that happens with her speech. You can have the school district evaluate her. If she qualifies for services the school will provide them. Ages birth to 3 is usually services by Easter Seals or Brighton. It really depends on where you live. Also look at your daughters diet. My 2.5yr old looses processing skills when she has dairy and gluten. My family is on a GF/CF diet. If possible look into supplementing her diet. Maybe have her tested to look for missing nutrients in her diet. My eldest had a hair & urine analyis done. She has been gaining & losing speech of a long time. She has been diagnosed with autism. Well, I can ramble on forever here. My oldest daughter age 5 is still non verbal but can sign complete thoughts. I put her on a special diet. I saw some change but she stiil was having learing issues. I gave her some new vitamin I heard about in Jenny MC Carthy's book. My little girl was changing in a positive way. I found a doctor who evaluated her blood work & we have taken certain foods out of her diet & incresed nutrition support. Tests also revealed huge amount of yeast in her tummy. Most likely that was caused by all the antibotics she took. My daughter is looking at me, she's responding to me verbally. We are seeing improve ment a little at a time.

The doctor I found is called a DAN!(Defeat Autism Now) doctor.

take care
M.
____@____.com

Write if you have any questions. You are awesome mom for noticing and looking for answers.

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has her pedi said anything about it. My daughter is 16 months and pedi makes her talk at every appointment to see where she is at verbally! Also, since day one, no baby talk from us! We have talked to her the way we talk to each other and she can now talk in simple sentences. As long as doc does not see a problem, I would not sweat it too much!

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I would suggest having her speech evaluated, just in case. It's better to deal with any issues while children are as young as possible & there brains are still in overdrive. And if she's evaluated & doesn't qualify for services, then you needn't worry. You can call the DARS line for Early Childhood Intervention at 1-800-628-5115.

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This is ok. when she get in to school they will help her just like you are helping her. She is still young and use to just saying small words. with her words "baa-baa-bee-bee" she maybe trying to get the words right and just cant figure them out. If you hear this just ask her to point if you dont know what she is saying then say what it is and have her say it. My son use to use the trird person talking....that was really hard to break, what it took was him going in to pre-k and learning. I hope this helps some. Just keep working with her and keep calm.:)

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I am totally opposed to ever using baby talk. I think that if she only says juice instead of may I have some juice you should pretend that you don't understand her. It is very important that you break her out of the baby talk. She will have a hard time at school and other kids will make fun. I don't think that you are freaking out. It is good that you recognize there may be a problem. We never used baby talk at home and both of my kids were extremely well spoken. Work with her and make sure that she knows it is unacceptable to use baby talk.

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hey K., I just read your request, and I suggest you get your daughter evaluated by your local school district. They will perform a vision and hearing test, and speech test, upon results you will either be in speech therapy or not. Now that it is the end of the year, I am not sure if they will test during the summer or not, you may have to pay to get her tested elsewhere, ask your pedi. for a source. Now that she is three, she is of age to be tested at your local school district. Just so you know, and not to worry, I had my daughter tested , and she did need speech therapy, she actually just finished last week 7 weeks of therapy at our local school. She did not need summer classes, but I have hired a private teacher, who will actually be her teacher next year, to help during the summer. I have noticed a HUGE difference just in the 7 weeks she attended classes. We will begin 2x a week starting the school year. I just wanted to share our story with you. My daughters speech teacher gave us great homework, and great CD's to help with her speech . I would be glad to share. My daughter loves the music, and my 2 yr. old even enjoys repeating. If you have crossed out hearing, vision and any other medical problem, she just may need more social interaction. Good luck, and don't worry, you sound like a good mom. My email address is ____@____.com if you would like some info.

Does she have a baby sister or brother that get's lots of attention ? If she does , she is acting out because the baby gets more attention than her, ( she thinks ).Or when she was little , was something different in her life ? The amount of time spent with you ? I am a single mom also, who had to work . so I understand. You should , reassure her that is she is important to you and build her self-confidence daily . And when she baby talks remind her that she doesn't need to do that , she is a big girl now . that when she talks like a big girl , she will get the glass of water ot what ever it is she needs .Hope this helps , G.

that definately sounds like your daughter needs some intervention...you can contact the elementary school in your area to request a speech evaluation. Once kids turn 3 they can be enrolled in a free speech classroom where they are with other kids with the same issues. We did it with our first child and it helped him tremendously but it was 8 years ago and I cant remember what its called.
good luck

Just went back and read all the advice. Listen to the Speech patholigist. (SP?) Personally, I would check her ears and then contact the school.

Don't listen to anything that sounds a little judgmental. You are doing a great job. The fact that you are reaching out to make sure and get more advice on what you can do is proof.

Good luck

My DD is also 3 and often does this. With her, I think it is a motivation/laziness issue. When I ignore her, she comes up with the sentence. When she talks baby talk and pretends that you can understand, she gets the look. Then she finds the words. I know that with my DD, this is a game obnoxious as it is. I would say that if you are truly concerned that this is a speech delay, then by all means, consult your local elementary school. If you think this is a game, don't play it. "Hmm, is there a baby in here? I keep hearing baby talk, but I can only see my big girl."
Good luck.

K. ,
did you bsby talk to her?? the truth ,so she may have got it from there ,so you just need to work with her dont give her what she wants ubtil she asks for it .
L.

I would simple not let your daughter get away with talking like a baby. She's old enough to understand when you tell her that not the way we talk anymore that's how babies talk. You need to use your big girl words. And next time he asks for a ba-ba tell her oh you mean your cup or drink or juice or whatever you want to call it. And don't give it to her till she says the right word. Then slowly pregress to juice please, then i want juice then i want juice please. Not all sounds will be perfect of course but if you can understand what word she's saying then it counts. And if after a week or so of that she's not talking more it wouldn't hurt to look into a speech evaluation. Lots of kids have speech issues.
hth

K.,

For one, you are doing a good job with reinforcing good communication skills.

I have both of my kids who have had speech issues, with my daughter being the worst...she went through Brighton school (speech pathology at age 1 yr) and we continue to keep her in speech. And my son has some speech issues as well, just in regard to pronounciation.

You may want to look into Brighton School or other speech specialists to get help in correcting your daughter's communication skills. Don't look at it as a negative, but rather just another resource to better your child's communication. In most cases, it will be covered by your health insurance. You can also start by asking for a referral from your pediatrician for speech issues.

Hope this helps.

A.

I had this same issue with my youngest. She almost had her own language. I contacted the local elementary school for language development diagnostic testing...free of charge. The ISD will provide this service even at this young age. They had us take her to a hearing audiologist doctor for a hearing test. She passed. The ISD sent out a diagnostic to our house and later determined that her older sister and I were talking for. She gave us wonderful examples and tools to get her to speak for herself. She improved within a year!! But I would get professional help. They will guide you correctly through the process. And it only cost us the hearing test!!! Good luck.
Oh... and by the way, it is the responsibility of the ISD to provide such services to children younger than kindergarteners. I have heard horror stories of ISD's not working with parents in similar situations. Be persistent and contact the district office of your ISD if necessary. Their state funding demands them to work with kids prior to school age so when they go to school, they are ready to learn.

Glad you are aware of your daughter enough to ask the questions. It may be just speech development issues, in which case working with her, reading to her, watching TV and discussing the programming would all be great ways to help her language development. I have really early talkers and I just talked to them constantly. I would point out things as we were driving and never talked to them in a baby-talk way so they can hear what adult language patterns sound like.

The other thing to consider however, is the possibility of a mild form of autism. Often when kids seem to speak their own language, or when they engage in echolalia (repeating phrases over and over that they have heard before when it is not exactly appropriate timing) there is a mild autism. This is not to say that your child is delayed in any way, they just need to be diagnosed and treated through speech and other therapies so they can catch up or be treated as necessary. Typically there are other indicators for autism...lack of eye contact, toe walking, infant reflux, inability to point things out when asked, "zoning out." This is not an inclusive list, but it is a place to start. Good luck and God Bless you both.

All public schools offer free speech screening and screening for developmental delays for children beginning at age 3. Call the school and schedule a screening. Should she need therapy, it is free also.
Good luck.
P.

I'm going to share with you my experience, but I'm in no way saying that your daughter has what my daughter has, but you should seek prefessional help if your gut feeling is telling you something is wrong. I wish I would have gone with my gut feeling earlier, I would have started sooner with alll the treatments my child gets now.
Have you tried going to a neuropsychologist? I had the same problem and I wish I would have had someone to suggest this to me when my daughter was three, but I found out when she was five and already in school. My daughter would not always speak in full sentences and I asked her pediatrician if this was normal twice, but she said she would outgrow it each time I asked. The problem with that is that a pediatrician is not fully trained to make that diagnosis. My daughter would point to things rather than ask for them and she seemed to not be interested in playing with other kids. My daughter has autism. Little did I know that some kids with Autism struggle to communicate and although they may have a strong desire to be invloved in play activities with other kids or parents, they simply can not express themselves the way that they would like too. Now again, I'm not saying that's what your daughter has. I only suggest that if you are that concerned maybe you should seek the help of a professional neuropsychologist. I now have my daughter on the Gluten Free Casein Free diet and I must say it has helped her tremendously. She also gets speech therapy at her school once a week. Even though my childs Gastroenterologist was reluctant that I tried the diet because she said it would have little or no effect, she agreed for me to try it and It's working. My daughter communicates with us a whole lot more now than before she was on this diet that eliminates all gluten containing products like wheat, barely, oats,etc.. and eliminates casein like milk derived products. A good website is www.Autismspeaks.org Now that I've had a second child, now four, I saw the differences while he was growing up, but it's hard to make that distinction between other kids when you're a first time parent. I hope this helps. Thanks and God Bless you.

I believe the current phrase is "Chill". You are over-reacting. I had a threee year old who couldn/wouldn't make complete sentences. Give her a few months with the baby talk, then don't respond when she uses it. Other children will make fun of her on the baby talk issue, and that may be all it takes...but don't worry so much about complete/proper sentences...that'll come in time.

It is hard not to compare kids, but if you are really concerned you can have her tested through the school district that you are zoned to for free. In the state of Texas once a child turns three they are eligible to receive Speech/Language services through the school district at no cost to you. Just call the Administration building of the district you live in and ask them who to talk to about getting your child tested for Speech/Language Isses. They should be able to help you. I hope all goes well.
M.

Hi,

I, too, am the single mother of an almost 3 y.o. girl - Sounds as if you would benefit from contacting Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) or, since your daughter is 3, the next step is PPCD - forget what it stands for but it's for ECI-type help if child is 3 or over - they have speech specialist to work with you and your child - the main thing they do is teach us, as parents, how to effectively teach our children to speak, etc. There is a bit of paperwork but it is well worth it. Some of hte issues may be within your child but they can help you to bring out the best in her development. I was doing things that I didn't even know were encouraging her not to speak well or at all.

Sort of surprised if your pediatrician didn't direct you this way already - mine started noting her delays at age 1.

Good luck!

I can see your concern my brother has three children, 7,5,and 4and they are gowingup be treatedd baby like so they have show that they are deleoping slower thanmost their age On the other hand a friend of mine is teaching her children as thought they are much older almost communicates as those they are teens they are 4 and6. they shown to pick things up much quicker. Life has taught me it that it may be genentics or it maybe just on how the child is raised. in either case. work with yours and in time she will suprising you with all that she knows. Life passes to quickley and she won't be little for long. She is showing you that she wants to try but don't forceher to much because she may notbe ready. work at her pace and be patience. if you are that worried discuss it with her doctor.

I have a 4 year old that is still really hard to understand, so I know what you are going through. He can understand everything I am saying and can do anything I ask. I took him to have his speech evaluated when he was 3 and they said just repeat what he says after he says it so he can hear the right way to say it. You might try that. They said that kids learn from hearing it, not by saying it. As early as the age of 3 the school district will evaluate your childs speech for free if you are concerned. Hope that helps.

Have her hearing checked, this will help to see if that could be the problem. In Texas they will send someone out to your house at no cost to do an eval. I bet your state has similar program set up. These are suggestions that I did to help my duaghter with a similar situation. There probally is nothing wrong, but better safe then sorry.

Your child may have a Speech delay. You can take her to any school district for an evaluation of her Speech. This is a free service. The programs are under Early Childhood intervention or PPCD (Pre-school program for children with disabilities.) She can get early help with her Speech and you can get ideas of ways to help her at home. J. K ( I have taught PPCD for ten years and now teach an inclusion pre-k in DVISD.)

I think that you should not make a big deal of it and just go and talk to her as usual and I believe it will stop. If you are making an issue of this and she knows it she is going to continue to do it. So just blow it off and act normal. Be blessed!!!

I think a lot of times we do compare our children to others as far as milestones and while it is a good measuring tool, they are not the end all be all.

Children seem to imulate those that they are around consistently. I would suggest you keep doing what you are doing, teach her with every response and talk to her as if she were capable of understanding, even if you think you are going over her head.

I don't know if I did the right thing or not, but as my son got older I spoke to him as if he were a grown up and could understand everything I was saying. I am a single mom of a four year old boy. I bet you will be surprised soon, it is like one day they go to bed little ones and wake up the next day saying things to you that you had no idea they knew.

As long as she knows mommy loves her regardless of anything, you and she will be fine.

At least one other person here has mentioned getting her ears checked out and from my experience, this is worth doing. Blockages or hearing loss can affect children's communication development, especially due to being unable to hear conversations between others clearly. Observing others' conversations is part of how children learn to speak as well. She might hear you fine up close to her, but further away it may diminish. If she's not really experiencing conversations all around her, it could play a role. Kids also learn to converse through other kids, so perhaps there's another avenue to look into.

Either way, I think you have enough evidence to get her checked out further and you'll feel much better and more empowered with the information you receive as a result. If you catch her now, before school, it'll make a big difference if she does need help.

I'm always an advocate for a 2nd and 3rd opinion from any professional, whether it be medical, psychological or the plumber giving you a quote on repairs. If you're not satisfied with previous doctor's assumptions, talk to someone else. Wisdom lies in the center of a multitude of views. If more people made a point of this, it would really improve medicine and general quality of life.

When my son was having problems it was because of a hearing loss issue. He still reverts back to baby talk now that he is in pre-k as an attention getter. Both my husband and I will tell him we need to use our good words so we can understand him. I have also used the "ignore the bad behavior" technique. This was successful for us as well. Made a big deal over the proper use of word usage and ignored the baby talk until he came to us and was in our face per say. Then we would say oh I didn't know you were talking to me, or see mommy/daddy don't understand that kind of talk so thought you were playing with your toys.

I wouldn't fret... Is she in a pre school program? As long as she does know how to speak. Once she gets into school, you shuld express your concern to the teachers so they can have the ok to work with her. If by kindergarten she seems to still be doing that, they may suggest to put her in speech therapy. Hey, I have a 3 year old who is just just beginning to talk and the little that he does say, we understand about 30 percent of it... It is hard not compare to the other kids, but try not to.

Hi K.,

I am a Speech Pathologist in Midland. Yes, you are doing a good job and from what your note says, it would not hurt to seek professional opinion/help. You can contact the school district and see if they have a "child find" for their preschool program. If she has a speech and language delay, she could qualify for their program. If you have insurance that pays for speech therapy, you might seek a private SLP.

You can look up the American Speech and Language Association web, www.asha.org and look for developmental charts. You dtr should be using complete sentences for sure! Good luck, L.

I know this is tough, and haven't really experienced exactly what you are, but if you don't give the juice or whatever to her until she responds the way you want her to, it might help. It will probably take patience, but it will get better if she realizes she has to do it. Somtimes it's a matter of who is the most determined to get her way. I have taught school for 11 years, and it works if you can be consistent.
Good Luck,
G. Biggi

I would have her see a speach pathologist. My mom is one and gets 2 year old that won't say a thing. She see them for about 6 weeks and then the mom's complain that they won't stop talking. LOL! Speach Pathologist work miracles. I would talk to your pediatrician and talk about your concerns and have him reccomend one for you. Also, call the elementry school speach pathologist to see where they reccomend. I would call several schools to get different reccomendations. Remember some babies just go at there own pace.

Since your daughter is 3 you can take her to your local elem school and have them do a speech evaluation on her. I did this with my daughter and it really helped because I knew that either she would get some really good (and free) help with her speech or they would say that what she was doing was age appropriate. I taught kinder for 5 years and I know that speech evaluations are one of the most common things kids are tested for in school. My friends daughter has been in speech classes now for 6 months (she is 3) and they have seen a world of difference in her speech. If you are worried, why not?

I think it is normal for her to talk the way she is. She will start talking better when she is around other kids in school & social settings. When my son was 3 - my daughter & I were the only ones that could understand him. You are doing the right thing by making her repeat things that she says in "baby talk" because we did not do that & I regretted it. Although on the "complete sentence structure" I wouldn't worry about that too much. She will get it in time. Good luck!!

Have you had her hearing checked? Sometimes kids have hearing problems and you can't tell til they try to talk. Don't panic though, alot of ear problems come from simple things like drinking a bottle or liquides fully reclined or maybe she just has alot of sinus allergies or drainage issues that leave her ears plugged. Just a thought.

Oh P.S., If she is exposed to more than one language at a time it will also take a child about a year longer to develope speech because they are trying to distinguish between the different sounds.

When she just says "juice" make her ask for it correctly before giving it to her. You might say something like " juice, where is juice? I dont see any juice" intecing her to say "no momma I want some juice" You might say something like big girls dont talk baby talk ( in a kind voice). When she says "dog" ask her what is that dog doing? Personally I dont like when kids miss speak when you know they know what to say. A little girl keept asking me if she was an artical and i keept telling her no she was an artist and i explained what an artical was. Every time she made the slip up i told her. She truly wants to speak the correct words you can see she gets embarrassed a bit when she says the wrong word and her parents think its cute and wont tell her the correct way of saying it. Best of luck.

K.,

While I understand your concern, please try to remember that children develop at different rates. You are doing the right thing by speaking to her in complete sentences. When she says "juice" or "dog" just calmly ask her to clarify what she'd like. "Would you like juice or do you see juice?" This will help encourage her to use her words. Another fun idea would be to sing nursery rhymes/songs with her.

Have faith, she'll speak more fluently when she's ready.
A. W.

Check with your local Early Childhood Intervention center. They will evaluate your child. I think this is a free service. They will also give you suggestions on how to help your child.

Have you checked with your child's peditrician to see if he noticed the late language development.
Also check with your local school ditrict/school to see if you can schedule a speech evaluation. If your child qualifies, she may start speech therapy now.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I can't understand what you're saying you unless you use big-girl sentences." Just don't respond to one-word sentences by giving her what she wants; wait until she asks using the appropriate words you've given her. If I can get what I want in one word, I'm likely to use that shortcut too! :-)

And you gotta love yourself so that you're able to love your daughter.

Each child is unique. With all the books and materials out there to inform us what we should expect... no 2 kids are alike. I wouldn't stress over it. When my son was 18months I kept being harassed by my step mom that something might be wrong with him and that I should go see a specialist. A couple month's later he shocked me by full sentences... and he hasn't stop talking since... lol

My twin girls are now turning 3 and they are doing the exact same thing as your little girl. I even had ECI over but they told me its normal and I should expect them to start talking in complete sentences sometime this year... Just keep up the good work and don't worry - she will figure it out!