My youngest will be three tomorrow and I can't understand half of what she is saying... My older two were speaking as well as most adults by this age. She has a doctor's appointment next week, but what do you think?
By now she should be intelligible. Talk with the pediatrician and ask for a referral for a speech evaluation. It can't hurt!
Have you had her hearing checked? Maybe talk to your doctor about that.
My son started going to speech at 18 months because he didn't have as many words as my pediatrician would have liked. I pulled him out after 6 months because he was always getting sick there. I am sorry I didn't look for another place and keep with it. I started him with speech in the school district at 3, and then added private speech for the summer because I was afraid it would be too long of a break. Most school districts will do an evaluation and provide free services if they feel there is a need. I ended up continuing the private speech during the next school year. It made an amazing difference. He just started kindergarten, and he goes to speech 2x a week. They pull him out of class with another boy for 1/2 hr. I would definitely go for an evaluation. Don't make the same mistake I did and wait thinking it will come on it's own.
It's hard with 3rd children. They often that their older siblings speak for them. As long as she has 200 or so words, she should be fine. Start making a list of the words she says that you DO understand. The list may surprise you! She should also be speaking in 3-5 word sentences. Look for that.
Then, when she does ask you for something, repeat what she says and enunciate properly so that she can hear the proper pronunciation of the words.
ECI ends at age 3, so those services will not be available to you, but your pedi may refer you to an audiologist and speech therapist. It doesn't mean that there is anything wrong, just that she may need some help getting through the "hard" part of learning language.
The earlier she gets that help, the better off she will be.
Good Luck!
Call Any Baby Can and set it up for an assessment. They will come to you and it can be covered by insurance if you have it or they work on a sliding scale and that often means free. They worked with one of my kids and did an assessment on another, but he didn't need their services. If he does need help they will come to you a few times a month depending on your needs,.
Our son is three and a half I can understand about 90% of what he is saying. When he says bar-b-q pit I had no idea what he was saying that took a long time to say. He will still say odd things like pupcake instead of cup cake. although he can say cup as in drink. He has a horrible time saying Sponge Bob Square Pants... "ponge ba pear pants" but most of what he says we understand and others do too. I would ask the pedi. He might need a bit of speach therapy to catch him up or help him hear as well as the older ones did. I know with my second child I dont have the same free time I did with my oldest. She is not getting as much one on one time with learning like he did. She says a few words but not momma. she says dada when she is asking for something or trying to give you something. she is only one and a half though. Please dont think I am implying that your son is slow or anything by suggesting he might need speech therapy. Some times there just needs to be extra one on one time that we mommas dont always have with more than one running around. Also please dont think I am trying to say your not spending enough time with him in this area. I am sure you have been watching it and working with him. :D
Certainly, all kids are different, but if you think she needs it, have her evaluated. Docs are great, but they are NOT speech therapists. Mine called me, when he got a form from Easter Seals to assure me my daughter didn't need it. No really, he did! Now, this was five years ago, so I don't know if they still do it, and my daughter was only 2 at the time and I know age is a big cut off for certain services, but I called Easter Seals (we live in San Antonio, TX). They did a total eval and within 10 minutes said she qualified. Stephanie, our speech therapist, came to our house once a week until she turned 3. I then was told we had the option of the school district, for free or continuing with them, but I would have to pay. (again, I don't know if they still do this) We went to the public school, which I could, and did, literally walk to from our house, and met with the speech lady. She was nice, but I didn't have the same rapport as I did with Stephanie and my daughter wouldn't get one on one attention like she would at Easter Seals. We opted to stick with Easter Seals, pay the deductible and let our insurance pay the rest. I had to go to their office, but it was well worth it. They do a fine job in the public schools, but often their approach and goals are diffferentm and again no one one one attention. They told me that my daughter would be fine (my words, not theirs, but I'm paraphrasing) by the end of 2nd grade and would set up a plan accordingly. My Easter Seal's gal told me we would shoot for Kinder.(again, my wording and it was explained that it was a reachable goal) We did, and my daughter quit therapy a little past her fourth birthday. She still had some things to work on, which we did at home as she was no longer "bad enough" and didn't qualify for Easter Seals any longer. If you opt for ECI, just remember that the therapy doesn't stop there. Work with the sounds or words or whatever excercies they give you. I remember standing in line at Disney World waiting for the shuttle to take us back to the hotel and doing words while we waited. Because she was used to that (did it in lines at the grocery store, too!) she didn't think anything of it!
That's actually pretty typical for a 3rd or even 4th child. They don't have to learn to communicate as well because the older siblings tend to interpret for them. Of course there are other factors usually involved. It's probably nothing to worry about, and they may refer you to speech therapy. This children that I have cared for with similar issues have all done great with speech therapy.
There may be several reasons for that. I have had 3 boys, all with Speech Development Delay, and all have 1) had their hearing tested, 2) been evaluated by a specialist (either through the school district or at the HMO clinic), and 3) were eligible for speech therapy in ECI and in school.
The ECI program in my area works with kids 18mo to 3 yrs old. Even if that is the case for you, they might be able to do the evaluation part. I highly recommend that, if you can get their evaluation. (free is good)
Now, other reasons, that I can think of, include that her older siblings are "interpreting" for her and she has little need to vocally make herself understood. Also, you might find that you anticipate her needs so much (I know I did this), that she doesn't get the prompting and/or lots of opportunities to work at it and improve her speech.
What I hope you get from your Mamapedia question is plenty of questions for the pediatrician. Don't leave the appointment (annual check-up I'm guessing) without getting answers you can work with.
Don't let the doc say "let's wait and see" and doesn't do anything else. Quite frankly, I think a hearing test (yes, even for a 3-yr-old) is the minimum the doc will suggest. Be sure to ask, shall we come back to see you after the hearing test? or will you be ready with a referral (to speech evaluation) if her hearing tests as normal.
Hopefully you have a fantastic pedi and you will get answers!
I found it useful to contact my school district and meet with the speech therapist / speech evaluator. I was able to start some sign language because, until my son could speak his needs, it helped keep the frustration level down (his frustration and mine!). I also got some great tips. Very helpful.
It will be really helpful to document exactly what type of speech trouble is happening. My son (now 5) spent 6 months in speech therapy (out of pocket...it's hard to get a diagnosis that the insurance likes) for apraxia and he is now complimented on how well he speaks by those who have no idea that he was in therapy. The pediatrician mainly wanted to test hearing and then "let it be", but speech therapy was ENORMOUSLY helpful for my son and our family (minimized frustration). I wrote down all the words that I could understand but no one else could so that we could figure out that he was dropping first consonants, etc. The tricky part with him was that he could make all the sounds, but it was putting them together that was nearly impossible. It's also really helpful to take some home video of her speaking, both for the pediatrician or speech therapist, and for yourself to judge improvement in a few months.
