How can I help my three yr old be socialable?he has a severe speech delay which I think may be one of the reasons on why he is not sociable.hes in a prek class with ten other children his age but he chooses everyday not to be apart in any activities or crafts or play or anything.he hates coloring&doing crafts&just stuff that a t
Ree yr old would like to do.hes like that way with his father & i.he wants to play & be by himself.we have tried so many things.any suggestions?

Sounds a bit like my firstborn who turned out to be autistic--not speaking and wanting to play alone. Please have your doctor evaluate him for this so you can immediately begin to give him the right kind of help. So much is known about this condition now, and many helps are available. My son is 38 and is doing well despite a slow start.

Does he get speech therapy? He should. I would get him involved in maybe karate. My son has attended since he was 4 and there are even younger children. It builds self confidence, that might be what you son is lacking. Have you tried gymboree?

My son was diagnosed with autism over a year ago,but the doctor has yet to help me or give me aNy advice on how to go about helping my son with his speech delay,and social problems and so on.he was in an early intervention program where he would receive help on his speech and other skills but that only lasted until his third
Birthday due to they only work with them until they turn three.I just don't know what else to do to help him

Is there a library near you? Go there and talk to a reference librarian who will find books for you to check out. There are many parenting books on how to help an autistic child.

There are several web sites you should know about:

Autism, Asperger's syndrome, PDD-NOS and related disorders: fact sheets to help parents (http://www.autism-help.org/)

Autism/PDD Information and Support to help your child (http://www.autism-pdd.net/)

American Hyperlexia Association (http://www.hyperlexia.org/)

If you are in the U.S. call your county's human services office to find out if there are speech therapists, etc. available for a low cost through the county health department.

Autism is a very broad diagnosis. There are many flavors of autism. The child's brain has set up a different way to interact with other people and also how to learn. You have an interesting challenge ahead of you! Feel free to ask more questions here.

Thank you for the info & websites.unfortunatley where my son & I live there are no speech therapists anywhere remotely near our area.thats why I wanted to try and get some info & advice on how me myslef can help him.

thank you for the info & websites.unfortunatley where my son & i live there are no speech therapists anywhere remotely near our area.thats why i wanted to try and get some info & advice on how me myslef can help him.
Generally, where do you live? Is there a public library in the area?

O ye
There is a public library very close to my house & one nearby my sons prek school.I live in a small town called mountain city.I am so concerned about my son & just don't want them to push him to the back of the class because he is slower than others.I seem to be getting nowhere when it comes to helping him with his speech,& social skills& everything else.

1. Talk to him constantly. Tell him everything you are doing as you help him dress (name type and color of clothes as you put them on him, talk about buttons and zippers like count them, etc.), as you walk around the house or a store -- always have this conversation going with him.
2. Read those web sites for parenting helps.
3. Find sites for children's finger plays and songs and stories. Do those with him.
4. Never make fun of him or criticize him or try to hurry him.
5. Try some of these ideas --
Activities to Encourage Speech and Language Development (http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/parent-stim-activities.htm)
6. Try to get him to look at you. I'm betting eye contact is not good. Make it fun, like a game, Peekaboo etc.

How is the PreK teacher handling things?

He does pretty well in his prek class .his teacher encourages me to do the same things you last wrote like constatly talking to him which I do.I am always talking to him.telling him where we are going,pointing out animals when we see them whether it be outsidebor on TV just always talking to him.so far he has made little progress.he gets mad a lot when I talk or sing to him.he reacts by covering his ears & yelling.still don't know why that is.

he does pretty well in his prek class .his teacher encourages me to do the same things you last wrote like constatly talking to him which i do.i am always talking to him.telling him where we are going,pointing out animals when we see them whether it be outsidebor on tv just always talking to him.so far he has made little progress.he gets mad alot when i talk or sing to him.he reacts by covering his ears & yelling.still dont know why that is.
Some autistic kids don't like noise so try whispering your songs maybe with an animated face. Have him help you bake cookies. He can dump the sugar and brown sugar in the bowl. (Be sure to guide his hand so he doesn't dump the stuff on the floor. Help him crack the eggs too.)

Try this, try that, try something else.