My three year old nephew can not talk and hides his face a lot. He likes to hurt and poke other people and when you ask him a question he will say no, that is the only word he knows. When he is in a store he will have to touch everything in the isles and will not stop. He also has a lot of mood swings from happy to crying instantly. Any advise will help, thanks.

My three year old nephew can not talk and hides his face a lot. He likes to hurt and poke other people and when you ask him a question he will say no, that is the only word he knows. When he is in a store he will have to touch everything in the isles and will not stop. He also has a lot of mood swings from happy to crying instantly. Any advise will help, thanks.

Yingling, all things considered, as to milestones that a 3 year old should have achieved, your nephew seems to be behind. He should have somewhere around 300 words at age 3, and he should be able to ask age appropriate questions, and be understood by that age.

As to the other questions and concerns you have, his Doctor should be the first one asked, and he/she will make recommendations as to testing further, when physical causes are ruled out.

You are right to have concerns, and I realize it may not be an easy topic to bring up with his parents, but I urge you to. If they are not aware, or think that there is nothing wrong because nobody has said anything, it could be harmful to his development to wait any longer before speaking up. They may have already had their own concerns and have had him to a Doctor, but are just not talking about it. If that is the case, either way you are doing the right thing by asking.

This is a general idea of normal milestones, give or take, of a three year old. I would take some of this with a grain of salt as most do not progress at the same rate, in any area, but generally speaking, he should have developed more skill than you have said.

The Talking Three Year Old: Communication Milestones For Early Speech and Language Skills (http://infanttoddlerdevelopment.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_talking_three_year_old)