[carnuska]

My 3 year old son only says single words which are not clearly understood. My older son went to speech therapy when he was 4, but he talked just had some problems with certain letters. Could speech help my son that doesn't even really talk?

[450donn]

How much time a day do you spend talking to him? I know one little girl who just turned four and she can carry on an intelligent conversation with adults all day and often does. Why you ask? He mother spends a lot of time reading and talking to her. Not just letting her play by her self. Not to say that speech therapy may not be needed but it sure is a free way to help him along.

[Justwantfair]

Your child's speech development is NOT necessarily a reflection on your parenting skills. There are many children that are slow to speak if they have any problems at all with their hearing. It is also common for children with older sibling(s) to take longer developing their speech if they are being coddled by an older sibling always reacting to their desires.

Since you are concerned, try speaking to your pediatrician about the situation. They may recommend an ENT doctor.

[carnuska]

Thank you for your input 450donn but I am home with my son all day and we play together, read books, and I encourage speech with flash cards and story books. Yes he watches TV and does play by himself on occasion.

[carnuska]

Justwantfair I thank you very much for your input I also agree with the older sibling thing because I even catch my oldest one doing everything for him. The little one will cry for something and the older one is right there doing what he wants. I did just talk to the doctor and we have an appointment for speech. I hope ALL people don't feel that if a child is behind in developing, that it is a result of parenting!! I am sure there are some cases out there where that is true, but this is not one.

[twinkiedooter]

My son had problems when he was 3 as well. I took him to speech therapy and he was taught sign language as he was not really speaking more than one or two words and had a hard time communicating his wants and needs. After learning sign language and he knew he could communicate he relaxed enough during his 2X weekly sessions with the therapist and started talking words and then making sentences. He had a problem during his delivery where both he and I could have died due to complications.

I would definitely recommend seeking out the speech therapist for your 3 year old before he misses out on too much early education.

[SammyWammy]

Maybe he just doesn't like talking to people which speech therpy won't help

[carnuska]

maybe he just doesn't like talking to people which speech therpy wont help

That is funny because we actually thought about that!

[mum2five]

It's important to note that some gifted and talented children don't say much when they are young, and then they just start talking in sentences. It's as if they are so focused on exploring their world that they just don't have time for talking, especially when their communication is not well enough developed for "mature" communication. When these kids start talking, look out!

Does your son live in a household where older siblings speak for him, or do things before he really asks, so that he may not really need to use language? These would be normal and more healthy interpretations of the language delays you describe.

However, delays in communication (either the ability to understand or use spoken language) can signal more serious problems.

Does he use appropriate gestures to get people to do what he wants or to make his needs known? Does he use objects in ways that are appropriate (given his young age)? Does he accurately copy or imitate the actions of other people? If not, he may be intellectually limited and delayed speech is just one aspect of a general developmental delay.

Hearing loss would certainly cause the problems you describe, but it sounds as if this has been ruled out as hearing tests will already have been carried out? (Is this little boy aware of environmental noises? Does he look up when people enter the room or when a fire engine goes by? If not, then look again at hearing as the cause). Make sure to ask his pediatrician what he or she thinks, and have your son evaluated by a speech and language pathologist who specializes in young children.

Getting to the bottom of this now is very important, since the earlier any necessary therapies are begun, the more effective they will be.

This is a subject I have studied in depth but I am no expert and only an expert can advise x