3 1/2 year old not talking full sentences?

Question

Is this normal? He is veryyy veryyy smart & anything you tell him he understands and will answer in a few words but they are not complete sentences. But by no means do I think he's autistic so please don't go there. He is very alert & bright. I think he's just behind a bit with speech & lazy in that dept...What do you think?

Answer 1

I would have him evaluated by a speech language pathologist.  I do think he could benefit by therapy.  Both of my sons are autistic spectrum and have dyspraxia.  I agree with you he doesn't sound autistic.  Dyspraxia though it could be.  This is having difficulty forming the words at times.  The message from the brain does not get to the nerves in the muscles.  Many kids are dyspraxic, this is much milder than apraxia.  My 7 yr old still gets speech therapy, but it is more related now to the autism.  Sometimes I can see the dyspraxia, he will take longer to respond, or have pressured speech.  So if your son does this it could be that.  

Another thing is it could be that he needs to work on strengthening his lungs to get more air to have longer utterances.  I don't think that it is that your son is lazy, I think there is a reason for the short speech.  He is very social and willing to please so I think it isn't laziness.  I don't think it is hearing because he is answering the questions just with shorter sentences

Answer 2

have his hearing checked.even partial hearing loss greatly affects the way children speak

Answer 3

http://parentcenter.babycenter.com/0_dev...

here this should help you out. good luck

Answer 4

you could tell the pediatrician that.

Answer 5

He's a kid. Do you really expect him to know sentence structure right away? If you haven't tought him, then you can. He WILL learn that in school anyway.