My niece is 3 years old, and she still can't talk. Is there anything wrong?

Question

Ok so my niece is 3 years old, but she still can't talk. She's not mute or anything. She says a few words like Mama and Papa. But that's it. Is it normal for a child to be like this? And what should we do to help her learn?

Thank you.

Answer 1

she needs to be checked out by a speech therapist. this can be done for free through the local school system. I'm guessing that if she only says a handful of words that she will qualify for preschool and get her speech therapy there for free.

my son only said 10 words at 27 months old and I was told that he was 12 months behind in expressive speech. He has made up probably 6 months of that in the last 6 months of speech therapy. the speech therapist is going to test him for apraxia next month before he  gets screened for preschool. Apraxia is similar to what happens to an older person who has a stroke and loses their ability to speak---the words are in there, but the person cannot coordinate the movements needed to actually say the word.

I can send you some printed materials if you are interested. my son's speech therapist has copied about 15-18 pages out of an apraxia workbook for me to use at home with my son. just send me an e-mail with letting me know you want them and your street address and I'll drop them in the mail for you.

Answer 2

My niece didn't talk until she was at least 3. she is starting school this fall and I still find it hard to understand her. I would have her parents talk to her doctor to find out what they can do. My sister had her in some sort of speech therapy to help her communicate. Reading helps to a certain extent too. Encourage her to use words. If you hand her a toy or something, tell her what you are handing to her. Talk to her a lot too. Ask her questions like. Do you want milk? R u hungry? What do you want to play with? things like that. If she just points, to a toy, say, you want to play with the doll?

Answer 3

You might want to take her to a speech therapist. A family friend's son didnt speak till he was around 7 but he he wasn't deaf or mute. He only grunted and said Momma, Papa, water, no, and yes. Maybe 10 words tops...well he had witnessed a very traumatizing situation that no one knew about and that caused him to stop talking. Just have her checked out with a speech therapist, maybe a psychologist...you have nothing to lose and more words to gain! Good luck with this :) let me know what happened :)

Answer 4

nothing is wrong some kids do speak late my husband spoke when he was 4yrs. They will start suddenly and speak all you want.

Answer 5

she is just a late bloomer we all hope. just wait until she starts talking, then you will want her to be quiet. my  two year old is very talkative and has a healthy vocabulary.

Answer 6

My son was 4 and still didn't talk. we took him to a speech therapist and she has never had a child progress so fast. she thinks he always good talk he just didn't want to. But that is not always the case. Your sister or brother should get their daughter assessed.

Answer 7

Yeah my nephew is 3 in August and he only grunts! He doesnt even say mama or papa. My little girl is 15mths old and she tells him "Bye" and calls my sister lisa "isa" and says baby to him and stuff but he makes no form of comunicating back to her!! Really strange to watch but my sister has taken him to the docs and they said the same as above. They reckon that because he is the third child he hasnt felt the need to talk because the others do it for him. He likes the fact that if he cries and points he gets things handed to him and he just doesnt want to talk! She has 4 little boys under the age of 6 so shes experienced!!! They said that they will introduce speech therapy at the age of 4 if theres still no sign of communication.

Answer 8

It's not typical for a 3-year-old only to have one or two words.  Speech delay can be caused by a number of different problems (with hearing, with the ability to produce particular sounds, or with other issues like autism), or it can be simply developmental and not be a sign of any problem at all.  Nobody over the computer can tell you which category your niece falls into.  I would certainly not panic, but raise the issue with the pediatrician and ask for a referral to a speech therapist, as well.  In the meantime, talk, talk, talk to her (which you're probably already doing).