My son is 3 and doesnt talk. Please help me.?

Question

My son will be 3 in August. He has a vocabulary of about 10 words... Im just stressed. I have had him in Early Childhood Intervention receiving speech lessons, but it hasnt helped him at all! Hes been in for 6 months. I dont know what to do. He just seems too distracted most of the time, and when I set him down to try to teach him words, either A) he will repeat it and never say it on his own or B) he wont say it, and just say YAH! and act oblivious to everything Im sayin to him. He cant respond to one step directions unless its an everyday thing. Gabriel, go to bed. Gabriel, turn off the TV. Gabriel, sit down. I was wondering, with his distraction, is he eligible for ADHD meds if that is the case??? With him being only 3 I mean... do you think that would help??? Also is there anything I can buy, special program books and DVD's that will help??? His tutoring stops at 3, and then he goes to school for the tutoring, Im scared the teachers will be mean, and not understand.

Answer 1

Hi.  I understand your despair, but lets approach this logically.

Are you sure his hearing is ok?  I don't just mean does he hear sound, what is his sensitivity to pitch, frequency etc?  If he is not hearing all of the sounds of the language system, he will not be able to repeat them.  So begin here, with a thorough investigation of ALL his hearing functions!  Test him out yourself with different sound frequencies and see if he ignores any, or if he finds them uncomfortable!

Secondly, it does sound as though he has issues with attention.  There are things you can do to help develop this.

Does he make good eye - contact, does he look at you when you speak to him, can he share attention with you at all?  All of these are essential precursors to the development of spoken language.  There are things you can do to develop these abilities.

Read here.  http://www.snowdrop.cc/info2.cfm?info_id...

Answer 2

Hi,

I understand how worried you must be and I think its great that you are looking to help your child. I would just like to note that a Speech language pathologist may not be qualified to diagnose your child with a developmental delay. You should see your son's doctor immediately and ask for a referral to a developmental psychologist. In the mean time please pick up the book It takes Two to Talk published by the Hanen Center. This book is a program for parents of children with language delays. It will give you the tools to help your son at home and

will provide your son with language stimulation at home as well as the help he is receiving at school.

Answer 3

Have you had his hearing tested? That could very well be the culprit.

Answer 4

You might try contacting a Regional Center.Regional centers are a non-profit corporation that serve children like yours. They contract with the State Department of Developmental Services.. There should be one in each state. The one here in CA. is [phone]. They may be able to help you find one in your state. Also try Early Start. There number in CA. is 800-515-BABY.  

There is National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities. at PB Box 1492, Washington, DC. 20013-1492.  www.nichcy.org Phone number 1-800-695-0285.

only a doctor can diagnose with AD/HD or autism, not a friend or teacher. There are many levels of both AD/HD and autism. Early intervention is best for your son.  You need to have him identified and get him into a program.

I know that your scared. Try not to be. Knowledge is your best tool. If you child can not speak then you must do it for him.  Love him and Good luck.

Answer 5

first of all a spepch teacher cannot diagnose or rule out autism--you woudl need to go to a developmental pediatrician, pediatric neurologist, or developmental neurologist.

There are many children like your son--and many worse off, you don't need to worry about the school's experience with children like him.  If he did have needs they couldn't meet, they would have to place him in an alternative school.

3 is too young for ADHD meds---and it may not even be ADHD--the meds won't work if ADHD is not at the root of teh problem and can have harmful side effects.

Attention problems can be caused by many things-such as frustration, food allergy, sensory integration disorder.

He sounds like he needs a good evaluartion from an occupational therapist for sensory integration issues

speech therapy and developmental intervention don't always focus on expressive language.  Receptive language is generally a pre requisiste skill--as well as babble and general sound production--may even focus on oral motor awareness/strengthening as well as alternative communication such as sign or pictures......using sign and/or pictures can stimulate verbalization as it adds additional sensory input into language

the 'out of sync child' is about sensory integration disorder

other terms to look into

auditory processing/central auditory processing disorder (CAPD)-means child can physically hear, but can't make sense of tehe sound

mixed expressive receptive language disorder

Answer 6

I know exactly what you are going through and it is hard because we as parents just want very much for our children not to ever feel like their at a disadvantage I have three children with various needs and they all have speech delays my daughter will be three in Aug. and she sounds just like you described with your son and my older kids 8 and 5 had to go through the same things my oldest has been taking speech through the school system for 4 years and although his ability to pronounce has drastically improved he still has a hard time trying to put sentences together correctly and my younger son knows exactly what to say but half of the time you can't understand him. I have also considered meds but I'm afraid because I've heard some bad reports on them. Someone told me that giving you child omega 3 fatty acids may help them in concentration but i don't know how true this is.

As far as the whole school thing you really need to check out the school meet the teacher and if you can his first few days go to the class and sit in and watch you have every right to. I am a sub. teaching assistant for special needs classes and I haven't been doing it long but in my short experience I have seen extraordinary teachers and I've been in classes where they were basically babysitting and didn't seem to care. But that comes in the general education population too. My best advice is get him assesed through the school system and also what ever regional center is near you also with you doctor. Sometime diagnoses can be wrong they tried to tell me my son had borderline down syndrome and he was assesed later as Autistic so it's best to get as many as you can done and start with the ones who offer services like the schools and regional centers and always stay involved and excersize your rights as a parent.

Also there is this book I read I don't know if it fits his situation or not but it's called "the out of sync child" by Carol Stock Kranowitz.

Answer 7

My little sister went through a very similar experience, and went through the Early Intervention School program in our school district.  Although I wouldn't say she made drastic progress, the routine and structure was beneficial for her so that when it came time for her to go to kindergarten, she was more comfortable despite her major speech problems.  

Now, as a special education teacher, I can tell you that you need to discuss these issues with your pediatrician immediately.  A speech therapist is not qualified to tell you one way or the other what your child does/does not have.  Only a doctor can give a diagnosis of autism.  The pediatrician will most likely refer you to a developmental psychologist/neurologist for more testing.  Also, an audiologist should be consulted to be sure there is no hearing issue present as well.  My guess would be that a doctor would be hesitant to place such a young child on medication that can have various side effects such as appetite suppression and hormonal variances.

At home, you could try taking pictures of common items and then use them as flash cards to help him associate words, sounds and things in his immediate environment. Also, continue giving basic directions or try to use non-verbal cues for routine, everyday things (washing hands, turning off the tv, etc.)  Many children can learn some basic sign language to communicate as well!

http://www.signingtime.com/

http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-la...

Answer 8

I can speak from the teacher's point of view.  Your child is not the most behind in a developmental preschool class.  The teacher will get to know your child and what works best for him - just as we do with all the other children.  Your worries are completely normal for a developmentally delayed preschooler parent.  I would not trust a single person's view of autism alone.  No matter who they are.  I encourage my parents to listen to what I have to say and then speak to at least two other people - physician, psychologists, etc. to get their views.  We all have different experiences and expertise that should be able to help your son and arrive at a conclusive service plan.  

I would take him to a child (or developmental) psychiatrist to see about medication.  He or she is nearing the age  where medication and a look at the metabolic issues (food allergies, etc.) is very necessary.    Your insurance should cover all of these appointments, provided that you follow their procedures, if any.

If you have trouble finding appropriate medical personnel, etc in your area, contact the autism society for your town, district or state.  I say them not because I am diagnosing your son, but because they are typically the best organized for parents of preschoolers.  Ask about parent support groups, too.  People you can identify with is always the best ally when raising a special needs child!

Answer 9

It might just be a phase, but Im not completely shure.

If you have problems with teachers, you can request ceratin teachers.

They will probably grant you your request.

Have you talked to his doctor?

I would go to a doctor and ask some questions.

They have all the answers.

Im pretty shure he'll catch up soon.

Answer 10

ok sorry but i really didnt want to read all of that so just send him to school

Answer 11

I'd suggest you request an evaluation through the school. This would qualify him to receive special education services through the school under disability laws. Most likely, they'd also approve diagnostic testing and you won't have to pay for it. You could also get an independent evaluation from a psychiatrist or psychologist. The lack of speech could be selective mutism or autism. Run a google search on selective mutism for more information on that, but professionals would be able to get a more accurate diagnosis.

Answer 12

Is he recieving special ed services and has an IEP plan?

Early childhood intervention is NOT the same as special ed.

If he is NOT in special ed, he is not recieving  the specialized services that can ONLY be given thru special ed.

This might be why the things the school is doing is not working.

Doctors usually don't diagnose children for ADHD at 3 yrs old. Check out all the options, it could be more than ADHD.

If he doesnt' have an IEP plan thru special ed, write to the district sped director requesting a full educational evaluation to determine if he qualifies. Speech is covered under this.

Special ed is the ONLY way that schools are legally obligated to help children with ANY special problems. If he's not in it, they can stop the help they are doing at any time and you can't do a thing about it.

If he DOES have an IEP plan, what needs to be done is you write to district sped director requesting an official  IEP meeting to change the IEP to things they can do that WILL help him.

If he DOES have IEP plan, they are suppose to be doing this anyway without you initiating it.

A speech teacher is not qualified to diagnose autism, a special type of doctor has to determine this.

This is one thing you can check for thru a doctor.

Oh yea, if you do request an IEP meeting, go to this site first (or even if you don't call a meeting) this is the BEST site for help

http://millermom.proboards107.com/index....

they can tell you what to do as far as finding out the problems your child has , what you can do for them , and what the school should do for them.

You need to have a plan ready if you want the school to help. You need to understand what his problems are yourself and research what to do to help the problems.

DO NOT rely on the school to do this. For one thing, they are not qualified to diagnose these type of disabilities. THey are ONLY qualified to determine what a child needs to help him/her educationally and to implement it.

The site I give you will help you with all this, those people are amazing.