My son is 3 yr and 3 mnths old and has speech delay and can`t express himself,what could I do for his problem?

Question

He is still in a state of anxiety,as my husband use to abuse me in front of him but now we are seperated.

I put him on speech therapy since he was 18 mnths old,and also sending him to montessori to interact with other kids.

He is very intelligent and sensitive boy,I need to know what else I can do to relieve his speech disturbance and anxiety.He is lacking confidence as he realize that something is wrong with his speech,if someone says him to say bye bye or thankyou ,he start hiding himself or closing the eyes or putting his hands in front of mouth,but sometime he says them right.

He also have a problem in combining the words,he can say ba and nana seperately but not combined as banana.

He speak or repeat some sentences.He can`t pronounce some letters properly plus his anxiety become double when I teach him vocabulary thru books.He start crying for his father.He also feels jealousy for his 8 mnth sister.We are also bilingual,please advice me how could I help my son with all these??

Answer 1

if your current slp is not resulting in much improvement then go to a different slp.

I think it is wise for you to find activities that teachs him to express his emotions, because he seems to be having emotional problems.

Just giving him the words to be able to say, "I'm happy, I'm scared, I'm sad, I'm anxious," etc. should work wonders for him. Talk to his slp to see if they can implement this into the therapeutic regimen, or better yet try to teach him yourself.

Also, he could be suffering some type of trauma, so you might want to bring him to a therapist that deals with emotional traumas such as the one he has been through.

Another thing, make sure he learns pre-reading and reading skills because that will be essential for him to succeed in school.

It is wonderful that you are putting him through treatment at a young age, the earlier you catch problems like this the better. You are a great mom for showing concern, don't stop trying until you get what your think you son deserves!

Answer 2

It might be a good idea to continue the speech therapy. Maybe find a child counsellor that can work with him. Most have the children communicate through toys/drawings etc. My brother didn't talk for a long time. My mom had him to the dr's numerous times for it.. after several tests he told my mom not to give him anything until he at least "tried" to say the word.

If he's jealous of his little sister it might help to set a few mins aside a couple of times a day for just the 2 of you..whether you read to him or play I-spy. My toddler loves I-spy. When he misses his daddy.. let him call him if possible... the little guy needs his father even if the relationship between the two of you was rocky. I wish you all the best and will pray for your little boy.

Answer 3

As others have noted I believe you should continue the speech therapy and if you feel that the current therapist isn't meeting your son's needs you might consider switching.

Have you asked the therapist about the "bilingual" aspect?

Would it be better for your child if only one language was used in the home environment?  Something to consider.

I would also consider consulting with a child psychologist, have him evaluate your child and help you work on strategies that will help him build his self-esteem and control his anxiety.

Now I know to some this might sound absurd but if the child psychologist recommends seeing a psychiatrist for possible medications to treat the anxiety I hope you will consider it.  Severe anxiety which is not treated can be crippling and could result in other behavior problems that may impact the child's quality of life and the families as well.

My son is 16 now, and if I had a chance to have one do over, I would have put him on an anti-anxiety med much sooner, probably before the age of five. The problem was that in the home environment, in which anxiety is reduced I didn't really see how his anxiety impacted him. I didn't recognize the problem until we had numerous behavior problems in the school environment (sadly the school didn't recognize anxiety as the root of the problem and often he was punished because of his disability.)

As for the home environment and the little sister, as recommended in other replies, be sure to set aside a little time each day in which you and your son do something special, something he likes, on his terms, for as long as he may be interested.  He might only engage with you for 15 minutes but that's great, if he'll last 30 minutes enjoy the time.

hugs and good luck.