Question about possible delayed/impaired speech in 3 yr old?

Question

Basically, I have a three and a half year old niece who has what I consider to be limited speech. She sometimes speaks whole sentences but the words are not well pronounced and she sometimes struggles over them. You can not hold a real conversation with her and she can only comprehend and answer basic questions, such as what she wants to eat or drink, and questions that have yes or no answers. What I would like to no is whether you guys think this is normal at her age, or whether she is a little behind or how far behind? Thanks for anyone that can help!

Answer 1

it could be just her age, but My youngest two brothers have to go to speech therapists becasue they dont pronounce their letter sounds correctly jsut simply for the fact they are the youngests and my parents had them later on (there is a 11 and 13 year gap between myself and them) so they werent constantly corrected about speach, but i think it's genetic becasue my other brother had to go to speach becasue he couldnt get the middle sounds of words. Now the brother closest to me in age had a hearing impairment, where he had to get tubes inserted into his ear drums to allow for him to hear clearer, becasue he couldnt speak really at all you couldnt understand a word he said becasue he couldnt hear other people clear enoguh or himself to get the sounds correctly. It doesnt sound like you neice has that, but it's still something to watch. As well as the jsut not saying words right becasue the longer it takes to get them into speech therpy the harder it is for them to correct it.

Answer 2

I dont think speech is what you have to worry with here.

'she can only comprehend and answer basic questions, such as what she wants to eat or drink'

that was what you said, so if she cant comprehend at her age then what you looking at is a delevopmental delay of some sort.  here are some links to where she should be and also some on her speech just for kicks and giggles.

be very careful approaching mom, parents have a vision about thier chidren and it hurts when they find out that it isnt what they dreamed of.

http://www.revolutionhealth.com/healthy-...

http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/sp...

Answer 3

She sounds like she may be a little behind but really without knowing her it is hard to say.  It would be best for her to be evaluated for speech therapy and maybe occupational therapy as well and see what they feel needs to be done to help her.  Has she been looked at for any disorders that may be causing it or was she born early?

Answer 4

this is the right time to get her evaluated. my nephew was the exact way, only he was speaking alot of gibberish. nothing clear really. they said he had autism, of course, (that is the first thing they say anymore) but after a few more evaluations, he had fluid in his ears. the doc said that it can happen, it gets caught before it penatrates the ear, and can cause hearing difficulty, but actually have no pain or ear ache symptoms. i would check that first. she might not hear the correct way things are being pronounced, and her vocabulary is stunted , which explains the basic answer to basic questions.

i don't know what country you are in, but most cities in the us everywhere have a library, and im sure you didn't know this, but they actually give free hearing evaluations. they of course cant help once you know, but you can take the evaluation paper to a doctor and they can be more extensive. i would definitely talk to your sis- this might be something serious, something a hearing aide could help with or ear tubes, or it could be she is just a little bit slower than some, all kids are different, but we have to watch closely to help when they are! kudos to you auntie!!

Answer 5

My neighbor's son was that way.  He even babbled a lot still and made up his own words.  A speech therapist came to their house once a week and worked with him.  Then they enrolled him in preschool.  Between the two he is doing so much better now.  I think it's better to try to identify and help the problem now rather than waiting until they're in school.  That will cause a lot more problems for the child.

Answer 6

Yes, by 3 1/2, she should have a good vocabulary, be understood by strangers 80% of the time, and be able to speak in fluent, 4-15 word sentences.  I would suggest having her evaluated, but perhaps, giving mom some information on typical development of speech for children for her to compare with.  

Here's one such chart:

http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/deve...

And here's another:

http://www.talkingchild.com/speechchart....

And here's one more:

http://www.talkingchild.com/chartvocab.a...

As with all children, rates of development vary- however, there are "norms" which most children generally reach at around a certain age.  I would suggest having her speech evaluated by a speech pathologist to determine if the problem is articulation, processing, or hearing.

Answer 7

My brother was the same way. He was 3 years old (almost four) and it was hard to understand him. When he spoke you could only hear of few clear words and the rest were unintellligible. What fixed the problem was by enrolling him into preschool. Once he going to school, he picked up how to speak better. Being around kids his age and learning things like the alphabet speeded up his delayed speech. Now he's 9 and he speaks perfectly. Your neice may just need to be read to and taught how to pronouce words, like you would in school. She'll learn and if she doesn't get her to a speech therapist. They specialize in this. Don't worry, she's still young enough to not be too worried. There's hope! I heard einstein didn't learn to speak till he was four and he's a genius!