Speech Delay!?

Question

I have a 3 year old son who started Nursery school in February. He is now full time.

He was a late talker and still has some problems pronouncing some letters and sometimes he tried to speak so fast that it sounds like mumbo jumbo.

I have noticed an improvement lately and was very pleased about it. However, I went to his report day today and spoke to his teacher. She told me that he does not speak AT ALL in school, either to them or the other children. She said that she does not understand this as he is a very happy little boy who enjoys school and joins in games and has many skills, it's just that he does not talk.

He is very shy but in the house he will sing with me and join in with rhymes. The teacher has now asked me to ring my health visitor to get him assessed so that they can start Speech Therapy.

I think this is a bit unfair as he isn't 4 until December and feel that they are rushing him. Would be grateful for any advice.

Answer 1

Try to see if you can find a friend for him that goes to his school and if he can begin opening up towards one person, then maybe after a while that friend can introduce him to someone else and then he will have multiple people he can talk to.  Little kids especially get nervous when they are surrounded by a bunch of people they don't know, it just takes time, and trust me, I was the same way.

Answer 2

no they r not rushing him they r trying to help him

Answer 3

I do think intervention is appropriate, but not for speech.  If he has typical speech at home then why speech therapy because he doesn't use it at school?  Seems to me that common sense is lacking here.  An appropriate intervention would be a psychological evaluation to see if anxiety is what is stopping him from speaking at school.  My 7 yo was in kindergarten with a boy much the same way.  Spoke fine at home, not at all in school.  He had selective mutism, which is an anxiety disorder.

Answer 4

My son is 2 yrs 7 mths and he doesn't speak at all, even at home, we are going to speech therapy starting at the end of this month, I have suspected for a while that he may be autistic and the paediatrician more or less confirmed this, and said we did the right thing not waiting,what I'm saying is don't wait to get help for your son,a minor problem like your sons  can be sorted out in a matter of weeks at this age but may take months or years if you wait. Best wishes.

Answer 5

At three Hun they are NOT rushing him they want to help him before he gets older, Thomas pictured left was given speech therapy at aged three but it didn't work he was later diagnosed with severe autism, its so much better to get him help now rather than later

Answer 6

It sounds like he is too embarrassed to try talking at nursery. Perhaps he finds it easier to communicate in other ways. They are not rushing him, but getting the help he needs now will improve his chances of improving greatly. Firstly, the younger you start with speech therapy, the more likely it is that he will learn to speech in an age appropriate way. Also not speaking can have a bad effect on his learning later in school.

Answer 7

My brother and sister in law have their son in speech right now and he is 3.  My other sister also had her son in speech when he was 3 or 4.  My twin sister and I were in speech from about the age of 3.  We did talk at home, mostly to each other but we were really shy and refused to speak to people in public (like your son) and speech helped with that to an extent.  The school district has to provide speech services to your son (at least in CA) so it shouldn't cost you any money.  Good luck.

Answer 8

My youngest son started speech at 3 1/2 and it has helped him big time. He will be entering in the 2nd grade this fall and is still in speech. He has improved greatly but still have problems with certain sounds. His sister (5) needs therapy but right now I am in a struggle with the school to provide it for her, they say it is age appropriate at this time but she is as bad as her brother was when he started. I am waiting it out a little longer and if it doesn't improve during her 1st grade yr (this fall) I will be getting it and I will fight to get it.

Answer 9

My son was 2 and ahalf, when he was diagnosed, believe me the early help, made a big change. he is a much more social little boy, and does much better in pre-school. He is almost 4 now, so I think early intervention is crucial.

Answer 10

my grandson is 3 (4 next april) and has a similar problem, he has been having speech therapy for a while now as my daughter pushed for it, they cannot work out why he cant speak, he is improving slowly tho but its difficult to understand what he is saying most of the time and he doesnt say words properly, my other grandson who is 22 months is much clearer at speaking and can string together a sentence.     dont worry about the fact hes not speaking at school, he will be taking everything in, my own youngest son started nursery and whilst able to speak absolutely fine wouldnt talk to anyone as he was only used to being round his brothers and sisters, in the end they had to not look at him when they asked something so he couldnt nod his head. even now at 11 and about to leave primary school every report comes back saying hes quiet in class.    good luck with yr little one and im sure he will be speaking properly in no time at all.

Answer 11

The teacher is right, although its hard to think that your child could be delayed. My son went to the speech therapist at a year and a half and they said his speech was delayed. They give you alot of things to do at home to work on it and also will see him once a week. By 3 they should be able to have a full on conversation. Its a good idea to check in to it.

Answer 12

I know its hard for you but I would get him referred, its worth getting a second opinion.

I teach Baby Signing which is supposed to help babies to communicate but can also develop speech as you speak as many words when you are talking to them. It may be worth making up your own little sign language up with him which may develop his speech.

Most children want to communicate whether they are shy or not so I would get it checked out.