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Child Behavior  (Expert Forum)
 | 
Speech Delay
Answered by
Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D. - Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, Family Therapy, Crisis Intervention
Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates
This forum is for questions and support regarding child behavior issues such: Child Discipline (behavior management), Normal Child Development, Parent-Child Communications, Social Development

Speech Delay

by susie2003, Jun 01, 2005 12:00AM
My son is 3.10 years old and is speech delayed.  We have had four languages in the household at different times(Serbian, French/Spanish, English).   When our French babysitter spoke almost French (with some Spanish) from age 21-26 months he had some French vocabulary and sounds.  After she left  we had a Serbian babysitter who spoke only Serbian to him.  After a few months of this he dropped his French (though he retained some sounds in babbling) and had some serbian words.  He has only been an English speaker since last May.  Since then he has  vocabulary of 600 words in English and about 50 spread out between Serbian and Spanish (our current baby-sitter speaks English but has taught him some Spanish words.  He knows his ABC and numbers.  Knows his colors.   Is affectionate, sensitive to other’s emotions,has good eye contact, says "hi" to everyone he meets, goes to new playgroups easily, will hold hands with other children, is warm to instructors, follows instructions-brings me things I ask for, puts things where he is directed to.  Uses I, me, you. He can follow 2 step commands. He tells me when he wants to eat, go to bathroom, watch a video or tv, listen to music (but often in the form of one word such as “eat”, but eat will be inflected,  he will say “I pee-pee”).  He will say things such as “let’s go home”, “Mommy, wait for me”, "I'm coming", “Go swimming, take off”, (pointing to my clothes, when he wants me to join him swimming.) He potty trained very easily. Can dress himself including putting on his sneakers.  He has imaginative play, he will take a tea bag in the tea cup and pretend to fish, he will play hide and seek, he pretends to have serious conversations on the phone, he will “high five” his stuffed mouse. I have looked at some of his other behaviors and this is what he does: he lines up cars occasionally to make a train, will line up his blocks to make a runway, will sometimes act out and repeat his videos (although not pervasively). It is like he is playing - running around and doing the dances so I thought it was just kid play. He switches routines easily without a problem. He echoes me often. He talks all of the time, but often it is from his videos or things he hears us saying; he will walk through our neighborhood pointing out things he know and likes (trees, flowers, basketball hoops).  He turns when he is called.  He knows others names. He does not pronounce well (although this seems to be getting better).  I hear him talking by himself and it is often with better pronunciation and in phrases.  What he doesn’t do: know his name, age, sex (we have never worked on this with him); tell stories, does not distinguish between big and small (again we have never pointed this out to him)

by Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D., Jun 02, 2005 12:00AM
Given the unusual situation your son has experienced during his formative time re: development of speech and language, he is doing quite well. From what you have described there is no need for professional intervention. He is now progressing well. Try not to interrupt his progress by introducing any new language to him. We would expect there to be a little delay with a child who has had the history your son has had.
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