3-year old social development

[dixie127]

My granddaughter  is 3 yrs., 9 mos.  She is still not potty trained despite consistency in putting her on the potty.  She screams and covers her ears when you mention it's time to go on the potty.  She also does not seem to know how to interact with other children.  She will say hi to them, but if asked a question, doesn't answer or moves to something else.   Her speech is fine, she just doesn't use it much  If I ask her what she did at the playground, I get no response.  If I say "did you play on the swing," she will answer with a "yes" or "no".  She can say complete short sentences but simply won't engage in conversation with others.  She is an only child and is not in daycare.  She is bright, knows all her numbers, letters, does puzzles perfectly after one time with help.  But basically I hear her repeating what she hears others say rather than using her own creative speech.  I have 7 other grandchildren and am beginning to get concerned about her.

[tiredbuthappy]

repeating what others say is called Echolalia. it can be indicative of other problems. "Echolalia can be present in autism, Tourette syndrome, aphasia, Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome, developmental disability, schizophrenia and, occasionally, other forms of psychopathology." I am NOT saying this is the case, but is a warning flag. you may want to do a search on it and see if it describes her. i suspect at least a language processing problem. i would hold off on potty training for a while- she's clearly not ready. i worked with 2 children who were only able to answer yes/no questions at 3.5 and 4 years old. they were also very bright. they did not have echolalia. for them, it was a language problem and they received speech/language therapy.

[margypops]

I dont think you should be concerned at this point but if you are you can go to your Doc and see if there is a need to evaluate her.Dont make a big issue of the Potty, why do you have to say 'its time to go to the Potty' I am assuming she is in big girl pants not pull ups,let her go when she wants to not when you think she should want to,if she has an accident dont make an issue its will clean up.Maybe she is a shy child and doesnt feel like talking to kids , let her be how she wants to be not how you think she should be.You may find when the pressure is off she will get more Chatty, you do it from concern, but just try not to be so concerned and see if it works.