Nutrition Health Chat Live NOW! Learn how vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients affect your health. Free live Q&A with Amy Hendel now. Join us!
Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Child Behavior (Expert Forum)
Not speaking clearly
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
Not speaking clearly
by worriedmommy98, Oct 10, 2008 02:09PM
My son is 33 months old and will soon be turning 3 years old. He does not speak clearly and when he does speak only I can understand him. He babbles and points to things he wants. I've been trying to get him to name his body parts at bedtime (ex. eyes, ears, nose) and he does well with that, but its hard to understand him. He has also had concurrent ear infection and matter of fact has ear infections in both ears now. Could this have and affect on his hearing? At his last doctor's visit, the Dr. mentioned something about an audiologist to check his hearing. I'm not sure if his speech is related to his ear infections or should I see a speech therapist?
Doctor's Answer
by Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D., Oct 11, 2008 07:29AM
, Oct 11, 2008 07:29AM
Yes, repeated infections can have an impact on hearing. Your son's development of speech/language is definitiely delayed, and this warants evaluation by a Speech/Language therapist. But an audiological evaluation is crucial, because it is possible that the delay in speech is secondary to hearing loss.
Member Comments (2)
by kmattice, Oct 10, 2008 05:09PM
I would talk to his pediatrician right away, hearing can and will affect language development. It is hard to check hearing at that age because it assumes cooperation which lets face it most three year olds can sit for a hearing test, I would follow up with the pediatrician and the audiologist, the pediatriacian can give you a referal for a speech language assessment and they can help you determine it language is a problem or not. Boys tend to develop speech later and can be more difficult to understand, and if there is a problem now is a great time to catch it and get him right back on track. Good luck.
