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Child Behavior (Expert Forum)
SPEECH
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
by MIRIAMMUM, Mar 30, 2005 12:00AM
My DS who is 3 yrs 9 months is doing well speechwise but I find myself comparing him to his cousin who is the same age a bit . Where is he is largely as follows;
Uses sentances of anything from 5 to 12 words in a sentence
Uses verbs, pronouns(except for he and she, although when I ask him what “She” is used for , he says ladies and girls) , prepositions , past tense
Can say lots of nursery rhymes, can count to 20 , knows all colours since he was 2 and a half . Knows shapes and can draw some as well, not very good
He asks lots of questions and answers them including the “Why “ones which I suppose are the trickier ones . He has lots of spontaneous peech and is becoming more fluent all the time.
When I check speech and language milestone charts I see that children of 4 are expected to have 4 to 6 words in sentances which doesn’t seem that much to me , yet on the other hand are expected to have complex sentances. I cant quite understand what is meant by complex sentances if they are only expected to be 4 or 5 words long. Does it just mean that a sentance like " I want car please Mommy" is fairly simple and maybe would be said by a 3 year old but something like " Can I play with my red car when I get home? would be complex given that its a question and has more complicated grammer but its got lots more words too i.e 11!.I cant really think of a complex sentence with 5 words.
I also see in some charts, 4 year olds are expected to have long conversations. His cousin delivers long monologues which go on and on about real and imaginary events .The other day after we were out for a walk his cousin relayed a conversation I had with a man asking for directions. She said “Aunty met a man who asked her where a restaurant was and Aunty told him go up the hill, down the hill, then to the right and on and on and on” My DS can certainly have a conversation , both real and imaginary but doesn’t have the same length, organisation and logic that she has . My gut instinct is that his cousin is advanced but not sure if my Ds should be at the same level
Uses sentances of anything from 5 to 12 words in a sentence
Uses verbs, pronouns(except for he and she, although when I ask him what “She” is used for , he says ladies and girls) , prepositions , past tense
Can say lots of nursery rhymes, can count to 20 , knows all colours since he was 2 and a half . Knows shapes and can draw some as well, not very good
He asks lots of questions and answers them including the “Why “ones which I suppose are the trickier ones . He has lots of spontaneous peech and is becoming more fluent all the time.
When I check speech and language milestone charts I see that children of 4 are expected to have 4 to 6 words in sentances which doesn’t seem that much to me , yet on the other hand are expected to have complex sentances. I cant quite understand what is meant by complex sentances if they are only expected to be 4 or 5 words long. Does it just mean that a sentance like " I want car please Mommy" is fairly simple and maybe would be said by a 3 year old but something like " Can I play with my red car when I get home? would be complex given that its a question and has more complicated grammer but its got lots more words too i.e 11!.I cant really think of a complex sentence with 5 words.
I also see in some charts, 4 year olds are expected to have long conversations. His cousin delivers long monologues which go on and on about real and imaginary events .The other day after we were out for a walk his cousin relayed a conversation I had with a man asking for directions. She said “Aunty met a man who asked her where a restaurant was and Aunty told him go up the hill, down the hill, then to the right and on and on and on” My DS can certainly have a conversation , both real and imaginary but doesn’t have the same length, organisation and logic that she has . My gut instinct is that his cousin is advanced but not sure if my Ds should be at the same level
Doctor's Answer
by Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D., Mar 30, 2005 12:00AM
, Mar 30, 2005 12:00AM
There's no need to worry at all. Your child is well within the norms for that age. Comparisons can be risky, as illustrated by comparing your child with his cousin. It's clear that your nephew is at the higher end of the spectrum of normal for his age, but the normal spectrum is quite broad. You don't have to go out of your way to encourage normal development of speech and language. Simply interact in a casual, day-by-day fashion and your child will be fine.
Member Comments (2)
by OklahomaMom, Apr 05, 2005 12:00AM
I think you need to relax and enjoy your child. All these comparisons and worrying over how many words are in a sentence is probably getting in the way of your child's development. Just relax and enjoy conversation with eye to eye contact. He will be fine. The most important thing I think is not to baby talk your child. Talk to them in normal language. Enjoy how cute they are when they pronouhce things wrong but to make a big deal out of it. They will figure it all out and be talking circles around you before you know it.
