Speech delay

I know without seeing a child it is impossible to say what has caused a certain situation. But is there even a remote chance that my otherwise healthy son has a speech delay because he never saw another child until he was 3 years old? He never had any communication or experience playing with other kids. He is 4 now and is in a pre-k program making much improvements. But it is hard for teachers to give me answers to my questions (understandibly). Is it true we will never know what caused this speech delay? When he started pre-k he would keep to himself and play but now is used to the kids and will interact and communicate the best he can. I am afraid we made him 'anti-social' by not exposing him to other kids. The reason I ask is because when I was a kid, I rarely played with other children and didn't go to pre-school and now I have trouble getting into a social situation, I get real nervous. I was on paxil for a bit but decided I could handle it without medication. Once I know the social event is okay I relax, and everything is okay. Could I have somehow instilled this behavior into my son. Or does he seem anti-social sometimes maybe because he is just not completely used to the social surroundings yet? I appreciate any speculation, ideas. :)

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

You are correct in thinking that there really is no way to know for sure. But, it is a safe bet to think that the absence of social contact with peers may well have prompted the delay in acquiring speech and language skills. When you think of it, when children have interactions with peers, they have literally thousands of opportunities to communicate, and this 'practice', if you will, is critical in the development of communication abilities. If children are alone much of the time, they experience fewer needs to convey their thoughts and needs via speech. It is very likely that, as your child progresses through the school year, his language abilities will be noticeably better.