Talking

i have a friend, who's grandson is five yrs. old and doesn't talk.He might say one word at a time, for example, when he wants to go outside, he'll say outside or if he wants a glass of juice he'll say juice.He is a very smart child, he knows his ABC's how to count and points to what he wants in the refrigerator.  He even knows to say his blessing and pray at bedtime, but he doesn't speak in a complete sentence.  My friend has taken him to all kind of Doctors, and they'll just puzzled. So, is there anyone that may be going through similar problems as this one.

Thanks,
Melva

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Dear Melva,

As in all areas of development, children acquire speech and language at varying rates. But, as you already know, your grandson's lack of speech at the age of five is well outside the normal spectrum. At the very least, he should be evaluated by a Speech and Language Therapist, in order to learn the specifics of his condition and design a treatment program

[DENISE]

I would just like to add to that that you want to find a therpist who knows something about pragmatic language.All therpists do not specialize in all problems. It sounds as if he has all the words, just doesn't use them.  i find that SLP's know more than doctors when it comes to language disorders.