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3 yr old language/conversation delays
Many thanks again for the guidance that I have received so far. Now, I need to ask a new question. My daughter, that I have been discussing previously, continues with her inability to answer open-ended questions and actively converse. Is this something that can be addressed adequately through speech/language therapy? Is there a larger problem that I am unaware of? Is there some kind of processing problem? At this point, we have discussed Autism and Asbergers, both of which I do not feel are the issue, unless I am misinformed. In all areas, beside conversation, she is a happy, healthy, loving little girl. She is very active, and but does have a somewhat short attention span. She maintains good eye contact, does not care what she wears, eats pretty much anything (if we can get her to sit at the table long enough), is very loving & empathetic. She doesn't have any unreasonable fears and is not a daredevil. She can be somewhat shy around new people. She does speak, answers most yes or no questions, sometimes she ignores us I think. If someone appears to have hurt themselves, she will run over and say "OK, (name of person)?" She uses please, thank you, and welcome at appropriate times. "C'mon (name of person).", "Let's go.", "Gimme", "Hey wook (look).", "Wook at dat!", "Whatcha doing?"; if we are going somewhere its "Go School", "Go see cows?", "Go town" or "Go find Daddy" (fill in with where ever we are going). She will sometimes speak to inanimate objects or toys..."Hi puzzle", "Hi rock." Generally though, she gets her needs/wants across through one or two word phrases. Instead of I want chocolate milk, its just "chocolate nilk (milk) please." Also at bedtime, its "Goodnite kiss." Never "I want" or "I need" or "Can I have" I try to get her to mimick me in speaking the correct way and using sentences, but she just echoes the last one or two words. She said, "Swing please." I said to her, "Audrey, say, I want to swing please." Again it comes out "Swing please." When I break it down into two words each: "I want" (she will repeat) "to swing please." (She will repeat.) Then I will put the whole sentence together and it is still "Swing please." If she is having a good time she will giggle and say "Hey this is fun." But if you ask her if she had fun, she will not answer. The doctor asked her questions like, "If you are hungry, what do you do?" (No answer.) "If you are cold, what do you do?" (No answer.) I thought maybe she was being shy, so when we got home, I asked her the same questions. No answer. Today she got into my wallet and found a picture. She looks down into my purse, "Hey its dark in dere." Pulls out her sister's picture and says "Dat's sissy in dat picture." (That's quite good for her, especially if unsolicited.) She likes doing flash cards, but again, it requires only a one word response. I have scheduled the first meeting for her speech eval. with the school on 4/27.
Tomel Says: "Thanks for that web link. I just saw their commercial on TV the other day. Yeh, none of those kids were high functioning.Now here I am with another question. Is what your describing about your son really anxiety or is it hyperactivity?
Cause my son definitly had the hyperactivity, thats where the possible ADHD comes in. However I do know this is a trait of Autism as well.
Is your son pretty mellow most the time? Excluding the large groups."
Your questions are a little hard for me to answer because I'm not quite as up on the latest with ADHD and its manifestations in children my son's age. Do I think he has ADHD? Yes. But I can't quite pin down what is normal hyperactivity in normal boys his age. I was quite hyper as a child too so he isn't all that strange to me. Is his behavior anxiety or hyperactivity. That is sort of a chicken or egg question. Here is a very good example of how his anxiety manifests itself: My son hates to go to the doctors office. When we get there, he starts to obsess over the exit signs and will constantly point out the sign and say "look exit sign". The longer we are at the doctors office, the more he repeats the phrase, each time a little more quickly and anxiously. This is how he handles the doctor's office. He fixates on those exit signs, knowing full well what they mean. Its his way of reassuring himself that he will be leaving at some point. At other times when he gets anxious, he acts just plain goofy, laughing to himself. Most of the time, he insists on leaving and will say "leave or I want to leave" etc. Hyperactivity is when he just can't seem to sit still, always fidgeting etc.
My son is pretty mellow at home and not usually anxious. However, he still is pretty active but I think he is mostly normal at home. I don't think his hyperactivity interfers with learning at home. If the ADHD or anxiety interferes with functioning, that is when its a problem.
Tomel, here is my blog: http://morethanalabel.blogspot.com/
In one of the more recent photo's I have a picture of me in kindergarten. See if you can find me in the picture. I'm the kid who is hyperactive and probably HFA. If you click on the picture, you'll get a larger version.
Cause my son definitly had the hyperactivity, thats where the possible ADHD comes in. However I do know this is a trait of Autism as well.
Is your son pretty mellow most the time? Excluding the large groups."
Your questions are a little hard for me to answer because I'm not quite as up on the latest with ADHD and its manifestations in children my son's age. Do I think he has ADHD? Yes. But I can't quite pin down what is normal hyperactivity in normal boys his age. I was quite hyper as a child too so he isn't all that strange to me. Is his behavior anxiety or hyperactivity. That is sort of a chicken or egg question. Here is a very good example of how his anxiety manifests itself: My son hates to go to the doctors office. When we get there, he starts to obsess over the exit signs and will constantly point out the sign and say "look exit sign". The longer we are at the doctors office, the more he repeats the phrase, each time a little more quickly and anxiously. This is how he handles the doctor's office. He fixates on those exit signs, knowing full well what they mean. Its his way of reassuring himself that he will be leaving at some point. At other times when he gets anxious, he acts just plain goofy, laughing to himself. Most of the time, he insists on leaving and will say "leave or I want to leave" etc. Hyperactivity is when he just can't seem to sit still, always fidgeting etc.
My son is pretty mellow at home and not usually anxious. However, he still is pretty active but I think he is mostly normal at home. I don't think his hyperactivity interfers with learning at home. If the ADHD or anxiety interferes with functioning, that is when its a problem.
Tomel, here is my blog: http://morethanalabel.blogspot.com/
In one of the more recent photo's I have a picture of me in kindergarten. See if you can find me in the picture. I'm the kid who is hyperactive and probably HFA. If you click on the picture, you'll get a larger version.
Thanks for that web link. I just saw their commercial on TV the other day. Yeh, none of those kids were high functioning.Now here I am with another question. Is what your describing about your son really anxiety or is it hyperactivity?
Cause my son definitly had the hyperactivity, thats where the possible ADHD comes in. However I do know this is a trait of Autism as well.
Is your son pretty mellow most the time? Excluding the large groups.
Cause my son definitly had the hyperactivity, thats where the possible ADHD comes in. However I do know this is a trait of Autism as well.
Is your son pretty mellow most the time? Excluding the large groups.
What makes it difficult for him to relate to his peers? Many things. His unusual interests for one. He doesn't approach other children to engage them. He's often anxious in a large group of children, but better in there are only a few. He seems comfortable in a gross motor play environment than in a classroom setting. He has outburts where he yells to imitate animals (i.e. dinosaur, tiger). I don't know if he means to imitate those sounds but that is the excuse he gives for the yelling. I'll ask, why are you yelling and he'll say "like a dinosaur" or "like a tiger". I found a short video on autistic children that shows a range of severe (the kid in the tye dye) to moderate. I see glimpses of my child in some of the moderate children. There aren't any high functioning children in the video, at least they didn't seem high functioning to me. Here is the link: http://www.autismspeaks.org/sponsoredevents/autism_every_day.php
One of the things that should be in the DSM IV criteria, but isn't is anxiety. All these kids have extreme anxiety whether its performance anxiety, social anxiety or generalized anxiety. If you feel your child is unusually anxious throughout most days, and he exhibits DSM criteria from mild to severe, he is likely autistic.
One of the things that should be in the DSM IV criteria, but isn't is anxiety. All these kids have extreme anxiety whether its performance anxiety, social anxiety or generalized anxiety. If you feel your child is unusually anxious throughout most days, and he exhibits DSM criteria from mild to severe, he is likely autistic.
Also, The Hanen org. and the autism research center where I live consider ADHD on the spectrum.
Yes, from what I understand about Hyperlexia they can read words but not understod what is being read.
If it makes you feel any better my friends little girl (typical child)was afraid of one of those furry dress up things you wear around your neck. So the furry soccer thing or the tolets really isnts so strange. My son was afraid of Snufulofogus (Sesame Street character) for a while.
I guess the reason I asked about your son understaanding body langauge and social cues is because I am still keeping an eye on these things in my son. So it sounds like your son understands body langauge and social cues, but may not always pay attention to them.
What are the things that you find he does that makes it difficult for him to relate to pears his age?
Also, I do think lying is a typical preschooler trait as well.
And, I dont think empathy comes for a while, at this age they are still very egocentric.
If it makes you feel any better my friends little girl (typical child)was afraid of one of those furry dress up things you wear around your neck. So the furry soccer thing or the tolets really isnts so strange. My son was afraid of Snufulofogus (Sesame Street character) for a while.
I guess the reason I asked about your son understaanding body langauge and social cues is because I am still keeping an eye on these things in my son. So it sounds like your son understands body langauge and social cues, but may not always pay attention to them.
What are the things that you find he does that makes it difficult for him to relate to pears his age?
Also, I do think lying is a typical preschooler trait as well.
And, I dont think empathy comes for a while, at this age they are still very egocentric.
Tomel,
We've never taught our son to read, he just picked it up and the developmental pediatrician was the first one to really make note of it when he was 26 months old as he was reading road signs. He can read no matter what the font size, rather capital letters or lowercase letters. He reads from books he's never seen before. I don't think he understands most of what he reads, but he does understand some of the more simple words. His preschool teachers are flabbergasted at his reading abilities so maybe they've never seen something your child's preschool teachers apparently see routinely. It's gotten to be a little disturbing to me because they want to see him read and now I'm starting to think that he is being treated as some sort of "freak".
From my understanding of early learning, most all children learn in a rote fashion until about the 4th grade when more abstract learning begins. Many autistic children do have excellent rote memory, you should see Kim Peek (the real rainmain). He is exceptional. However, he is severely autistic and not much like my son. Autistic kids concentrate on the details and concrete thinking. Whereas a normal child this age is more interested in other people than in things. One way you can tell my son is autistic compared to normal children is when we are in the grocery store. He doesn't look at other people but concentrates on the things on the shelves. At times, he gets so wrapped up in the detail, that it is hard to distract him. You can bounce a ball off his head and he wouldn't break his concentration on an object or toy of interest.
Another problem he has every once in a while is unusual fears. For the longest time he was mortified everytime he saw a particular fuzzy soccer ball. I eventually helped him overcome his fear of the ball and now he loves the ball and calls it "Mr. Soccerball". He is currently afraid of public toilets and gets very panicky when he is near them. He's still not potty trained.
He also has certain ways of touching objects. For some reason, he likes to rub his fingernail across the plastic eyes of his toys.
Question:
"Let me ask you this can your son understand body language? Like if someone gives him a mad face when he's doing something wrong, or a tickle gester etc."
Yes, he understands when someone is mad. When he is doing something wrong, usually all I have to do is give him a look and he will stop. He lies too. For instance, we have this full length mirror in the hallway which he knows he is not suppose to touch. While sitting in the living room, I could hear him run down the hall and slap the mirror (he knew he wasnt suppose to touch it). He turns back around and runs into the room I'm in and I sternly asked him if he touched the mirror. He says "No".
He loves to be tickled and understands the "tickle bug" gesture. I'm not sure what this information is suppose to demonstrate though. If your thinking "Theory of Mind" and Executive Function, he doesn't have much of a problem with theory of mind. I have seen those issues with other children on the spectrum but that is generally not the case with my child. He laughs at appropriate moments during his videos and is scared at appropriate moments. I remember when he was about 16 months old and he was watching Monster's Inc. and in the beginning, it showed a child sleeping in the bed. The child becomes scared during the scene. When I looked at my son, he was shaking because he recognized that the other child was scared. I don't think he relates to people with quite the same empathy, unless the feeling being expressed is very obvious.
He's a great kid, but very difficult for non family members to like because of his egocentric behavior. Also, some of the more advanced children in his preschool I fear are starting to notice that he is a little different. He's making great strides but I fear he will always be a little behind in a lot of areas. Much like his father (me). I'm most likely on the spectrum and I'm sure that I would have gotten the diagnosis if I was a child today. Many times, I'm the only one who seems to "get it" when it comes to his behavior because I have this deja vu of "been there, done that".
We've never taught our son to read, he just picked it up and the developmental pediatrician was the first one to really make note of it when he was 26 months old as he was reading road signs. He can read no matter what the font size, rather capital letters or lowercase letters. He reads from books he's never seen before. I don't think he understands most of what he reads, but he does understand some of the more simple words. His preschool teachers are flabbergasted at his reading abilities so maybe they've never seen something your child's preschool teachers apparently see routinely. It's gotten to be a little disturbing to me because they want to see him read and now I'm starting to think that he is being treated as some sort of "freak".
From my understanding of early learning, most all children learn in a rote fashion until about the 4th grade when more abstract learning begins. Many autistic children do have excellent rote memory, you should see Kim Peek (the real rainmain). He is exceptional. However, he is severely autistic and not much like my son. Autistic kids concentrate on the details and concrete thinking. Whereas a normal child this age is more interested in other people than in things. One way you can tell my son is autistic compared to normal children is when we are in the grocery store. He doesn't look at other people but concentrates on the things on the shelves. At times, he gets so wrapped up in the detail, that it is hard to distract him. You can bounce a ball off his head and he wouldn't break his concentration on an object or toy of interest.
Another problem he has every once in a while is unusual fears. For the longest time he was mortified everytime he saw a particular fuzzy soccer ball. I eventually helped him overcome his fear of the ball and now he loves the ball and calls it "Mr. Soccerball". He is currently afraid of public toilets and gets very panicky when he is near them. He's still not potty trained.
He also has certain ways of touching objects. For some reason, he likes to rub his fingernail across the plastic eyes of his toys.
Question:
"Let me ask you this can your son understand body language? Like if someone gives him a mad face when he's doing something wrong, or a tickle gester etc."
Yes, he understands when someone is mad. When he is doing something wrong, usually all I have to do is give him a look and he will stop. He lies too. For instance, we have this full length mirror in the hallway which he knows he is not suppose to touch. While sitting in the living room, I could hear him run down the hall and slap the mirror (he knew he wasnt suppose to touch it). He turns back around and runs into the room I'm in and I sternly asked him if he touched the mirror. He says "No".
He loves to be tickled and understands the "tickle bug" gesture. I'm not sure what this information is suppose to demonstrate though. If your thinking "Theory of Mind" and Executive Function, he doesn't have much of a problem with theory of mind. I have seen those issues with other children on the spectrum but that is generally not the case with my child. He laughs at appropriate moments during his videos and is scared at appropriate moments. I remember when he was about 16 months old and he was watching Monster's Inc. and in the beginning, it showed a child sleeping in the bed. The child becomes scared during the scene. When I looked at my son, he was shaking because he recognized that the other child was scared. I don't think he relates to people with quite the same empathy, unless the feeling being expressed is very obvious.
He's a great kid, but very difficult for non family members to like because of his egocentric behavior. Also, some of the more advanced children in his preschool I fear are starting to notice that he is a little different. He's making great strides but I fear he will always be a little behind in a lot of areas. Much like his father (me). I'm most likely on the spectrum and I'm sure that I would have gotten the diagnosis if I was a child today. Many times, I'm the only one who seems to "get it" when it comes to his behavior because I have this deja vu of "been there, done that".
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