speech,listening and understanding problems

[sabinah115]

i hav a kids 4 yrs and2 months old.He is very delayed in talking.he dont understand questions example what is your name...what u have for lunch...how old r u? what gifs u want for ur birthday.he dnt understand what is a birthday either....he can counts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10...he knows his colours well....he knows ho to use laptop choose his cartoons...he is very persistant n start to cry wen u dnt giv him something....now he starts reception...today teachers said to me he dont listen wen talk to him,i cant either explain hi that she is ur teacher behaves with her or listen to her because he dont understand wats thats mean....i am so stressed and hav loads to tell but dnt know how ??/?/please if u can help me thank you

[sabinah115]

hi am from uk,i told the teacher she told me giv some time for him...he is progressing a little,he know to clap his hands,jumping.i hav seen the doctor and the doctor send me to the speech therapy...so the treatment is going on,he is making 4 words...and the teacher is working with him alone and told me to come to school...October i hav an appointment with the speech therapy and the teacher then they will decide wat to do...sometimes he reply wen u ask him a question n sometime he just repeats the questions....the therapy  will see if it coming from his understanding or really his speech...but still am not getting a clear view...he knows loads of words  counting facebook laptop but why he dont speak in full....he knows to operates laptop by himself games

[Sandman2]

   I agree with specialmom.  And I doubt that his teachers have had him long enough to know what is going on.  And are these Teachers or more of an untrained preschool staff?   By the way, are you in the US?

[specialmom]

Hm.  well, I am dead serious that I'd make an appointment to see your pediatrician/doctor to talk about this.

Reason I say this is that many things can be helped and corrected but you have to offer the intervention to do so.  You know him better than anyone and you see that he is not understanding/comprehending what you say.  If his motor planning is off and he takes in the sound but does not organize it to follow directions, that is a big sign that he needs some help to get on track.

Here is something you can do.  At his age, he should be able to follow a three directive command.  Tell him to do three unrelated things one time.  Example:  clap your hands then go to the front door and then jump one time.  He should be developmentally at the point in which he can hear that once and follow those three simple directions (not redirecting him after each step).  

By the way, many things can go on with children that have absolutely nothing to do with intelligence..  

Maybe there is nothing wrong at all and he will grow into it.  But if he needs some help, it is good to get started.  Is a speech evaluation something you could get set up???

[sabinah115]

hi ya thx...i have already did his hearing test...he heard from both ears. He is talking a little bit,but the teacher told me to giv him some more time...and they try to work with him because teacher said he dnt hv a brain problem....he will take time to talk

[margypops]

Have you tried talking to him not just asking him questions , do you read to him ..chidren whose parents communicate a lot and read all the time do in fact talk more. Children copy and if you talk to him he will respond, perhaps he has with drawn more since the new baby was born .  

[specialmom]

Hi there.  Well, I'd set up an appt. right away with his pediatrician/doctor.  Tell them that he is not able to understand.  While others think he is not listening to them, he may really not be understanding/comprehending what they are saying.

Finding out WHY that is ---  is so very important.  I'm sure you've had his hearing checked to rule that out.  If not, do so.  But then ----  what is the break down for him?  There are three parts of speech---  articulation (making the sounds) is one we all think of with speech.  but there is also receptive speech (the ability to take in and organize what is said to you so that you can understand it) and expresssive (the ability to formulate the thoughts you want to express, to organize those thoughts into words to speak).  Motor planning has a huge impact on these speech componants.  If something big or small is out of sync, a child can have the issues you mention.  Sensory integration disorder is one of the reasons that a child would have motor planning issues and difficulty understanding.  Please google 'sensory processing disorder' (SPD is a great web site) and see what you think.  Auditory processing (also part of sensory integration/processing disorder) is another reason why a child in a classroom can't respond to a teacher.  

Your job is to try to understand why he is having the issue----  and then  you can begin working on it.  They can provide much help for a child with various issues through intervention---  speech, occupational therapy, etc.  

Start with your doctor though.  good luck