Concerned That My 4 Yr Old Boy Cant Talk in Full Sentences

Hi, I understand your concern. I am wondering how much practice he is getting. This is my suggestion. The first thing I recommend is reading to him ever day at least ten books. Secondly, I would get him into some preK program. There are many inexpensive programs in every community. Check it out. I believe the problem is that he is mostly by himself. I know you are a good Momma who is doing the best she can. I am a stay at home Mom with a great husband and many times I think I should be doing more, better, etc... Keep up the good work and get your little man into a program. Even if he does not interact with the other kids, he will be exposed and this is very important. Good Luck!

I would have him screened by a speech and language pathologist. Even if there isn't something going on with him, which I hope is the case, they can give you strategies,games, etc to encourage language use. If there is something wrong early intervention is crucial. Ask your pediatrician for names, resources, and phone numbers. Also even if the pediatrician says he is fine, but you don't feel that way, go with your gut and have him evaluated. The evaluation will be free through the school system. Good Luck!!

Where do you live? City or burbs?

I found this. If you click on his age it gives you a checklist. This may help you feel less worried or realize that intervention is needed.

http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/speechandlanguage.a...

I think you should read to him a story every night if you can. Also get flash cards that will identify shapes colors and so on, use them in a sentence for him. That way he can hear how to pronounce words and put sentences together. I would not be too worried. I think it is a good idea to put him in a pre-k program like the other mother stated. The city of chicago has Pre-k at alot of grammer schools. Being around other kids will help him develop faster as well. At this stage, I do not think he needs help, he just needs alittle time and give him a chance to be around other people. If he has the same problem, then you may want to seek minor help for him. Good luck

J.,

have you talked to your pediatrician about this? I'm surprised that this hasn't come up sooner at your regular doctor visits. if your child's doctor isn't on top of this, then perhaps you need to see a different doctor. we go to the illinois masonic family practice on lawrence & ravenswood. it's excellent. they have a developmental specialist on staff that observes children regularly to make sure they are meeting their milestones... I'm not an expert, so I don't know the level at which a 4 year old should be speaking, but it seems like they should be using sentences regularly...

J.:
As a grad student in communication disorders, I would urge you to have your son evaluated. At 4 years of age a child should be able to form full (at least subject-verb-object), grammatically correct sentences, and to participate in conversational exchanges (I think the rule of thumb is one "turn" per year of age). Not to offend the kind ladies who suggested reading stories and language games (all of which are always great), but I would not "wait" to see if that yields any results--if your son happens to have an expressive language disorder, he will need a more aggressive approach, and the sooner, the better. I would contact my pediatrician first, since it is important to rule out other factors (psychosocial or organic) that could be interfering with your child's language development. If you have insurance, I would take advantage of that and seek a second opinion, as the quality of school district evaluations can sometimes be very variable (some districts have excellent teams, but, judging from some things I've seen, not all of them appear to do so...).

Hi-

Although all of the suggestions are good, since your son is 4, call your local school district, and ask for a speech and language screening. Most suburban districts are fairly good about this; I'm not sure how good Chicago is currently, although they always seem to have a shortage of qualified special ed professionals. I'm not sure which district you're in, but all public school districts are required to provide free evaluations for children ages 3-5 if there is a concern. If they find that he needs speech and language therapy, they are also required to provide it for free. Often, this type of therapy is short term, and can give your son a boost in the right direction. It's easier to make the referral before your son goes to kindergarten, in most cases....