Language Stuff - Is It Normal or Should I Worry

My youngest is on the autism spectrum and is high fuction, very bright. He will be 5 in May and still speaks like that but he also answers yes and no questions. I personally would would with him and have him evaluated as well just to be on the safe side.

Good luck and I hope this helps
M.

My daughter, who has some mild speech/language delays, was almost exactly the same way at that age with pronouns, not saying yes, and repeating questions back (echolalia). I had to teach her how to answer questions and use pronouns. I put "yes or no" at the end of every question (and structured the questions so that they could be answered that way) and tried to be visual with it. For example: Do you want a cookie, YES (extend hand with cookie) or NO (pull hand back with cookie)? Eventually she got it.

I used silly games to teach pronouns (which can be very confusing!) I sat in a circle with her sister (who was younger) and took a doll and said "mine". Then her sister would take the doll and say "mine". We would repeat with other objects and also point to items of clothing (dramatically saying "this is MY shirt"). Eventually it clicked and she started using pronouns correctly.

You might want to get a speech and language evaluation if it persists past age 3. You can call the school district and they will do a free evaluation.

You need to work on it some. When he watches TV or a movie, do you ask him if he likes it? Does he ever say yes? Play and ask him if he can say yes.......make it a game......same with me or I.......By him stories that talk and use those words. Or maybe a Leap Pad to learn his numbers and such. I wouldn't be super concerned, but I would probably work on it from time to time.

I've known very bright kids on the autism spectrum who spoke like this when young. It might not be too significant, but would probably be a good idea to have your son evaluated. If there is a problem, you can learn what it is and how to address it. Good luck!

Hi P.,

My son will turn 3 in 6 weeks. I consider him very bright and well adjusted. He knows hos colors, ABCs, shapes, numbers up to 29 in 3 languages.

He never says "I" or "me" but calls himself by his first name ("Merwan does it"). He does say "mine" and "my" and use these 2 equally with "Merwan's".

He does say yes, but never only yes. For example, if asked "Do you want some bread", he will answer "Yes, Merwan wants some bread. Thanks you mommy".

His conversations are lots of repeating. For example, yesterday we saw a little boy kicking his mom at the park (!). He explained to each of us at least 10 times what happened, again and again (a little boy at the park. He kicked his mom. It is wrong. It is not right. He will be punished. His mom is sad. He kicked his mom. That's not nice to kick your mom.......). I believe it's a way for him to take the story in and practice with sentences. He has something he can talk about, so he talks about it again and again.

He hates answering questions, from what color is this? to do you want an apple or a banana for a snack? But, he loves to play, so we play a lot and I know what he knows by learning. For example, we play "firefighters", meaning that he pretends he's offering me a birthday cake and the cake goes to close form the curtains and put fire on them. Then, he calls the fire station and gives our address.
O, we play with his magnet numbers on the fridge, and I say "Oh, look the 6 is on the floor" and he answers "no, that's not 6, that's 7)

I am teaching him now that if he gets lost in a public place, he shouldn't move and just call me. And if someone asks, he shall give his name. We play pretend about it, and he gives his name and address to the police officer, but in real life, I'm not sure he would do it!
Open questions (tell me about what is in this picture, about the colors of this painting...) works much better on him that "What color is this".

My son will be 3 in June. His vocabulary is fine, but I'm concerned about his pronunciation. Instead of "me" he says "dee", as well as some other things that concern me. He uses sign language even though I never taught it to him (he figured out we can understand him better this way). I called ECI and set up an evaluation, but they can only help until age 3. I should have listened to my gut a long time ago and contacted them sooner, but I kept thinking it would get better as he got older. But it hasn't. I think if you are concerned, then you should at least get an evaulation.

hi P.,

i'm sorry that i can't be more of help...but if you ask whether this is something you should worry about. personally, for myself, i would. i think there was a link recently that gave some examples that were very close to what you're describing in terms of your son not answering questions but just repeating them.

it's hard to tell sometimes when your child is so bright in many areas...but that could also be an indicator of some underlying problems when they can't do basic things. Because even children who can recite the alphabet, repeat a story, read a book...can have some developmental delays.

i will try to find the link for you.

I am an Early Childhood major and taught Kindergarten for 5 years. He is fine. I wouldn't stress about it at this time. I also have a 2 1/2 year old boy. Boys are slower to develop in their language skills. I would continue to work with him on saying "yes"... my son just started saying yes and he sometimes will tell me "no" when he really does want what I am asking him.

Pronouns come later.. no stress there

Sounds to me like he is right where he needs to be.

You could call ECI.. Early Childhood Intervention through your local school district but I would give it more time.
He sounds like a typical, normal boy
J.

Sounds like a normal 3 year old to me. My son speaks in 3rd person all the time (he'll be 3 in May). My friend who's little girl is 2 months older than my son also speaks the same way. My other friend's grand daughter does the same thing and she's almost 3 as well. I will agree with other posters tho, if you're not comfortable with it, then you should run it past her doctor just to see what they say. My son had a speech delay up until just this year so I have a lot of experience with the topic. From my personal experience, it doesn't sound like a delay or intelect issue. It sounds like he's being a little boy and just needs some help honing his language skills which comes with practice and age.

I would recommend having him assessed through the school district. It is so amazing the progress the children can make when caught early. I would check just to make sure everything is in check. Repeating is not totally abnormal, but he should be speaking spontaneously with you (not just in imitation) in 3+ word phrases at this point. If he is not doing that I would have it checked out. The sooner the better; then you won't worry.

Please call for an appointment at your local early intervention, which will enable you to get a professional take on your son's abilities. If his skills are within the normal range, that's very reassuring. If there are some tips that would help advance certain skills, EI will share them. If they recommend education by an expert, and if your agree, they will help you transition to free public school services at the age of 3. It's a win-win solution, no matter what.

Hi Jess,
He may be just fine. But moms have intuition about their children, so I wouldn't ignore it.
Early childhood intervention is free for children 0-3 years of age. There is a great ECI in Richardson. Contact them and they can do a evaluation for you.
Victoria