My daughter turned three years old in August and we are still having a hard time understanding most of what she says. She is not able to carry a conversation as of yet. She can only say a few three words sentences. Please let me know if anyone has had a similar experience. What did you do? What are your suggestions to help improve this eben if you have not experienced this issue.
I would recommend her for a school evaluation. I did this with my son when he was three. Best thing I ever did. He was evaluated as having a speech and language delay. He is caught up on speech now ( age 8), and still has some difficulties with comprehension, and reading comprehension, however, has come leaps and bounds.
You can get an evaluation through the school system. Since she is already 3 she will be too old for the birth to 3 services (though it may be different in each state), but if she qualifies for speech services she could get them through pre-school in your school district.
I think you need to contact your local school system ASAP. Your daughter sounds very delayed with her speech. I got my son help through the state's Early Intervention at 2. The sooner you get help, the better your results. She will not catch up on her own from what you describe. On the other hand, don't freak out, I am sure there is nothing "seriously wrong" with her.
ECI-Early Childhood Intervention. They come out to your home for speech lessons (no charge). I'm not sure when the cut off is. They have some age limit and I don't remember what it is but I think that would be a great place to start.
I agree to check with your school district. ECI ends at 3.
she really needs to be evaluated by a Speech Language Pathologist!! sound like she has a fairly sever speech delay. I would contact your school district and see what services they provide. My 2 1/2 year old has been in speech therapy for about 1 year now through a program called First Steps. When he turns 3 in March he will get his therapy from the school district.
My daughters pediatrician is referring her to a speech therapist.
She is 2 1/2 and delayed in her speech.
There is lot that goes into speech. My gut tells me a 3 year old should be saying a lot more than a few 3 word sentences, but it also depends on her comprehension, ability to follow directions, production of speech,and articulation or clarity, etc. But I think my ped told me that at 3, you need ot understand like 80% of what is said. So, I would lean towards getting her evaluated, which is usually free in a county system.
Clearly talk and read to her a lot, ask he rlots of questions, clarify what she says by repeating it to her correctly, don't reinforce pointing/grunting/whining (make her use words).
Here is a response I made to a similar question which expands on what I am saying here>>>
My oldest, at 18 months. My youngest, at around 30 months. There is a lot of variation.
There are many elements of speech and language. In my opionon, the most important thing is that your child understands you and can follow simple instructions. Beyond comprehension, are vocabulary which can be slow to develop in some kids and articulation which can be even slower. My 3 year old (the younger) just had a speech evaluation. She has the comprehension and vocab of a 6 year old, but her articulation is at the 35th percentile for her age. But she is improving a lot every day.
So you need to ask
-does he understand me?
-is her understandable by others?
-is he stagnating or improving?
Odds are he is fine. One thing to keep in mind is that the standards for government services in this country are pitifully low, like the 25th percentile for age. So, you need to decide what your personal standards are and your point of willingness to seek therapy. My child's teachers have always said, the key for them, is whether the speech production is interfering in their social development. So, one more question is
- do his peers and teachers understand him?
- is he embarrassed by his speech or unwilling to talk?
