3 year old and still not talking!

Thanks faith777 for your explanation.
Last month when my girl had her vaccine, I actually ask the nurse about the speech problem of my girl. But she mentioned to me that I do not need to worry as my girl can respond to her quite promptly.
Haiz...
 


My son already 28 months, still unable to speak in sentence while my friend's kid, same yr, 1 month older than mine, already speaking like nobody business and moreever, mine attending childcare since 19 months and her never attend any! Sigh, i am getting worried and stress out, so afraid that my boy is unable to catch up.

But he definitely can follow instruction promptly and well, he understand us and will ask for thing he want but not the full sentences. Just word by word.
 
Hi all, just to share - my boy just turned 3 this march n still couldn't talk. He has been seeing speech n occupational therapists. It seems that he is missing on a lot of oral and bodily stimulations hence affecting speech. He's very delayed in many aspects.

We've recently enrolled him in nursery but realised that he's not getting enough opportunity to interact with his peers cos it's only 3 hrs. So I'm now looking into getting him a childcare centre instead.

I'm very worried abt him as he had only started clapping and pointing to items last dec. He only started saying da-da n ma-ma this feb. But there's nothing I can do except continue training him till he improves.
 
my gal is the same as yours momosan started late to point and call us. Is his psychiatrist from KKH? Did they advise to send to special school? It is more important that he receives help on communication than the social part. Special school has 6 to 1 yr waiting period so i advise you quickly get him a specific diagnose of his condition so they can start him at the proper school instead of childcare.
 
Hi, lexchris

My child is seeing a SLT and OT fm a private clinic. I've yet to bring him for a formal assessment fm a hospital. The current diagnosis fm the therapists is that he is delayed in expressive language due to lack of sensory stimulation.

I'm in the special education field so I'm aware of certain tell-tale signs to look out for in my boy. So far so good cos receptive language n cognitive wise, he is picking out slowly.

I'm giving myself till mid year to have him assessed cos I want to observe him after placing him in a child care centre.
 
Hi moms,

Stumbled upon this thread. I have a col who told me she only started talking at 3 year old and the same thing is happening to her daughter now. Her daughter is 3 and only says, papa mama, ma, gong. My col is now perfectly normal despite being slower than others in speech development. While its good to investigate, pls don't worry, some children as just later in that department.
 
thanks babygalore, I am also looking at the positive side and telling myself that she WILL GET BETTER. In fact her sense of awareness has improved and starting to want to make friends. How's your boy momosan? Will interaction with other children really help? So he's just slow in his speech and learning not ADHD nor ASD?
 
Hi lexnchris, I'm now waiting for Nuh to call me for an appt for my boy's assessment. To the best of my knowledge, I don't think he's asd or ADHD, just slow in certain ways. If it's really the case due to lack of exposure, then more interaction with other kids will definitely help. But as for my boy, he's lacking in a lot of oral and physical sensory stimulation, hence he needs more attention to make him more aware of his surroundings.

There's a few integrated childcare centres that caters to children with special needs. I'm looking into sending my boy to these places if need arises.
 
Momosan,

You can read more to him, when he is interested in the story and some words u can highlight the words in different tone to make him interest in the funny sound u make. Ask him question like what where how who is this..

Full day childcare does help and teachers will make the kids speak more. and they will start to talk to their peers.

My girl only speak up more when reach the age of 3+ now she is coming to 5, she is now a very talkative girl which sometimes i need to quiet her down.
 
Best not to get over-anxious. My son refuses to respond to relatives/strangers who ask him to "say... call me..." Many people didn't understand this and asked is he has short tongue (???!!!) or isn't sociable. Kids won't talk to people if they don't think the person is genuine/friendly.

Get favourite toys/objects to to start off words and phrases. My son is now very talkative and surprising can shout out sentences when he really wants something. It's like a latent ability that needs to be triggered? He's 3, can recognise alphabets but totally not into books/writing/colouring. We let him play all day and night because he's learnt a lot more through play than force-feeding books.

Example, he refuses to read out numbers if we point to them so we initially thought he wasn't sure about them. One day I overheard him reciting to himself as he looked at his toy cashier buttons, "Thomas One... Three Henry, Seven Toby, Emily Eight..." and know that my anxiety is unfounded. That fellow has memorised somehow all the numbers corresponding to ThomasFriends engines.

Let children discover what they like and don't let anxiety/comparison become the bane of learning. Kids and adults learn best when learning is meaningful and enjoyable.
 
sorry to bring up this old thread, i happen to stumble upon this while googling for my my gal's condition.
she is turning 3 in two months time and she cannot talk.
she pronounced mama and papa as "ah ah", only use vowels like "ah", "yi", "eh". cannot even say "o".
i would like to know besides getting referred by polyclinic to kk for assessment, is there any recommendation for good specialists who can determine slow development in toddlers?
 
My boy is now 2.5 mths and cannot talk much besides mummy, yi yi, and his fav word, gor gor. I'm worried cos kids younger than him can speak good vocab and a couple can speak in sentences! He understands what we are saying but he can't express himself. Although I enrolled him at childcare centre since age 21 mths, there's improvement in his speech but the progress is very slow. Should I wait til 3 yr old asst to ask for referral for more detailed asst at KKH or do so earlier?

HIs elder brother started to talk in sentences since age 1.5 yrs old. I must admit the elder bro is grabbing all our attention and we have no choice but to delegate child minding of the second boy to the maid. Regretfully, we did not spend enough time with the younger boy.
 
Dear Lonelady and Movenpick,

I once read an article on delayed speech development, and it mentioned that in a lot of cases, the delay is due to a hearing impairment. Meaning which, if a person cannot hear you, how can they respond? So intervention is first of all, to rule out whether they have a hearing problem. Secondly, they will see if the mouth and tongue is properly developed. In some cases, they have weak muscles, which means they cannot speak clearly - but not due to the lack of trying. For this, usually speech therapy would be recommended.

So, Lonelady, you should get that assessment asap, because your girl has not been repeating what she hears. Unless you know for sure, she can hear you and understand you. Whereas, for Movenpick, can wait a few more months, because we know hearing isn't a problem. And it seems like he is speaking, too! However, for children, they need to like you before they would learn from you. So, perhaps some activities that they like, like singing, dancing, watching TV together, etc might help to bring out the speech in them. Unfortunately, most maid prefers our children to be quiet and don't engage them to talk. I made the same mistake with my second child, too. He didn't speak or sing till quite late. Again, playgroup was a big help.

In many cases, when us as parents observe our children, we kinda know whether they are just taking their time, or perhaps there is a nagging feeling that something is wrong. I recall once I was busy washing the floor, and my son came to me with a packet of snacks. So I told him, wait, mama is washing. hands dirty. When mama is done, I open for you ok? sit here and wait. So he waited, and of course I forgot... but after keeping the pails and the broom and I turned around, there he was, with the snack in hand, big smile on his face. So he understood! And understanding is a big part in communication!!
 
thanks Frog for your advice. my girl can follow instructions and hears perfectly as diagnosed by PD. just that cannot talk. even PD not worried, but we as parents feel there's a need for her to start talking soon.
i hope to get her assessed, i would like to know besides getting referred by polyclinic to kk for assessment, is there any recommendation for good specialists who can determine slow development in toddlers?
 
Hi Lonelady, do you let your kid watch TV? Maybe some shows like Barney or Dora - singing and dancing can motivate her? Also, what about pictures and flashcards? Or photos? You can put it on a slideshow in your PC, a folder full of pictures of things in the house, things she knows and like and can relate to, and then sit together for 5 to 10 mins each time, and go through the words. And then you say something about it. E.g. Apple. Is that your favourite fruit? Car. Who has a car? Shoes - whose shoes are these? etc etc.

I do not know of any specialists, but I think Poly is a good way to go, because if intervention is needed,it might be long term, and you might appreciate the subsidized rates. This said, you cannot choose who you get. But they all report to a senior consultant. should be okay.
 
yes, she watched lots of interactive tv since 4 months old till now. in fact she already know more than 500 words (english and chinese) by age of 2. just cannot speak. so weird.
yes, usually most parents go through poly, but the queue for referral is super long. and heard that some of the specialists misdiagnosed. sigh.....
 

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