My son just turned 3 and is very limited in the words he can say. Since he was two i have been concerned but people would tell me how their kids began speaking over nite, but now i am very worried. He is currently seeing a speech therapist that is funded by the state. I graduated from college in december, i have put off finding a job, because this is more important and i would not have time for both. Also like subsidized daycare i had while attending college and the speech therapy funded by the state would be terminated. You cant have both, which is extremely frustrating. Speech therapy is not cheap it costs $100 an hr. It really is frustrating for every1 involved, especially me and my son. He is very brite, he knows what he wants to say he just doesnt know how to say it. He says a few words, what he cant say he'll point to and when he gets really frustrated cause he cannot be understood he'll start to scream hit throw things. Even when he was in daycare the teacher would talk to me about his lashing out cause he cant communicate like other kids his age. Its so discouraging/disheaartening i want so badly to be able to communicate with my son.

Its so irritating and depresses me greatly when people say "Congrads on graduating, whats ur major? have u found a job yet?" I just wanna tell them none of ur business. They r just asking to b nosy and dont understand why I not working yet. I feel i have to explain why every time, so i dont look like a total loser, "my son doesnt speak very well & i need to concentrate on that" & I shouldnt have to explain. And it really makes me feel dumb when people ask me if i am going back for my masters and them they have the nerve to ask me why not? I know its more money career wise, but tutition, stress, sanity, son, wise i am done w/school and never going back! Even if i wanted to i couldnt,when it comes to my 2.2 gpa i am extremly proud of that, i could care less and i a, not bent outta shape at all that i didnt achieve a 3.0.

Lastly, potty training is not going very well, yes i have heard boys take a little longer and it takes longer if they are forced, but with his speech and his still wearing diapers i feel horrible, like i am not doing a very good job as a mom. What am i doing wrong? All of december he would tell me he had to go & he went, 1 & 2, then he just stopped, nothing tramatic happened in his life, i cannot figure what happened, why he stopped. Whenever i ask him, sit him down he just sits on his little toilet and doesnt go. I am totaly open to more suggestions/experiences, thanks.

Well, the Speech Therapy is important.... Does he say any words and how long has he had them for? Has the speech therapist or you tried teaching him some basic sign language? It is a great tool for bringing about verbal language and of course, a means of communicating.

You know, I worked and did qualify for subsidized daycare (although I was put on a wait list and never did end up getting it). Check into it a bit further, unless you would start making a big salary I'm betting you could still get the daycare and some help on the therapies.

Have they established why your son is not communicating easier? What is the speech therapist saying about it? It must be really difficult, I remember that stage where they just get so angry when they can not communicate to you what they need.

People just don�t think before they start asking questions. I don�t know how you change that and guess just saying about having to concentrate on your son�s speech is about all you can do. Don�t let them make you feel bad, for what it is worth I think you are doing the best thing that you can which is concentrating on your son!

For toilet training my son responded really well to just plain old bribery! I talked to him and told him that every time he remembered and went to the toilet I would give him a square of chocolate. It was like magic. If he forgot I did not really comment on it except occasionally saying �oh rats never mind next time you will remember and Mum can give you your chocolate� After a short time we moved to only doing the chocolate for �number 2�

Asayo,
Hello. My son is 2 with a variety of special needs, medical disgnosis. Benjamin has been seeing a speech , physical and occupational therapist for most of his life. Benjamin does not verbally comunicate or sign. He has a variety of moans, groans and cries for his needs. I encourage you to ask you to look at interactive sign language classes which has been proven to boost communication skills in children that have no medical/ hearing issues.
I do not have much on potty training- my son urinates through an opening under his belly button- he has a neurogenic bladder due to spina bifida- a birth defect affecting the nerves which operate the bowel bladder and lower extremities.
I appluade you for finishing school. I married, played military wife, had a specail needs child, now finalizing my divorce and will be taking my first college course since high school next month. I am so nervous about school and making time to study and acheive.
No one can judge the shoes you walk in if they have not even so much seen the shoes. You know your acheivements and goals and you simply cannot worry about what others think wonder or assume. Lastly your kids come first no matter what. You will acheive your goals and dreams it just may take longer than some people. Don't give up and take care of yourself

When my son was that age, I went through the very same thing...I left jobs to help my son...one of the most important things you can do..yes i was not only broke, i was beyond that.
He had a speech pathologist and had an ear/throat specialist who discovered he had blocked ears. He went for surgery at 5 years old where tubes were put in and suddenly able to hear things...then it was teaching him how to communicate...we had to shorten our sentences to help him pronounce words. For example if he could only say two sentence words than I would say three word sentences..for ex: Justin want milk? We shortened his sentences and worked in multi-sensory which meant working with feeling, hearing and saying each word. Take an old screen or find one at your local home hardware store maybe 1x1 foot and tape the edges all around so you don't cut your fingers. Place paper on the screen, and draw out letters and words with a crayon. Remove the paper and with his finger have him outline and trace it with a finger and have him repeat the word at the same time. My son lacked in memory and it was a great tool for him. We did this for a few years. I did eventually in grade four have him assessed by a psychologist to see if his learning could be identified for the school's purpose so they know how he learned best.

Every child learns differently and through your speech therapist she/he should be a tremendous resource for you, so that you can do some ofthe work at home with your child to help offset some of those costs.
Miranda

You might talk to his dr. about autism. Autistic kids often have trouble with speech development.

I went through the exact same thing...turns out my son had fluid build up in his ear and surprisingly enough it took an ear specialist to figure that out..how it bypassed the regular exam at his pediatrician's office, I have no clue.

Does he hear well? My son had tubes put in his ears at about 5 years old. After the operation I had not realized how much he was unable to hear until he woke up from teh operation after we brought him home and said "hear birds"...and teh second thing he said after the operation was "toilet loud". That is when I realized everything was muffled around him, and so he was not able to grasp mimicking simple sounds of words.

We did end up repeating kindergarten to allow him teh extra time to catch up and he was learning from scratch. He was also a late reader as a result.
Now he is 13 and doing just fine.

first things first...u need a diagnosis. if u can't get one from your current doctor, go see someone else.

it's possible he may have autism or some other form of learning disability.

i am the autism social worker in my district and part of the condition involves speech communication...i can give you some tips regarding communication and potty training if u like......

send me a message if you're interested....

fyi, the strategies used for children with autism can work for just about anyone or anything. in fact, a lot of what i learned i applied to my own children who are not special needs, and it worked wonderfully.

My 11 year old nice did not learn how to speak until the age of 4 and now she is a straight A student.

I mention that to give you some comfort but at the same time my personal experience has taught me to braise for the worse and you are doing the right thing getting him some help.

quote:

Originally posted by asayo:
It really is frustrating for every1 involved, especially me and my son. He is very brite, he knows what he wants to say he just doesnt know how to say it. He says a few words, what he cant say he'll point to and when he gets really frustrated cause he cannot be understood he'll start to scream hit throw things.

My son used to do the same thing. I took him to the doctor and they didnt want to do much "One day **** surprise you and start to talk" is all they would say. My mom even talked about my brother not talking till he was three so I was not to worry.

I didnt give up and got him in to see the ear, nose and throut specialist. Come to find out he had water in his ears from birth. He needed tubes and the sooner the better. He had surgery in May and had tubes put in both ears. He is now starting to say SOOOOOO many words its hard to keep up! LOL

I wish you luck.

your so sounds alot like my duagter. she is 5 and still wears pull-ups. she was diagnosed with autism last year.she is starting to speak more now and the sighn language does help with communication. she has an occupational therapist, an individualized education plan (IEP) for school.all you can do is get him to the specialist so they can determin the right course of action to take and stick with it. you have to hang in there and be strong. i'm sure you have alot of long nights and accidents around the house. i know i have. but there are several programs that can help. you have to ask and be insistant. and above all else give it time.