Almost 3 years old - not talking!

Have you ever been to a speech therapist?

I second that question.

My son only said "mama" until he was 4 years old. The diagnosis was general speech underdevelopment. We started working with a speech therapist. When my son would point to something with a gesture, I pretended not to see and began insisting that he try to verbalize his desire. The speech therapist said the most important thing was to work with the child every day, in addition to the sessions. So, for two years, I worked with my son every single day without missing one. The speech therapist told me what to do, and I was present during the sessions. The first year we paid for home sessions, and the second year we started going for free at the district clinic. Now he's 7, and you can't get him to stop talking.

Continuing from the 3rd post, I want to say that I put in a lot of effort to get my son to speak. The key is not to be lazy and not to skip a single day.

Sorry to butt in, I don't have kids yet, but from what I've noticed with friends, they start talking a lot when they send their kids to kindergarten—they socialize with each other there.

My acquaintances' child only started speaking at the age of 6. He wasn't diagnosed with any mental disorders or developmental delays, even though he didn't speak at all—only made sounds. At 6, he was enrolled in a specialized kindergarten with a speech therapy focus, and he began speaking very quickly, immediately clearly and with all the correct sounds. Now he's 11, with no lingering issues, and attends a regular school quite successfully.

The first question on the topic.

You need to see a specialist and determine whether the brain area responsible for speech is not functioning, which can be stimulated with medication under a neurologist's care. Or if the child has a "wooden tongue," mouth massages may be needed, and you should stick to routine work with a speech therapist.

Don't speak about things you don't understand. A child who doesn't communicate for a full 6 years, doesn't ask questions or receive answers, misses 6 years of life and development within it. That chunk is simply cut out of life.
There's also the danger that if the situation is left to its own devices, it becomes very, very difficult, sometimes impossible for several reasons, to regain the possibility for the child to speak.
A child's brain in speech development is similar to that of people who have had a stroke. The earlier you take control of the situation and correct it, the greater the return. And besides, not all children agree to work with speech therapists; that should also be remembered.

He didn't speak until he was three years old. We didn't do anything about it. I don't know why. Now the boy is ten. He speaks normally, like everyone else.

Oh. I'm actually dealing with this right now.

My child is 3 years old. At 2, we had a medical check-up – there was a speech development delay. A speech therapist suggested sessions, but it was too early and inconvenient for my son – he couldn't sit through them, and the speech therapist was either on vacation or I gave birth to a second child.

He started daycare at 2 years old. His speech was distorted. Yes, he expanded his vocabulary over the year, but after the check-up at 3, I started actively looking for solutions to our problem. The speech therapist again confirmed the speech delay. And again, she's on vacation until fall.

A neighbor (a psychologist-speech therapist) advised switching to a speech therapy daycare, but it's summer now and everyone is on vacation again. I can't get through to the commission. Waiting for August.

The neighbor herself refused to work with our son for money.

Literally yesterday, a private speech therapist came to us (I left a request on the Logoden website, she was the only one who responded) and spent about an hour with us, observed my son, asked me for details about the pregnancy, childbirth, the first months of the child's life, illnesses, injuries, etc.). In short, she gave us a "diagnosis." We agreed on sessions with her. Three times a week. They will be in a playful format (pencils, massage, etc.). She still recommends getting into a speech therapy daycare. So, this is long-term work, but we caught it early, so to speak, we sought help in time. I also need to put in effort, do the work, be patient – I got homework.

Since last night, I've been reading about this condition – everything matches. Thank God I now understand what's going on with my son. It's like a weight lifted off my shoulders. I understand his behavior, his emotions, his difficulties. I understand how I can help him.

The child will start speaking in any case, BUT if left unattended, problems will start in school and it could follow him for life. Meaning, the child won't be able to absorb information, remember new words, pronounce them, etc. What kind of job can a person have if they can't form sentences? If they don't understand speech? Can't remember information?

I've noticed that children only start talking when they're interacting with their peers.

11. You simply haven't encountered such problems up close. From a distance, everything seems simpler, on a superficial level. Close people have told me that my husband and I are raising our son poorly, that he is so disobedient, stubborn, etc. But he cannot speak and therefore communicates information as best he can. Sometimes he hits.

My son's brain doesn't function well—to put it simply. It's a deviation. It could have occurred as a result of trauma or an illness. And interacting with peers won't help.

Our relatives have a boy who is almost 4 years old and doesn't speak yet; he also communicates everything through gestures, but understands everything—he's very smart. The doctors said he will start talking; he was just very frightened by something. Author, if your child shows you something with gestures and you understand what they mean, fulfill their request, and then ask them to say it. For example: "Danya, say 'I want to eat,'" and have them repeat after you.

13. Hahaha! Do you really think it's that simple?

Mine didn't speak until three either... We didn't go to the doctor... He just started talking on his own by three... At first, he began repeating everything, and now at 3.3, he's singing songs... But I think it was due to laziness in his case... I understood him by his looks, and he didn't make an effort, but at daycare, there are other caregivers who need him to speak...

Vizavi, patience to you! My mom also worked with me at home. It's very tough. And speech therapy kindergarten is from age 4, right? And there was a commission in April, I'm talking about Moscow. A boy from our group is transferring; they opened a small group for those under 4.

15. Well, they told us to wait three years. So we waited, and now the next commission is only in September. I'll do my best to get into a speech therapy kindergarten, though it looks like I'll have to travel far from home. Yes, the main speech therapy kindergartens are for ages 4 and up. But I specifically need to find one where there's a speech therapist in the younger group. That's the challenge... So for now, I'm working with a private speech therapist. I repeat, the free one at our clinic isn't much help—either they're on vacation, or they say we're too young.

What was going on with your child's speech? What issues did it cause?

Could you tell me the number of the kindergarten where that boy goes?

Hello, Author.

My child is now 5 years old, and at around 3 years old, they had a similar situation to yours. Currently, they have a general speech underdevelopment at level 3. That means there’s still work to be done, but the progress has been huge. So don’t delay—start working with your child so they can improve by school age (or even earlier). I recommend reaching out to the Institute of Correctional Pedagogy; we’ve been under their care for two years now. It’s paid, but everything is confidential.

It’s best to schedule a double appointment with a speech therapist and a neurologist (around 2000 rubles for the double appointment). The session lasts about an hour. They’ll observe your child, interact with them, ask you detailed questions about everything, and prescribe medications or tests if needed. I myself hesitated for a long time about giving my child medication, but at 4.5 years old, I “gave in” and started. I saw results, and there were no side effects.

What also helped us: the sea (my son recently returned from the seaside and started speaking noticeably better), interacting with peers, and a speech therapy kindergarten (though they usually accept children from age 4). If financially possible, consider individual sessions with a speech therapist-defectologist (on average, around 700 rubles for 40 minutes). A regular speech therapist likely won’t help much right now, as they focus on correcting sounds, while a speech therapist-defectologist helps the child start speaking.

For now, you need to see doctors and focus on speech development activities—preferably in a playful format, at least initially. Also, communicate with your child as much as possible, ask them questions, and verbalize the answers.

You can also read here: http://adalin.mospsy.ru/l_01_00/l_010410.shtml

Download E.A. Yanushko’s book "Help Your Toddler Start Talking: Speech Development for Children 1.5–3 Years" online.

There are many books and resources available in online stores like Labirint (as an example; other stores likely have them too).

Finger games and fine motor skill development also help with speech. If your child enjoys it, try sculpting with them—sand play is great too.

If you have more questions, feel free to write.

17. The Institute of Correctional Pedagogy is currently on break. I was told to call after mid-August. The cost for a dual specialist is 4,000 (( there are no prices on their website, and the phone is answered by someone like a security guard.

Can you quote the prices for sessions? Or is this their price—700 rubles for a speech therapist-defectologist. I pay 1,200 rubles for 1 hour at our home. I'm eagerly looking forward to the first session tomorrow.

Sorry, a relevant joke, can't resist:

A 10-year-old boy doesn't speak. Suddenly, one day at the table, he says: "The soup is unsalted!" His parents are speechless, his grandmother falls off her chair: "Why have you been silent until now?" "What was there to say? Everything was fine!")))

19. We've also been "laughing" at this joke all these years. I once said: soon our daughter will start talking, but the older one still babbles and gestures.

But we also have family peculiarities—three left-handed women in the female line. And this involves differences in how the brain hemispheres work. Regarding intelligence, the speech therapist said everything is fine.

I'm researching information online—our deviation is poorly studied. It seems it can even be treated with music.

Oh, these kids... In my case, it was the opposite—my child started speaking early (knew 40 words by age one), easily repeated words, started forming sentences by one and a half, and by 2.2 years old, he could easily repeat and say complex words like "funicular," and learned to pronounce the letter "r" without any trouble. There were no issues understanding him... In short, the neurologist scared us (the parents) with something else—saying that such early development is bad because the child might start stuttering... Ugh, you just don’t know what’s better or how to handle it... Sitting here, I genuinely envy those with ordinary kids...(((( And I wonder why nature creates such extremes...((((

4000 already?? Wow...

You know, here in Zelenograd we just work with a local speech therapist - defectologist, and we pay about 700 rubles for 40 minutes, but she actually spends almost an hour with him. We've been working with her for over a year, and her prices haven't changed. Did you like your speech therapist? That seems really expensive... Although maybe prices have just gone up... Two years ago in Moscow, a session was around 700 rubles too.

At first, Sashka fooled around, didn't want to sit, and it was all a bit of a struggle, but then gradually everything normalized. However, he "works" for cartoons/magazines/candy. That is, he clearly knows that if he doesn't do well, he won't get any of his beloved cartoons. I'm preparing you for the fact that your child might also act up at the beginning.

We have sessions twice a week for 700 rubles each, also at our home, but we started when he was almost 4 years old.

There's also a good but expensive center, Nevromed http://www.nevromed.ru/. We haven't been there, but friends went with their son when he was about 3.5 (similar issues to ours). They saw neurologist Marina Nikolaevna Zaitseva and liked her. There's also Semashko, but I don't know any specialists there.

Don't envy :) The most important thing is to closely monitor your son's speech development, and if there are even the slightest signs of stuttering, go to the doctors right away. Our speech therapist says that even stuttering can be treated these days... So don't be afraid—everything will be fine :) Wishing you luck :)

My daughter started speaking just two months before turning three, before that she only used about a dozen words, even though she naturally understood everything and knew all the objects since she was one, she just didn't speak. All children are different.

Dani's mom, don't worry prematurely. There are such children. And it happens that after the age of 3, it suddenly starts flowing like a fountain that you can't even stop. I don't know your situation, place of residence, or social circle, but I can say that such minor delays occur in bilingual families where parents speak different languages with their older children, and also where songs and cartoons in these different languages are heard from the screen. In such cases, the child inevitably needs to organize and systematize their language repertoire. This requires time. But then, to the surprise of some, they accurately determine who to speak with and how. And they certainly don't mix words from different languages in their speech. These speech streams run parallel in them. But they start to establish a bit later.

I've heard something similar, though not often, but in a different setting. There, a child who was considered delayed in speech development was taken to a speech therapist. They complained that the boy was silent, although he seemed to hear and understand everything. The speech therapist tried to communicate with him. He says to him: "Say MAMA." The boy is silent. He says: "Say BABA (GRANDMA)." The boy is silent. A couple more such questions. After that, the boy opens his mouth and says: "How you all annoy me!" At that, the session was concluded.

My nephew didn't speak until he was 3 years old, and we took him to a speech therapist. He only knew basic words like yes, no, give. Then it was like a dam burst—he just woke up one day and started speaking in full sentences, hardly mispronouncing any words at all!)))

These are all wonderful stories, but there are plenty of examples where things aren't so rosy. Just take my child and the children of two of my acquaintances, for instance.

Many people listen to such amazing tales and only realize the problem by age 5 when the child still isn't speaking. After 5, it's very, very difficult to correct, and the consequences can last a lifetime.

So it's better to take some measures rather than neglect the issue. I say this as a mother whose child didn't suddenly start speaking on their own at three years old.

And I wrote that the parents did consult a speech therapist after all; of course, you shouldn't just rely on hope. You need to take some measures, not wait for a miracle.)

If a child lives in a normal social environment and from the age of 2 still hasn't uttered a single word... then unfortunately, the idea that "he's actually smart, just not talking" is a fairy tale for self-comfort... In reality, the child clearly has issues specifically with the brain... Another question is that our doctors can't always pinpoint the exact area or specific impairments... So it's absolutely necessary to take action! And of course, be prepared for the fact that this child may not be entirely typical for life.

My son also only spoke individual words and communicated with gestures until he was about 3 years old. I tried pretending not to understand him—he would get angry and cry, and I couldn’t hold out. Then we bought a new apartment, and while it was being renovated, we lived with my parents. There, no one actually understood his gestures and interjections. He got angry, cried, and within about two weeks, he started talking. I was so amazed! Full sentences, and even with my intonations. My son is 17 now. He studies almost perfectly. If your social circle with your son is quite limited, it’s entirely possible that he just doesn’t want to make the effort—you understand him anyway. And don’t rush to label him with things like developmental delays. What kind of social environment can a child live in? A family where he’s perfectly understood, and a sandbox where the kids themselves can barely speak half the time.

Well, you're exaggerating a bit here, of course :)

If the child doesn't have a very severe condition and if intervention and medication are started in time, there's a very high chance that the child will improve by school age. Again, I'm speaking based on real-life cases.

I also know such stories. Let's hope that the author's case is exactly like this—that it's just laziness and nothing more.

Vizavi, it's far from simple! Good luck and patience to everyone! Everything will be fine.

What's with the chickens? Come on. Instead of going to doctors and getting checked, you're looking for fairy-tale quotes from Shakespeare after 7 years of silence. If there's no problem—what's the fear of getting checked? If there is a problem—the sooner you start working on it, the better. This is your child. And you're playing ostrich politics. You don't know anything, maybe they'll outgrow it. Look, Mania outgrew it. Mania outgrew it, and Valia outgrew it. But yours might not outgrow it. Honestly, you should have been sounding the alarm a year ago.

Start with a speech therapist, and then proceed based on the circumstances. Actually, this is no joke. It could come back to haunt you, for example, with muscle pain in adulthood. It depends on the cause. Everything can be successfully treated and corrected. Sometimes it goes away on its own, and sometimes it doesn’t. And sometimes it seems to go away, but then the cause makes itself known again.

Author, I haven't read the thread. Not speaking until age 3 is not a pathology! Many children start speaking in full sentences after turning 3. You should see a district speech therapist and get into a specialized speech development kindergarten.

Honestly, I've never seen a single person who didn't eventually talk))) And I seriously doubt that no one has ever had such problems. My opinion is that everything has its time. Speech defects naturally get corrected with the appropriate specialists. They will definitely start talking. My daughter also doesn't speak very well. The doctors said she can't keep up with her thoughts, she needs to learn to be calmer and not rush headlong somewhere. She just can't formulate her thoughts quickly. Sometimes in clear sentences, sometimes in gibberish....I panicked too.

I had a similar experience. My son hardly spoke until he was almost three. Words like "ma-ma," "pa-pa," "ba-ba," etc., started as they should, before he turned one. But by three, he could name letters from the alphabet (almost all of them), yet he couldn't speak coherently—just some kind of mumbling. We naturally consulted speech therapists. At three, we enrolled him in a regular kindergarten, thinking interaction with other children would help, but it didn't really work out.... Then, at four, we enrolled him in a speech therapy kindergarten. There, the groups are half the size, and the speech therapist works individually with each child. They also give daily exercises to practice at home (overall, it's good for preparing the child for school). And, by the way, the school preparation itself is quite strong. Somehow, he started making an effort to speak, and before we knew it, he began talking fluently))))) He just finished first grade and is moving on to second)))) The key is to work with the child at home, doing various exercises (for the mouth), and of course, if you can't get into a speech therapy kindergarten, regular sessions with a speech therapist are essential. Although we got into the kindergarten quite easily—we went to a speech therapist at the local clinic, and she gave us a referral to a commission where they examine and assess the child. Then, they provide a referral to a speech therapy kindergarten. Good luck, everything will work out for you.

You haven't seen it, so it doesn't exist? Strange logic. In Moscow, there are 15 specialized schools for non-verbal and children with speech difficulties.

Calm down, you have an ordinary child. And stuttering is easily explainable. Absolutely all children around 3-4 years old can be prone to it, whether they speak complexly or simply. The thing is, when a child hurries to say something, their thoughts run ahead of their tongue, and they might stutter a bit. This is an age-related characteristic, not a reflection of the child's vocabulary.

If you notice this, try to slow the child down so they don't rush. In any case, this isn't treated; this period will pass on its own as the child grows.

If the child is a speaker of two or more languages, they might even go silent for up to a year. That happens.

I've already written here. My son is 3.9 years old—he spoke 9 words. That's it. We went to a psychiatrist. They prescribed treatment. At the speech therapist—treatment. But the medications there are the same as the psychiatrist's. Like Pantogam, Phenibut, Cortexin. Sessions with the speech pathologist didn't yield anything. They said we need to work on sounds. What sounds? There aren't any. The child is silent. We went, paid money for arranging mushrooms by size and listening to the fairy tale "The Turnip." I could do that at home myself.

After a couple of months on medication, the child started repeating words after me, and with difficulty, sentences began to appear. He can't pronounce half the letters, mixes them up, substitutes one for another. Plus, a stutter developed. By the age of 6! we managed to get into a speech therapy kindergarten. The district clinic gave a referral to the speech therapy kindergarten, but getting in is hellishly difficult. Progress is evident. But because of our Russian bureaucracy, I lost time. They shuffled me from one kindergarten to another for a whole year. I even threatened to sue. Now, in February 2013, my son will be 7 years old, and in theory, he should start school. What school? I spoke with the speech therapist. She promised to keep the child in kindergarten for another year. The decision will be made with the head of the kindergarten. Anyway, I'll delay school as much as I can. And keep pushing my child.

There's a speech therapy school in the city, only one.

But I have seen it. People who speak poorly. Those who struggle to express their thoughts. Who are inarticulate. Typically, along with this, such a person did poorly in school. They have poor memory. I've seen an adult who reads poorly, syllable by syllable. It's the same thing. Consequently, such a person does not work in a prestigious job.

You might not have seen this. Here, on Vuman, everyone is cool. You don't have that kind of social circle. But such people do exist.

Did you even understand the post you're replying to?

Good lord, you can't even construct a proper sentence yourself.

Hello! I am a speech therapist with extensive experience and hold the title of "Specialist of the Highest Category." I have worked with such children. Good results come from the joint efforts of a speech therapist and a child neuropsychiatrist or psychiatrist. There is no need to fear this. Children begin to speak actively. Modern medications can help "activate" speech. Singing words is also beneficial. Start with short, one-syllable words, then move on to two-syllable words, and so on, but consistently and systematically. The speech therapy chants by Ovchinnikova can be helpful (they can be downloaded online). Your efforts will yield good results.

We have the same situation, only our child is already 4. Every day, some short little words appear, but he doesn't really speak properly. I want to transfer him to a speech therapy kindergarten. We went to an osteopath twice, seven sessions each time. We understand him perfectly. A speech therapist came to work with us for about 2 months; after four sessions, he started repeating things a bit shyly, but then we went on vacation, and we haven't sought any further help since. Now I've made an appointment with a neurologist to find out what to do next.

My daughter is 3 years and 3 months old. She speaks in an incomprehensible language—"aku taku tptp ashua," and so on. She only uses a few words: "give," "let go," "open," "mom," "dad," "yummy," "porridge," "more," "all," and nothing else... When I say, "say it," she ignores me, doesn’t even want to listen. I don’t know what to do? By the way, she pronounces these words clearly. We are a bilingual family—could that be the reason?

Music therapy helps very well. Singing helps correct speech therapy issues faster and more effectively. Well-chosen music for sessions - calms you down no worse than medication.