my nearly 3 year old nephew not talking

jovichick123

My DS was about 2 1/2 when he started saying mummy and daddy, before that his favourite 'word' was digger digger digger digger (repeated over and over)... he's now 7 and never stops talking :cool:

If there are no words at all, I would be getting concerned at the age of 3... I too would be looking to seek advice if there is no forthcoming attempts at speaking from the child Good luck

lollol

Thanks

I hope i did not come across as judgemental in my op. To be honest I am worried thats why I posted here so some of the replys have sort of reassured me that there might not be a problem (i hope there isnt).
The thing is there are children around my nephew who are the same age or younger who are way more developed than he is hence the concern. Also the fact that books you read do say that a child should be at least saying some words by this age.
I have not directly spoken to her as I am aware that it is a sensitive subject. They have been for some tests and i understand she has been advised to move her son to a special needs nursery (i think)i do not have the detailsof this though

Marmaduke123

It sounds as if things are in hand then, which is good!

cottonhead

Its a bit worrying if he doenst talk at all. Does he not talk infront of others so it could be a confidence issue or does he not talk at all ? Has his hearing been tested? Would speak to a health visitor.

make_me_wise

How close is your relationship with the mum OP? It sounds as if you are viewing all of what is going on with your nephew from a distance. This observation is not a slight on you in any way, but it may be a reason for why you think the mum is in denial when in fact she could be doing all she can.

If you dont have close contact with them, and the mother does not choose to discuss what is happening with you, then you wont have the full picture. It takes alot of time for referrals and assessments to take place. If the little boy is progressing normally in all other areas of development then speech may come in its own time.

chrissie57

I don't usually comment on here I can't usually offer anything helpful - nor can I in this instance:o

However I am just wondering why people are happy to refer to the child as the OPs 'nephew' despite her saying quite clearly he is the child of her cousin?

Your nephew is the son of your sibling - your cousin is the child of your parents siblings. At best the boy is the OPs first cousin once removed (er - I think:o)

Now I know all families are different - but I do know my sister would take severe exception to my commenting on anything like this regarding my niece - I find the idea of even attempting to interfere with any of the families of my many cousins absolutely:eek:

actually_2006

If it were my child I would take them to the GP or health visitor just to check there was nothing wrong. Personally I wouldn't be too worried as I didn't start talking until I was well past three. I just think children start doing things at different times. No reason to think he will be behind in other ways - I have a degree from Cambridge.

In my case it used to get thrown back at me in teenage arguments with my mum- "you might not have started talking 'til you were three but you're certainly making up for it now, young lady"

If it is someone else's child then other than tactfully trying to suggest that it is quite late for a child to start talking and perhaps a doctor/health visitor could make sure there weren't any other problems, I don't think there is much you can do. You can always make sure you talk to the child and read books to him as much as possible rather than him being plonked in front of the TV. Although in my case that certainly had nothing to do with it as I didn't watch much TV and always loved books.

jackieb

I wouldn't say anything as it sounds like your cousin already has it in hand.

snowcat53

While respecting the good intentions of those telling you not to worry, your nephew needs to have his hearing checked urgently. And not just a 'test' by a GP or HV but through a referral to a paediatric audiology dept. (I write as a professional in this area.) If hearing is fine then the next stop would probably be a developmental paediatrician who could check out other things and refer on if necessary.

There may of course be no problem at all (it is said Einstein didnt talk till 3) but not talking at 3 is a red flag. At 2 most children have 50+ words and are putting 2 words together.

If there is deafness or other problem the sooner it is found the better.

osian

My nephew was very similar. He would not speak but could understand things perfectly and would point or take you to what he wanted.

He started to speak just after 3 years old and was more or less fluent straight away, unlike my daughter who started to speak early but has gradually increased her vocabulary over a couple of years.

He was referred to a speech therapist, but by the time the appointment came around he was speaking well he didn't need any sessions.

There is nothing wrong with him, he has no issues with his hearing and he is not autistic/ aspergers. It must be just how some children are. He does have suspected dyslexia though and it took him a while to learn letters, spelling, sentence structure (it's as if he can't 'see it' as most others can) but with practice most evenings with my sister he is keeping up with his classmates and seems very able in most other areas. My sister has been reading and it seems that late speech is related to dyslexia in some way - so while it's an issue it's not hopefully going to be a massive one.