My granddaughter is 3yrs and 5mths old and only says 4 words

It's a bit soon to determine whether there is a language acquisition delay lk23 and it's been brought to the attention of the right people to help if it continues, but the fact she has some words is positive. Does she have older siblings who speak for her or bring her things as soon as she points? Some children don't feel the need to make an effort if they don't need to ask for anything, or do not engage in conversations so they can practise. Does she go to nursery school, and when does she start infants? By then she will need to make herself understood and the HV will intervene if she hasn't acquired more words.

My sister's grandson doesn't really speak at 3 and he is attending a speech theropist, but I have worked with children who had speech difficulties in my previous existence and they do great work.

Does she understand everything that is said to her? And are her few words clearly spoken? She may just be biding her time but perhaps it would set her mum's mind at rest if the doctor referred her to a speech and language therapist.

My daughter was about 4 years old before she spoke, Ik23. She was my first child, didn't have a lot of contact with other children, really, and seemed to get by without talking! One day, she handed me her teddy-bear and said 'teddy'! I was a very young mum with no family support and didn't really know how to deal with things. However, she came on in leaps and bounds after that day, and of course, not long after that, she started school. She did have a bit of a lisp - it wasn't exactly what you could call a 'lisp', but when she sounded 's', it came out more like 'sh'. She had a short course of speech therapy at school and it was sorted easily.

I have mild alarm bells ringing but do agree with annobel that if she can easily follow simple instructions..e.g go and bring your shoes. etc that is not so worrying. Also if she is happy and playful and communicates in other ways she is probably waiting until she has something important to say!

I guess that her mum has checked she can hear?

To check her understanding try using clear and simple pictures ask her simple questions , What is on the table? Who is in the chair? etc or use real objects :where is the doll? then model the answer, the doll is in the cot etc but make it a game, lighthearted and fun. Keep the sentence the same if you need to repeat it as it can confuse a child with lang delay if the question is rephrased.

She will need plenty of simple language development experiences : simple rhymes , repetitive nursery stories and encouragement to join in maybe using puppets, matching games. But use whatever she is interested in to try to motivate her to talk.. again do not make a big thing of it or she might clam up more!

In my experience speech therapists will be able to give a good assessment of a child's language level / understanding and offer a clear programme of activities to support her to develop her spoken language. They are easier to access privately as they are few and far between in the public sector. I would go back to GP and ask for a referral. If there is a lang delay the sooner it is identified the sooner it can be helped.

See if you have a local Children's Centre ..they sometimes run a programme of activities specifically for lang. dev called Every Child a Talker (ECAT)

Hope it helps.. and she is chatting away soon

I have noticed that quite a lot of parents talk for their children. Did they always? You ask a child a question and the parent leaps in and helpfully answers for them.
There was a little girl round the corner who was delayed in her speech and her mother seemed to not give her a chance to speak.

Her mother could try not responding if she wants something and just points, assuming her hearing is O.K.

Does your granddaughter seems to be happy within herself? If she is showing frustration and unhappiness, then perhaps that is due to not being able to express herself adequately. Maybe if there continues to be a little delay in her speech, investigating speech therapy might be worthwhile.

My grandson, who will be 4 at the end of this month, was a very poor talker when he started nursery in September, we understood him, but few others could. The nursery were concerned that he had hearing problems, so he was tested, and found to be OK, so then the nursery arranged for him to have 6 weekly sessions with a speech therapist. He now speaks much better, but still not as clearly as some other children his age, but I`m sure it will come in time.

Forgot to say.. signing might help too to reinforce / establish some important words

and here is some info for ECAT and other activities www.talkformeaning.co.uk/everychild.php

That was more or less the case with my daughter, numberplease. In those days - late 60's - nursery places weren't available for all children so my daughter didn't go. My friend's grandson (now 5) was also a late talker, and had an elder sister who did all his talking for him, so he didn't use speech to ask for things, He just pointed and made sounds. Once he joined nursery, he also received speech therapy and his speech has improved tremendously.

https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/eyfs_practiceguid_0026608.pdf

Takes a while to download but look at p.43 /44 for guidance on expectations for a child's language development.
hope you do't mind me posting these links but language development is a particular interest area.

nanaej - Personal interest for me, too. Do you think that difficulties with social development goes hand in hand with speech development or is it a chicken & egg thing? Is under-developed motor skills part of this arena, too?

My three and a half year old granddaughter spoke very little until her bright, talkative and somewhat bossy older brother went to school. At the same time my daughter enrolled her in a 'dancing' class where they did actions to songs. The change has been amazing!

Butternut I think that some children just take time to speak and have no underlying delay or developmental issues. However there are specific speech development difficulties and these need early support so they do not impact on development in other areas. If a child has difficulty in communicating then making friends, coping in groups etc is very tricky for them. Some children will have language and social development difficulties e.g. Aspergers /ASD.
I would worry if a child had not developed a good system of communication by 2yrs. Not only spoken communication but social too.

Thanks nanaej.

Forgive my delay in answering and thanking you all for the help and kindness you have sent; I'm deeply moved. She is an only child with very little contact with other children, but has recently started nursery, and hope that this will encourage her more.
Thank you nanaej for the ECAT information, very helpfull. And Kittylester, dancing lessons sound like a wonderful idea and my daughter is looking into it.
Once again, many thanks from one very grateful "mamgu"

ik23 - i note from the other post that you are welsh speaking. Does your daughter speak welsh, english or a mixture to your GD? i am just wondering if this is a factor?

ik23
It will be fine. Please please do not take her to a speech therapist.
That will make her feel she has a problem!
Which she does not.!!
You, and your family have a problem with it.
If you are really so very concerned, then the family should visit the therapist, and be taught yourselves what to do. But do not expose her to therapy.

Bye the way, my father spoke very very little during his life. But , when he did it was always articulate, and worth listening to.

Some of us like to waffle, and some of us don't .

Good luck.

johanna speech therapists are very sensitive to the needs of their young clients and what they do is play with them. The children have fun at therapy sessions and are not made to feel awkward. Usually the therapist will support the family to help the child but they need to see the child to know what will help! If it turns out that the little girl does have a speech difficulty far better to know and treat it sooner when she is less aware of differences between her and her peers.

Thank you for that nanaej

Johanna I too would challenge your statement. I think a 3 year old is too young to see themselves as a person with a problem.
And how can you know that whether the child has a problem or not?