Speech....

[monkeygirl38]

I put this in my journal, but then decided to put it out here to hopefully, get a bigger response...

Please keep in mind for those that don't remember B -- at 2y3m old, he had little to NO language -- Mama, no, & uhhuh...but only on his own -- wouldn't speak anything on command and was begining to make up his own sign language for us to decode. He started Speech Therapy a little over a year ago and has made DRASTIC improvements....

Just out of curiosity -- our Speech Therapist has commented that Brett uses two particular words that most children with normal speech aren't using yet -- *I* and *flew* (at this point, I don't know what others...those are the two the S.Therapist has told me about)

B has never used "me" as most children do -- "Me want juice", "Me go outside"... -- he has always used "I" which is great, and technically ahead of "normal speaking" children. He started using it as soon as he started speaking in phrases (about 2y9m). When did your child start using "I" consistently?

Same with "flew" -- as in "the bird flew across the yard" -- she said that most children at this age would say "the bird fly or flied across the yard". She was impressed that he knew the word and used it in context.

I am just interested in this b/c here he is...technically with a speach delay, but alot of what he does say is above his age level for nomal speaking children???

I am not saying he is a genius... I am just trying to grasp how his little mind works -- he amazes us with what he can do and how he thinks. He seems to be VERY mechanically inclined and rather than just play with something, he will try to see if he can change it to do something else.

He just seems to somehow be "older" than what he is...

Am I making any sense????

I just want to know if other children are like this and if I am reading too much into it. LIke I said, I find it odd that he was so delayed in speech, but has always tested way ahead in all other areas and now seems to be way ahead in "vocabulary"... they say his only delay at this point is articulation -- speaking his words clearly enough for strangers to understand him.

[B'sgirl]

My friend's daughter didn't speak until she was 3, and then she suddenly started speaking in full phrases. Maybe B wasn't so much delayed in speech as unmotivated. If his speech comprehension was good then maybe he wasn't as behind as you thought to begin with. I'm no speech therapist though, I'm just guessing.

My son is going to be 2 next week and he still refers to himself as his own name. He doesn't use any pronouns yet. He does say he "threw" the ball though.

[IUgrad02]

Hi D... I totally missed this in your journal, and I'm not sure how b/c I come here so many times a day that I thought I hit all the new posts... but anyway!! I'm sorry about that!!

FWIW, C has been saying "I" for a few months, but my friends' children all say "me". We just had that discussion a few days ago, actually, and my best friend's son (who is six days younger than C) will always say, "Mine" or "Me play", and C will say "I play, mom?" or "I cracker?" I don't know if it has anything to do with the way the parents talk to the child or not, but it could. I am guessing C has heard "I" more than he has heard "me" at this point, and I think that is why he says it that way. I honestly don't think he understands "me" yet b/c I am trying to think of a circumstance where he would have used that so far, and I can't come up with one. I don't think he has said "me" yet. But, he's younger.. just turning two this month.

I'm sure B is great. He could be advanced! Or, like B's girl said, he could have just not been ready to reproduce the words for you, even though he understood them. Who knows. It is hard to ask a small child what they are trying to do!

GL... I know his speech has worried you sick, but it sounds like he is doing amazingly well with everything now. Hooray! Try to just relax now and enjoy the tiny personality coming out of him with each new sentence. It is so fun!

[KeelyKay]

G says "I" too. In fact, I don't remember him ever saying "me" for anything (although he is the king of "mine"). He doesn't recognize himself in pictures or mirrors, so I guess "me" will come with that. I'm sure it has something to do with parents' phasing as well.

[Csara]

J uses "I" and past tense of verbs. I agree with B'sgirl that maybe it wasn't so much that B couldn't speak, but maybe he was just unmotivated about it....or wanted to master it before trying it out. Who knows, but I'm so happy to hear how great he's doing now!!

[monkeygirl38]

or wanted to master it before trying it out.

I think that is a biggie....he has pulled that with other things like walking...never did the whole stand/fall/stand back up and walk to steps/fall/repeat thing.... He went from totally holding on all the time to all of a sudden one day he let go and walked across the room. Same with potty training...that was the easiest! He wore pull ups and then when we made the change to underwear, he only had one accident!

Whatever the reason, I am just thrilled with his progress! You can't imagine how much more peaceful our house is now!!

[shan]

K has been saying "I" quite a bit. I don't know if she has always said it, but she doesn't say "me" I have tried to get her to say "me" but when I do I am pointing to a picture. She tells me all the time "I hungry"