Hi, I'm not sure if im posting this in the right place, i dont really come on here, but im in need of your help and advice.
I have a 3yr old boy whose speech is quite delayed. He says alot of things and has just started putting everything into simple sentences, but to the untrained ear its complete gobbledy-gook.
I picked him up from nursery just now to be told by the teacher that she thinks i should pay for someone to come in and assess him. He's already had his speech assessed and is on an 18month waiting list to have speech therapy. I dont know what to do. i think a 1 off assessment will serve no purpose what-so-ever, especially when ive already had this done. I already do alot of 1-to-1 things with him such as games and reading books. I feel sorry for him as he cant talk to people his own age and im beginning to think he's getting behind, especially when i hear 18month olds having a full blown conversation with their mum.
Its beginning to get me down, so im just wondering if anyones been through a similar thing or knows of anything else i can be doing.
Just to add he wont be having speech therapy until about August next year, which is a long wait!!!
Thanks in advance
Vicky

Oh my days, do you know thats exactly the same that happened to my ds (now nearly 8yrs old).
Ok so after many "concered" meetings with the nursery etc and me worring myself silly for months, he went to speech therepy and do you know what? They bloomin well told me that he is fine, he just talks fast and is lazy with forming his letters ( a common thing in boys) .
The best thing to do is TALK to him, have lots of conversations even if its over a peice of toast!!(ie what colour, is it crispy etc)
Just plenty of random chat to get him unawares so that he doesnt think about what hes saying it just flows.

Needless to say my ds turned 4 and now you cannot shut him up, literally he talks non stop lol!! At school he has to have quiet reading challenges just to keep him quiet more often lol!

Thanks for your reply. Everyone ive spoken to has said something along the lines that you've said. either they had delayed speech, or their children have it or had it. and everyone says the same, that give it a while and you wont shut him up. Its such a relief to hear this, you begin to think your child is the only one with delayed speech after talking to the nursery.

Thank you again
Vicky.

My friend went through this with her son, he attended speech therapy for a while but really he was fine. He quickly caught up and you wouldnt know any difference now.

He was just lazy too, try not to let it get YOU down tho as im sure it must be really hard for you having these conversations and worrying.

Get lots of information and a link to a free DVD about children's communication at http://www.ican.org.uk/talkingpoint/.

I would also call your the speech and language therapy department and let them know of the impact of your child's communication difficulty. More and more we are being asked to take this into consideration. It is possible to have a child with what a speech and language therapist might call a 'mild' difficulty but it can be having a huge impact on their lives and your lives. If you dont ask, you don't get. I know that in our department, if a parent calls up and (politely) lets us know just how difficult life is, then we do prioritise their child to a certain extent. All the best. xx