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Delayed speech, plays alone and repetitive but only in preschool setting

4 replies

greyriver · 19/02/2011 15:53

My ds is going to be three next month. Preschool recently called me in and mentioned they thought he had speech delay. We have since found out he has glue ear in both ears and we are now awaiting ent referral. Whilst filling the forms out for speech therapy (caf form ) it's also been noted that at playschool he only likes to play on his own, except from one little friend he has there who is a close family friend. He also always go back to the same toys each time. He doesn't really like group time and seems to only like one on one. He also acts very bashful (like he is playing peek a boo) with the teachers acting very shy, smiling at them etc...but hiding his face peeping...

At home he loves playing with other kids, love social settings like soft play, love swimming, joins in party dances when on holiday etc. He is v active sleeps ok and eats ok and fairly varied diet. I feel preschool are probably thinking maybe autism could be flagging up, but he is incredibly adaptable, yes a bit possessive over toys sometime but generally shares well at home, is very caring cuddly and loving....

Can delayed speech maybe affecting his confidence.? do any of my sons traits seem familiar to anyone?

Tia x

OP posts:
MadameSin · 19/02/2011 17:05

Hearing issues will affect his ability to communicate as well as contribute to a speech delay. This may also be the cause of his dislike of group situation at school ie: lots of noise and movement may stress him a bit. However, he feels comfortable at home and will cope better as the demands are not made of him there iyswim. Try posting this on the Special Needs:Children section as there are a few speech therapists over there who may be able to help

skybluepearl · 19/02/2011 18:43

great website with links about what autism is - you can see if your son ticks any boxes. www.autism.org.uk/

BlueberryPancake · 20/02/2011 15:34

To my understanding your son has no signs of autism. You can check the test but really if the behaviour was the same at home I might be worried. But it's not.

How many words does he have?

I'm not sure about that but I don't think it's the speech delay as such that can trigger him to have a delay in social skills, but the glue ear in itself might make him feel isolated. He has learned to play well on his own and sounds quite happy, and loves a certain set of toys. I think that's quite normal.

DS has a speech delay, he had glue ear too, and his language is developing very slowly. He has speech therapy and is getting on really well. He has now starting to use the word 'friend' and he talks a bit about his friends, but he has only need doing that since he was about 3 years 9 months. He loves playing on his own too. And he is scared of loud noises, he doesn't like large groups, and does a lot better one-to-one or in a very small group of children.

Is he happy at nursery? I know that DS is very happy at his nursery, but he just loves playing on his own (it did worry us to start with but we can see that he loves it). When it's song time or story time he just sits there and doesn't participate, but he still likes it.

Good luck

Vikkile · 11/03/2011 14:17

You might post your question on my sister in-law, Amy Reno, website called Speechtails.com. Amy is a speech pathologist and a mom! It has been a great help to me when I have questions. I use the site as a tool with two of my daycare children and have seen much improvement! Give it a look Good Luck, Vikki B, Indiana

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