Does anyone have a 'reluctant speaker'?

[olivo]

DD2 has been under SALT since she was 2. After much patience and lots of input, she is finally speaking in mainly full sentences and has been deemd to be in the normal range for her age. However, she will only talk to us and a little other key worker and close friends at nursery. We have been told that their are programmes from SALT to help reluctant speakers and hoepfully, if hse doesnt improve before school, they will help.

I just wondered if anyone with a reluctant speaker could reassure me that it might be ok? it makes me sad taht she is not confident enough to speak in front of others. SALT have only been able toassess her based on what I say she can manage, as she wont speak, even when they do home visits.

not sure if this is what you mean, but my dd (3.3) might be classed like this, I guess. She actually has an excellent vocabulary and is very articulate, but I suspect that only her close family realise this. Around other children (less so with adults) she barely speaks at all, or uses baby language and sounds. I'll watch with interest as I am a little worried about it.

just to add - I am glad I have seen this, as I think this might be very similar to my DD, except that she has never had any SALT input as her speech at home has always been on target for her age. It's given me a lot to think about, so thank you

Hi rhetoric, I will post again on here if I learn anything! Dd is now 2.8 and within the range for 2-3 year olds. She is very 'young in the year' so am worrying about school as just over a year to go. They do sound similar.

Hi i have 6yr old boy who has selective mutism, they identified it at school which is a reluctance to talk, especially to adults

Hi Goldie - does your DS cope at school? Do SALT do anything to help?
sorry, I have lots of questions!

My sister was like this, 24 years ago! She went to nursery and only talked to one friend the whole year, and to her mostly in whispers. She talked fine to us at home but wouldn't talk to strangers. There was no SALT or intervention. She went to Oxford and got a first and then went on to get a phd...

just as a quick addition; thanks to this post i read a bit about selective mutism and picked up some useful tips (I don't think my dd is suffering from this, or if so, in a very mild form); and since I've been reassuring her that it's OK for her not to speak if she's not ready, she's been a bit more willing. But it is noticeable, particularly to adults (who mostly ignore it) and to older children (who comment on it)

Interesting chocolate -did she just grow out of it?

Rhetoric, that is a good tip, although I think dd is still too young to understand that.i do however, ask people not to ask her to say things, like her GPs, who just want to be friendly and hear her talk