3 Year Old always asking me to repeat myself

[YesAnastasia]

When I'm talking to him, he very often says 'what did you say?' and I have to repeat myself sometimes up to 4 times before he's satisfied. DH thinks he's just processing stuff. I'm not sure.

He doesn't listen to me much and it's difficult to get him to communicate unless it's about something he loves or playing a role playing game. At one point (though he seems to be growing out of this) he could be a few different characters throughout the day & I would have to ask to speak to my DS before he would answer questions. He also gets upset & makes strange noises/shouts/growls when I try to force him into conversation (lol, it's not as bad as it sounds) like he gets really irritated by it.

DS2 however is 2.2 & is chatty & receptive and the difference in communication is highlighted somewhat.

Of course to some it might sound like he has something wrong with his hearing but I have done some rudimentary tests on him and his hearing seems fine to me.

You should see the health visitor or your GP about this...then you can possibly get an appointment with a speech therapist. If he's taking time to process or getting frustrated about conversation then he may need some help.

DD3 was doing this and had a hearing test last week. Turns out she has glue ear and some hearing loss- not enough to be truly problematic but enough to cause hearing difficulties in even slightly noisy environments. I would advise taking him to the GP/ arrange hearing test through school nurse depending on whether he's at school already.

Ah sorry, misread his age, thought he was 4. In our area we had to go through the GP for an audiology appointment unless she'd been in a state nursery with a school nurse, which she isn't.

My just turned 4 yo was doing this. Just with me. She was doing it on purpose as I checked with nursery and Dh and neither had the same issue. She seemed genuine when she said it to me though.

No idea why (maybe attention as it kept me taking to her) but it wound the hell out of me! I ignored and she stopped.

I'd check hearing but consider if its genuine.

His speech isn't delayed or impaired, he speaks clearly and has a big vocabulary he just asks me to repeat my answers to him all the time. This morning I tested him by saying 'I just told you' and he got quite upset and said 'please Mummy, what did you just say? Say it again' shrugs

It doesn't annoy me at all and I'm happy to repeat myself if that's what he needs but is it something I need to worry about? It's a bit odd but if that's all it is, there are worse things than 'odd'

Oh, I'll feel guilty if it is his hearing. I'll take him just to see.

A speech delay can be present in a child with very clear speech and also in a child whose speech seems quite mature. Your DS sounds like he's having a delay in processing...his receptive speech might not be where it needs to be....hence his difficulty in engaging in a two way conversation and answering questions....of course it could simply be that he's only 3 and hasn't got there yet...but I would speak to your GP about a referral for assessment.

there can be looong queues for speech therapy so if there's no problem then you've not lost anything by checking.

That's interesting. I just googled receptive speech. I'm going to write down a few observations because it sounds like it fits. I had a feeling there was something.

Do you know if it has any relation to dyslexia?

I don't know if there's a link Anastasia but here's a link to ICAN which is a great source of info on speech in children and there are all kinds of contacts on there for advice.

My Dd does this. She doesn't even bother to say what did you say properly, it's just comes out more like wat dya say. She's intelligent and very well spoken but just doesn't pay attention when I'm talking. She's like a teenager!
I'm not worried. I often won't repeat myself and just ask what she thinks I said and she can usually recall what I have said, it's just like a habbit.
I've also done some simple hearing tests and she hears fine.
I bet if you said would you like a giant chocolate cake he would respond.

I should also add OP that my DD who is just turned 5 has said ""What?" on a regular basis from three....but it's a way for her to re-listen and re-process..she's just grown out of it. There are no concerns about her speech at all and at school her listening, speaking and comprehension is all good.