Worried about 3 year olds development/behaviour

[Bigbriesfries]

DS is 3.7 and a few things have been bothering me about his learning development at home. He can talk but his pronunciation is poor and his conversational skills are behind peers. He will not engage anyone outside immediate family in a conversation (even nana, granda etc who he sees Every week)and would rather climb on them and flap his hands in there face. Concentration span is really short, he can listen to a story one to one but sometimes I feel like he's not really listening and just staring into space. Dosent know numbers colours letters, can sort of count to 10 with help. If I help him he can scribble with a pen and hold scissors but dosent really have an interest in doing these things. He can't pedal a trike, again has no interest. We had his hearing tested for speech delay reasons and it was fine but sometimes we have to shout 3/4 times before he will acknowledge your there! I find he is very responsive and clingy to me but does not have as close a relationship with his dad (can't understand why)He is potty trained through the day eats and sleeps well and loves water bubbles and playdoh. Plays well with his brother and toys he likes figures and pirate ships etc. He's started a new nursery 4 weeks ago and he seems to like it. Today when I picked him up I was called to one side and told he had hit on 3 separate occasions all unprovoked ?? he has attended another private nursery before this and we also had unprovoked hitting there. We don't allow hitting/pushing at home and he has t have time out, loses toys etc. I asked his teacher if she had noticed any other behaviour as I have concerns of my own and she advised his concentration was poor and he didn't speak a lot just repeated words and didn't seem to enjoy story time. Anyone else see these behaviours in their little ones? I just have this feeling something's not right.

I am no expert at all but mine is 3.4. The only behaviours he has in common with yours are lack of ability to pedal a bike and the occasional hitting. It is VERY occasional but has happened, usually when he's very emotional about something.

I wouldn't be worried about a lot of the things you mention though, there is a huge variation in learning numbers, colours etc and they're all more interested in different things.

The only thing that's s bit of a red flag to me is climbing on people rather than talking to them as that does sound like behaviour of a younger child.

Unfortunately I think you're right to be concerned.

Can you see your HV?

Hi thanks for replying I've tried getting an appointment with health visitor and was told by the doctors receptionist earlier this week I'd get a call back... Still waiting! I'm gonna go back down today and try again. I think the thing that bothers me most is his not talking to people or recognising them by name? He's seen my mum at least once a week from birth and if I pointed to her and said whose this he would just look blank?

Do you have a speech therapist you can see at a sure start drop in clinic?

Yeh good idea, the speech therapist did actually say t get back in touch if we had any concerns. Would she pick up on anything more than a speech problem?

I also think you are right to be concerned. There are some things you have said, hand flapping, hitting, (possibly other children getting too close) repeating words that would suggest autism to me. It is worth reading more about and seeing if you think he would fit. There is something called the mchat? ( I think) test you can do which will show up any red flags. My son was diagnosed at age 4 and I too had worries XX

The speech therapist should say if she has concerns other than speech - but I would specifically ask her just in case she doesn't.

Language is classed as receptive and expressive. ie how much they understand and how much they can say.

Finally got in touch with the health visitor and voiced mine and nurseries concerns re development and behaviour. Referrals to speech therapy, Sen & paediatrician made! Feel better now I've been and things are happening.thanks for all the replys peeps, you gave me the little push I needed to go back to the hv, sometimes you just need an outside opinion

wow, I feel like I was reading a post I put on the step parenting section. I have concerns about almost the exact same things and same age, but as a step parent I don't get to have a say and my attempts to get it seen to have gone on deaf ears, could you please let me know the out come of the appointments so I know if I should push the issue?

Yes no probs, however I have been warned by the hv the paediatrician can be a long wait! My hv was really good and agreed to just do it (the referrals) and if nothing's wrong and he's just a slow developer it will become obvious when the assessments are done.

I think you are right to be concerned. I've got both autistic and neuro-typical kids and several of the symptoms are similar to the autistic ones, but also similar to other possible development issues. My eldest in particular had echolalia where he would just say words at random or just repeat them back to you and both had/have a lack of interest in holding a pencil or riding a bike. We had a look at the NAS website and were pretty sure our boys were on the autism spectrum before they were diagnosed (at 4 and 2.5 respectively). I also have a blog about our experiences which you may find useful. Good luck.

rainbowsaretoobeautiful.blogspot.co.uk/