3 year old not able to have conversation

[Jeb86]

I’m in a bit of a pickle, my 3 yo boy has been very delayed in his expressive language, i was hoping for a nothing nothing nothing then full sentences one day type moment but it didn’t happen and it’s been slow progress ever since he started to get going at 2;3. I’m actually an SLT and so know a far bit about language development, I’m seeing progress in him all the time, sometimes it’s pretty subtle but I think I’m just tuned in to it more than most. However, despite his vocabulary growing and sentences getting longer etc he still can’t “chat” away. He makes loads of comments, instructs us and his little brother and is starting to ask questions, but lots of his language seems a bit pre-rehearsed and he really struggles to put new sentences together. I know his language is delayed and I’m putting in a SLT referral to get a second opinion.

Does anyone either have a crystal ball that I could peek into to check he’s okay and able to make friends at age 6 ish?

Or

Does anyone have any similar experiences of little ones taking time to learn the art of conversation? I’d love to know how you helped them. I’m mostly worried about him making friends at nursery - the other kids his age are so chatty already, he’s just lost in it all.

I should say he’s a bright boy - good understanding, loves playing with others (as long as they don’t require chat!), knows his numbers, letters phonics etc . It’s just his expressive language that really sticks out like a sore thumb poor lamb.

Have you investigated physical causes like hearing and sight?
My son spoke after his sister (she's 24 months younger) and I had to train her to give her brother a chance to speak because she was a non-stop chatterbox. He couldn't process and formulate a response quickly so I had to learn to speak slower and often long pauses too.

Most children's speech at the beginning is very pre rehearsed sounding and so because he is delayed he's just at this stage later than other kids his age. My son sounded very pre rehearsed until he was about 27/28 months and I think he was about 2-3 months behind his peers if I'm honest though he has caught up to speed now at 3 & 1/2. Has ur ds just turned 3 or closer to 4? A major turning point in my son being able to converse a bit more naturally was learning & understanding the meaning of the words "but" "because" and "why" the first two really helped to extend his sentences to almost double so instead of just "I ate my sausage" it changed to "I ate my sausage but I didn't eat my peas because I don't like them" it was really shocking how those 3 words transformed his ability to explain in greater depth and make more complex sentences. Sorry this is so long, you probably know all this from your own job but I'd try and focus on helping him grasp those 3 words at the minute if he doesn't already that is! X

That is really helpful advice - I hadn’t thought of just how important those words are for him. I will begin immediately! He turned 3 in January, and will go to nursery in September, so I’m on a bit of a push to get him caught up a little bit more by then. He’s with a childminder at the moment but doesn’t get as much interaction with other children (he’s gets some). Thank you for your advice and sharing your experiences.

No problem, glad to be of some help! He's not quite 3 & 1/2 yet and if you know he is already slightly behind then I think he sounds like he's making progress. Definitely give it a try teaching him those words with examples and see if it helps any when he catches on to them, may take a few weeks of you repeating examples a lot so don't give up x