Speech Delays and Obedience

[cleavenb]

My boy is currently 3 years and 8 months. He has speech delays but in this past year he made good improvement. Saying all numbers from 0-10 and more , colours and shapes, Vehicles etc.. The most thing that is concerning me is that he often doesn't listen to command like Stop, Slow down, come here especially when watching TV. I'm writing here to ask for any help on what should I do so that he can improve in listening and obeying.

Thank you very much

I think you need to ask yourself first of all - what qualities do you wish your son to have as an adult? Is obedience/compliance one of them? I would hope not, and if not, why do you expect these qualities of your toddler?

That's his age. It's called being a threenager and very frustrating. Bet he would hear you rustling a crisp packet in another room.

What are the consequences for not listening ? Do you go out with reins so you can apply an automatic consequence for ignoring safety instructions like stop?

My son was also speech delayed and, for a long time, only had language in order to “label” things, just as you describe. Has anyone mentioned autism to you? My son was diagnosed at 5, although his speech has improved massively since then.

Anyway, it’s very common for ND kids to have no sense of danger, or to struggle with transitions. I found it helped to just accept that he didn’t have the maturity to ignore his impulses, not run off, break his concentration when watching TV etc (even if other kids his age could). I had to meet him where he was at.

Have you had his hearing checked?

My DD had speech delay. One thing we all noticed was that if she was focused on a task, she didn't "hear" us talking to her. She had to be focused on us first.
Shes 12 now, still hates being given contradictory instructions or told to much at once. She still zones out as well... but not to the same extent.

👏