Toddler loves enacting

[navyaUK]

Hi All
My toddler loves acting like coping I have a boo boo video, ex where she would pretend she has a boo boo had we have to give her bandage kiss hug. She has few others she is about 2.3 now and does not talk and is a picky eater . She has been in and out of hospital, one long stay when she was one (surgical error + sepsis etc). Extended picu stay where nurses should offer give her videos to watch as she could not be picked up

Not sure if it’s that or she is just naturally into acting and how can I encourage her interest beyond YouTube. Her nursery is not very engaging and she is a bit of loner there. She does not like going there suddenly and I work. Anything I can ask nursery to help her engage ?

appreciate any pointers here !

Sounds like she might be struggling a bit socially? Have you spoken to her Nursery Keyworker or your HV yet @navyaUK?

Hi Op, your little girl sounds very similar to my son, he loves to act out scenes from shows, rhymes and films and also has delayed speech although now at 3.5, he is talking loads!

My son is a gestalt language processor which means the way he learns language is slightly different to the usual way. Perhaps have a Google and see if this sounds like your daughter, if so there is quite a bit of information on how to help develop speech for children who learn in this way.

I believe my son has autism as he displays quite a few of the typical signs, we are currently going through the diagnosis process but hope that this will ensure he has the right support in place when he starts school. I'm not saying that your daughter has autism at all but just talking about our own experience of course ( my son had lots of other signs).

Definitely worth speaking to nursery and health visitor as pp said, nursery will be able to let you know how your daughter is getting on and health visitor can also assist. We have been able to access speech therapy on the NHS which has been so helpful.

2.5 is still young with regards to interacting with peers. Lots of children at this age play alongside each other rather than together, my son has only recently just started to be interested in playing with others.

In order to help her engage it might be worth speaking to nursery and asking them if maybe they could perhaps include some activities that really interest your daughter. My son loves water play and dancing so preschool often make sure they have a water play table out and also put music on for dancing for 10 mins in the afternoon and he always joins in with those activities

@PeanutCat1 so glad that you've been referred for assessment. It took us a long time to get a referral!

Have you applied for your ECHP yet? I'm sure you know already but you don't have to wait for a diagnosis

@navyaUK how does your LO do on this simple 2 year progress checker?

Preschool have been great, really proactive but we haven't had a decision on the referral yet. All the evidence goes to a panel in our area and they then can give the ok to be referred to the paediatrician. Apparently once accepted, a lot of people in our area have had the assessment within 6 months so I'm hopeful we will have a diagnosis before school. Sorry to hear that it took a while for your referral I hadn't realised how long winded the whole process can be until I started looking online and speaking to others.

I didn't realise that you don't need a diagnosis for the EHCP, does it help at all or make no difference? The school/ preschool has an excellent SEND provision and they've been able to meet his needs really well so far so I think that's maybe why it's not been mentioned. I am concerned this may change when he starts school next year as things are more structured and also with things like personal care as we are really struggling with toilet training. We are due to have a meeting with his key worker and the schools SENCO in September to discuss next steps so I will definitely mention an EHCP to them. Do you know if we can apply for an EHCP with reception in mind? as he won't be starting until September 2025 or does it need to be when he actually starts if that makes sense? Sorry for all the questions!

@RappersNeedChapstick sorry I forgot to tag you in my message x