Family member said my 3 year old has learning difficulties

[wingingit987]

Hi I hope this is the right place to post but I'm looking from some advice of where I go from here.

My son turned 3 a couple of weeks ago, he's always been a wild one and we are going for our first appointment with the speech and language therapist tomorrow.

We started mini football a couple of weeks ago today was chaos not following any instruction, continuously doing his own thing, I've noticed he's started slapping again which is a nightmare. Anyway when telling a family member what happened which I'm not sure if it's because just dad took him I was asked if I thought he had learning difficulties. He is on the go all day doesn't stop till bed time but he does sleep well.

He doesn't stop talking but it's the same sort of thing. If I ask him some questions he couldn't answer it because he doesn't understand the question. For example if I said to him what's your friends name he would say name. As that's what I've just said.

He does attend nursery and has recently moved up to the preschool room. They haven't said he doesn't follow instructions or he's destructive doesn't join in like he did at football.

Compared to his little friends he is abit of a late bloomer.

If I think I there is an issue which I thought there could be what do I do. Would it be better trying to revive help privately if so what type of help does he need.

Or is this normal behaviors. I'm so confused and just want to help in any way I can really.

Thanks for reading if you managed to get to the end of my post.

Second post as think I posted in the wrong place first

Hi @wingingit987. My experience has been that my children’s nurseries have been brilliant when I’ve had any concerns. The first place is go is probably to them to ask your questions, as they know him well and will know what is usual for kids at his stage of development. There may also be an SENCO if the nursery is attached to a school who can assess him.

Whilst I’m no expert and obviously only know what you’ve put in your post, it’s sounds like he’s pretty normal. I’m a teacher and a mum and I’ve seen so many variations of normal development over the years.

The football thing made me laugh because my eldest, aged 3.5 at the time, a wanted to do ballet lessons but could not for the life of her follow a single instruction or not wander off or get out of the line or whatever. It was a nightmare. She’s now in junior school and can definitely follow instructions- she was just too little then! She only started to be able to do proper classes- swimming and dancing etc- once she was in preschool at 4 and got used to following instructions in a school environment. I’ve seen that a lot in various kids, I think it’s pretty normal.

As for all the energy- could be a sign of ADHD perhaps- of which language delay could be a factor- or maybe he’s just got a lot of energy! Again, my eldest was always like this- hopping about like Zebedee, running us ragged and only sleeping for about 6 hours a night. She was a whirling dervish! As for the language delay in of itself, that’s very common. Hopefully the SALT will be able to help too when you see them, they may well be able to assess and answer some of your questions.

Good luck and try not to fret too much. He’s only little and will change so much over the coming years. You’re doing the right thing in investigating this and doing the best by him too.

How did you get on with the speech and language appointment OP?

Thanks for your replies sorry it's late.

They felt that his speech was fine but I'm still finding him in incredibly difficult. He's now taken to hitting me scratching and biting me whenever I tell him off and it's started in nursery.

I'm at abit of a loss tbh it's making me feel like the worst parent ever. I'm thinking of calling the health visitor.

If you have the money and want to get in private help you need SALT and, I suspect; also OT. You can get this on the NHS but it normally takes a long long time, may require a diagnosis and often isnt fit for purpose as the therapists dont have enough time. The therapists will give you a clearer idea if anything is going on and they certainly cant do any harm if your DS is developing normally but needs a little helping hand now.

Also learn makaton

Tbh he's come on leaps and no bounds with speaking nursery have no worries at all SALT had no issues either when we saw them.

It's just the not listening and the hitting I'm really struggling with he's started to hit at nursery but earlier when I was putting him in time out he was hitting, punching and scratching me when I held his babes he just started trying to bite me. He only does it to me not his dad. I feel like a total failure.