Expert: Sharon Rosen Lopez - 7/9/2009

Question
My 3yr old is just learning his age and talking better he walks around all day smiling very rarely does he talk not unless he has a temper problem. He does not understand the concept of doing a number two in the toilet but he can do the number 1. when asked a question he repeats the question as the answer. he follows me around all day and when you give him a command u have to repeat it a couple times and also call his name with it for him to understand that your talking to him. Am i being a over protected parent or can maybe there be an underlined problem there

Answer
Hi Sherry,

I agree with you that it's sometimes hard to know whether concerns we may have about our children are grounded, and I'm glad you've written to ask about your son.

I'm alittle confused when you write that your son is 'talking better' and then that he 'rarely talks unless he has a temper problem.' But the fact that your son repeats rather than answers questions, and that you need to give commands to him a couple of times before he responds may (I really don't know for sure) be indicating that he's having some difficulty with processing language. In order to determine that, you'd need to have your son's speech and language skills thoroughly evaluated.

Your son might be eligible for a free speech and language evaluation through your school district. You would need to phone the Chairman of the Department of Special Education of your school district to learn whether that is an option for him. If it's not, some colleges that have speech/hearing/language graduate programs also have clinics that have reduced fees.  Alternatively, you could have your son evaluated privately by a speech/language pathologist, and if you go to http://www.asha.org you'll be able to locate a private practitioner in your area.

Best of luck!

Sharon Rosen Lopez, MA, CCC-SLP
Speech/Language Pathologist