Question on 3 yr olds:(

This 3 yr old that started care beginning of Feb I feel has some delays... BUt it could just be me readign into it. I am giving him a little more time and just observing him over the next couple months because it could be he is just not used to me. He is happy here and is happy to come each day. So im thinking its not that he isnt used to me... BUT i just want to see what you guys think.

He will be 4 Nov 1st:

~ Speech: I can not understand what he says. He only talks to me in 2 word sentecing... like mo milk, me tied( instead of tired) , I juice? etc.

~ He can not follow directions... If i say push that bucket here please he goes to pick up a car beside it. GO put this car under this chair... he will pick up the car and put it beside the chair. Its clean up time pick up these cars please an dput them with the other cars... he puts the cars in the other toy box that has no cars in it and the thing is the toy box he put them in is right beside the car bucket and there is cars in it. Touch your head.. and he will not understand. I wave at him and say can u wave back and he looks at his hand like he doesnt understand. For clean up time I have to show him step by step what to do... like... pick up this toy and then i guide him over to the proper toy box and point put it in here and he does. One this also is we have those baby rings where you toss them on the ring holder. I asked him sitting beside him... can u put this ring on here so he does and then i say ok pick up the toy and bring to me, he will take the ring off and put it on the floor. Nothing similar to what i ask him.

~ Eating: He will use his fingers only as he doesnt know how to use utensils.

~ He doesnt know his colors or numbers or letters at all. I put a blue ball and a red ball on the floor in front of him and ask him touch the red ball he touches the blue one. he cant point out any letter at all.

I work with him each day and opbserve him as well but i feeel he is behind and should be assesed. So the agency said to observe him for a couple months and then right everything down on paper and send into them. Then if they feel something is not right they will contact the parents and see what they feel. Im afraid the parents wont agree if there is a problem and wont get him assessed which means when he hot kindergarten he will not be ready at all.

~ He also paces at least 10 times a day. He will stand up out of the blue and walk back and forth for a good 5 minutes. and he does this at least 10 times day.

What you guys think?

Thats a tough one. From what you described I would think he is behind also. Raygen is 3.5 and she knows ALL of her colors and shapes. She can also sing her ABC's (finally). We are working on recongnizing them right now though. And I always thought she was behind. But have come to believe that she isnt. And Raygen can follow standard directions. Her fav thing is for me to tell her to get the dirty laundry out of her bathroom and put it in the basket. She does it every time. So following normal directions she can do.
I would watch him closley and work with him.

Could it be that he doesnt get good interaction with his parents? Work with him and see if it improves. And do you know if his hearing is good? I know not talking normal can have alot to do with ear problems.

Or he could just be a late learner like some kids.

im pretty sure he can hear because i can be in the kitchen and he can be in teh living rooma nd i say C come here and he comes. But i guess taking him to an audiologist is the only way to see.

I think he isnt gettign the proper interaction at home. But i dont live there so im not sure:(

Im keeping an eye on him and workign with him so we will see.

I would def. say he is behind. Isabella who is 2.5 knows her colors and can tell you what color things are. She can count to 10 consecutively and knows the numbers up to 20 < but they are never in order, she also knows her ABC's (just the song). She can recognize her name written down on paper and follows directions (when she feels like it).

The ped. says Bella isadvanced for her age but I would assume at 4 they should be able to do those things. Following simple commands.

He is behind and should be assessed for the reason why he's behind. Might be simple matter of lack of instruction from the parents or something medical/ psychological.

Keian will be 4 in april and speaks in a similar fashion although he does know his colors, numbers and some of his alphabet- if you ask him "where's the 'A'?", he will usually point to it.

He has been diagnosed with mild to moderate autism.

he wouldnt be that far behind say, if his parents do not work with him.
say his parents dont bother with the utensils at home..and just let him eat finger foods..
or they dont work on colors and shapes, and just sit him in front of the tv..
I am not saying he is neglected, but has he been in daycare before you?
I have known a few people who rely on the child care providers to do the teaching..
is it possible that his parents just havent started with him??

Jakob just started singing the entire ABC's and he can do shapes and colors, but if he doesnt feel like telling you, like he isnt comfortable with you, he wont do it..
he also wont do what you ask sometimes, even though I know he can follow directions..
I just read something about being able to understand a childs speech and I think it said its not unusual to not be able to understand a three year old...
I will see if I can find that..I think it was in the book, what to expect the toddler years...

I bet if he gets more used to you and you work with him he will pick it up fast.

sounds behind to me. Al knows all her colors, can count, say her abc's and can even recognize some letters / numbers by sight. she can also sing whole songs, and speak in full sentences.
a child that age should be able to follow simple one step directions.

I'm by far no expert in psychology or in child devolopment but i have taken classes in CD in high school and psych now. This sounds to me a like mild form of a mind issue. The slower prosessing and odd repeditive behavior ( the pacing) . I would reccomend to the agency that they speak to the parents now. Is he an only child? as they may not recoginize the delay or see it as normal or maybe they just baby him to keep him young. But i'd lean more tward mental/psycological issues.

Erin is almost exactly the same age (will be 4 on Nov 12) and here is how she compares:

She sometimes speaks in long sentences but we can only pick out a few words, almost like she is babbling in between. But she does use full sentences for repetitive things, despite pronoun issues, "Can my have some milk please" or "I have to go potty". Those things are very clear. She has had quite a word explosion in the past few months though, so maybe even 6 months ago she may have only been using 2 words, I don't recall.

She can follow directions. If I were to ask her to put something on the chair she would - unless she had something more fun to do.

She can use utensils but seems to prefer to use her hands; she is still clumsy with them and often uses her fingers to help with her utensils, like picking up something and putting it on the spoon or fork then putting it in her mouth. This too has improved greatly in the recent couple of months.

She knows her colors and all uppercase letters and most of the lowercase ones too. She knew the colors and uppercase letters at about 2.5.

So it seems he may be a bit behind but not dreadfully. I too think it depends on what the parents are focusing on.

The pacing thing is a mystery - I wonder if that indicates anything nefarious?

I am not saying he is neglected, but has he been in daycare before you?

No he hasnt been in daycare before. because of the economy his mom had to get a job other than that he has always been at home with mom

it possible that his parents just havent started with him??
i dont know:(

I just read something about being able to understand a childs speech and I think it said its not unusual to not be able to understand a three year old...

i have always known that if people other thna the parents can not understand him at all then there could be a speech delay going on. no one could understand her at age 3 other than me so i had her assessed and come to find out she had a severe speech delay:( I know all kids develop at different rates...so it could be just comfortable aspect with him

I know it could be because he isnt use to me yet thats why im goign to observe him for a couple months:)