Communication/understanding difficulties

[KatrinaW]

I have a mindee who is coming up for 3yrs old. I have had him for a year, his parents had taught him baby sign language and was very good at using this and knew some of the words to go with the signs. I learnt a few and we got along.

It is just the last few months I have been having problems with communication, for example if i ask him to help put some toys away he will look at me with a blank expression, even if I repeat myself slowly pointing to the toys he still doesn't seem to understand until I actually hand him something and point to the cupboard. Another would be today I asked him to fetch a tissue as he had a runny nose (he knows where they are as he has got them before), he went and put his hand in the box and then just stood there, I asked if he had got one and he nodded....after another few seconds I went over and the box was empty. I said "oh sorry sweetie I thought there was some in there, you should have told me there were none left".

Am I expecting too much? It is just I know my son who is a few months younger would have said "all gone" or similar and understands when I ask him to help tidy/pick things up/get things.

His mother mentioned potty training and I am dreading it with the communication issues at the moment.
Again this morning he had a nasty runny nappy which amazingly I didn't smell and he didn't tell me...it ended up leaking out the top and leg parts so I had to change his clothes, it must have been uncomfortable for him!

I am not sure what to do, I am not sure how to go about telling his mother my concerns but please correct me if I am wrong, an almost 3 year old should be able to understand and communicate as I am expecting?

[KatrinaW]

By the way just thought I should say this is my first mindee, the only other experience I have with toddlers is my own son and niece so not got much to "compare" him to IYSWIM.

[sarah707]

Does he have lots of coughs and colds? Could he be suffering from glue ear at the moment? Is this something his parents have noticed happening at home? Has anything happened at home that might stop him from wanting to talk?

Or is it an ongoing blankness and you are worried about a more underlying condition?

Poor little man :(

[angeldelight]

It is hard some children are different to others - I had two 3 year olds one could talk and really communicate the other did not
Yet by the time they went to school they were both on the same level

I would have a chat with mom and ask what he is like at home
Like you said its going to be difficult to communicate with him for toilet training so you need to sort this out

Good luck

Angel xx

[Alibali]

I think we sometimes get an instinct something is not quite right, however it can be difficult to broach with parents. If it is just his speech I wouldn't be too concerned as they do all develop differently. As for the baby sign, I don't think that would hinder his speech. I have a mindee aged 21 months who has been using baby sign since he was tiny, but he is an excellent little talker for his age, and is hardly ever signing now. You may find that mum has concerns too, could you maybe ask if he is due an assessment with health visitor soon and see what mum says?

Ali :)

[KatrinaW]

Thanks for the replies, something just doesn't seem right, not just his speech but the fact he doesn't understand much...or perhaps he does but for some reason sits there blankly.
I have had some problems in the past, well still going on now really, he barely eats anything, his is a pale, skinny little thing, I mentioned that to his mum and she said he is like it at home (not eating much) and not to worry about it, but of course I do when I see him go a whole day on just a bit of toast or rice cake.
He is very accident prone, clumsy (I know most toddlers are like this, including my son).
Each thing individually seems like nothing but put together worries me there is some underlying cause/reason.
I may just be putting 2 + 2 together and coming up with 5.
Why does looking after & caring for other people's children have to be so hard? :rolleyes:

[angeldelight]

Oh poor little mite

Hope you get to sort it out have a chat with his mom and tell her your concerns

Good luck with this keep us posted

Angel xx

[breezy]

Have a gentle chat with his parents and suggest they speak to the health visitor is pretty much all you can do at this stage.
good luck and let us know how it goes :)

[sarah707]

The ridiculous thing is the earlier these issues are picked up by professionals, the better long-term prognosis for the child...

But because nobody wants to highlight them and label the child, everyone pussyfoots around doing nothing, hoping it will go away... :(