concerns for 3 year old's speech/palmar grasp

[nipper]

I was wondering if anyone has encountered a three year old with speech problems? She has been coming to me for a month now and her speech is very unclear, almost to the point that the older children look at me as if they expect me to translate. Everything I say to her gets repeated back to me, almost as if she hasn't comprehended it. Tricky sounds are 'luh' as in the letter l, which comes out as 'wuh'. I've been trying to get her to stick out her tongue and copy me singing lah, lah, lah but I'm no Henry Higgins!

While I'm on the subject, she also holds a pen, paintbrush and fork in a palmar grasp, as in thumb down, which I've only ever encountered in much younger children.

Any advice appreciated.

[sarah707]

Maybe she hasn't been taught how to hold things differently - model how to do it and let her copy you if it's comfortable for her.

Has she had a dummy a lot? That can make speech very unclear.

does mum have any concerns? What about at her last HV check - was anything mentioned?

Does she have lots of colds? Could it be her ears? Does she need to go to the doc to be checked over?

I hope you manage to help mum tackle the problems

[LChurch]

Does she have hypermobility syndrome? Do her other joints seem lax? Have a look at her elbows (sometimes a giveaway sign) do they look double jointed (although it isn't correct terminology)? She may have other problems that could explain the unclear speech and holding pencil like that. How are her motor skills in general?

[nipper]

Thank you for both replies. No use of dummy in the past as far as I am aware. She does tend to suffer a great deal from colds, so it might be that her ears are blocked up...she does sound very 'nasal' when she talks. Mum and Dad were very clear that there had been no contact with a HV when they signed the contracts, should I be alarmed at this I mean they have two older children as well so it might just be that they are too busy?

The hypermobility syndrome is one area I will keep an look out for. She is definitely left handed, but as far as I can see there are no concerns about her motor skills in general. She is able to manage the walk to and from school easily, she loves threading activities, play dough and 'cutting' and sticking activities...you know, the sort of things you would give a three year old to promote fine motor skills. I might need to assess the gross motor skills next week when we spend a little more time outside.