big question

lisar wrote: How well is your 3 year old talking? Here is my problem me, my sister and Granny and Amanda all understand everything that Raygen says. However I have had a few people tell me lately that they cant understand a thing she says. Someone that I respect ALOT has told me that I might want to have her hearing checked just to make sure everything is okay. She didn't pass the hearing the test when she was born, but we all blamed that on the fact that she was so early. And I always watched and made sure that she could hear me. I am just wondering what everyone's opinions are? Should I have her checked? I understand her completely. But I am her Mom and I am around her all the time.

boyohboyohboy replied: what has her ped said when she goes in for a check?
I would think if she had a hearing problem you would have noticed something...
but it surely doesnt hurt to ask the ped to check her..our ped has a machine right in the office to test...they also can do that ringing test easily.

I can understand Jakob all the time. sometimes I have to translate him for my parents or even dh, but most of the time people do understand him...also when he does talk to others sometimes or most of the time he is goofing off so he changes how he speaks if that makes sense, if he is acting shy or loud or talks like a super hero..his voice is harder to understand and sometimes there are moments I dont have a clue what he is saying because he makes up words...

lisar replied: exactly. If she is really excited then I dont know any word she is saying. But I can understand her just fine. It just makes me worry. She has an appt dec 1st for her flu shot so I am gona ask them then.

msoulz replied: Erin just turned 3 and we still don't understand everything but most we do especially when she is talking to us. She often talks to her toys and such or just seems to babble out loud and then I understand less than if she is specifically addressing me. She puts together sentences and all of that just fine. She goes for her 3 year checkup next Wednesday and if the doc expresses any concerns I guess then I may worry but not yet. At her 2 year checkup I thought she might be behind but the doc said she was just fine then too.

My son was a late talker and now, at 10, he is much more articulate than most kids his age. And we were SO worried about him.

cameragirl21 replied: I onced photographed a 3 year old girl who for the life of me, I could not understand a word she said. I literally had to ask her mom, "what did she say?" after everything that came out of her mouth...I felt like such an a-hole, like I needed a translator or something.
That was 3 years ago and now she's talking like a dream and everyone can understand her...some kids just don't speak clearly when they're really little, it doesn't mean there is anything wrong with them.
Now a hearing problem is a whole other thing--when you call her from across the room, does she hear you? Do you feel you have to talk to her any louder than you have to talk to Lexi? Does she react to loud noises like fireworks, sirens, etc?
When you posted that video of her and your DH singing along to the radio in the car, it seemed like she could hear just fine and she was moving her body to the rhythm...if she had a hearing problem she wouldn't be able to do that at her age, hearing problems in kids are usually accompanied by coordination and gross motor skill problems, you'd notice that she doesn't have good balanace, etc.
She *may* need a speech therapist when she's older if her pronunciation of words is off or something to that effect but it is possible and likely that she just doesn't speak clearly yet and it will get better as she gets older.

CantWait replied: What Jennifer said.

And for the record, most 3 year olds aren't understood real well by people other then who they are around most of the time. I barely understand older kids.

mckayleesmom replied: Russell is almost 4 and I can usually understand him good, but if he is excited about something he talks really fast and he also has a high pitched voice...so it makes it difficult.

DVFlyer replied: Keian is 3 1/2 and hardly talks. He will if prompted, i.e. "Say 'more milk please' ", but will usually not initiate the conversation or need.

He has been diagnosed with mild to moderate autism, so we assume that is the main reason for his speech delay.

My3LilMonkeys replied: Honestly I would have her checked by a speech therapist if only for your peace of mind. When Brooke was 3 we had the same issue - family/close friends could understand her, strangers could not. The pediatrician said not to worry and she would grow out of it. A year later at 4 the ped finally agreed she should be checked and she has fairly severe pronunciation issues. Now at 5 she is in speech therapy, making improvement but still struggling and our therapist says the earlier you catch it and start the therapy, the easier it is to correct.

PrairieMom replied: Al is 2 1/2 and most people can understand nearly everything she says, I would say about 75% of what she says is pretty clear, with the rest, the words are clear, but the words she chooses don't make sense. She was an early talker tho, and we did sign language with her in the beginning, so I think that helps too.

Calimama replied: Miabella is 2 and people can pretty much understand her. She uses some words incorrectly. Ex. instead of, "Do you hear that?", she says, "Do you heard that?"

mummy2girls replied: I may be too late to respond. See if your ped can refer her to a audiologist. ( if you need a referral) Im not saying she has a problem or anything but you want it checked just to make sure. Jenna was 3 almost 4 and no one could understand her but me. She was referred to an audiologist and they saw her hearing was fine. Then she was referred to a speech therapist. And it showed she had a severe delay. she was in the ABC head start program in her preschoola nd then now in kindergarten and now her speech is mild. but she has more delays and but that has gotten better. so just to ease your mind get her checked. its not goign to hurt and then if she needs the help its better to do it now then when they are older

Hillbilly Housewife replied: My 3 year old says things like this all the time:

"Emilie, that's insignificant". "I don't know where my doggy is, maybe it's in the basement". "I need help, I can't do it on my own". "May I have some more milk, please?"

You can understand her clearly.

ZandersMama replied: I would have her checked for sure. I was 3 before I was diagnosed.

A&A'smommy replied: umm I would have her hearing checked.. hasn't she had issue with her ears? that could be the cause of it. She may not even have issues but its definitely better to be safe than sorry!

Cece00 replied: my 3 yr old is extremely easy to understand. i dont think anyone would tell me they could not understand her 99% of the time.

get her checked out. not just by an audiologist but by a speech therapist. my son was very hard to understand @ that age, only ppl close to him could understand him most of the time. I had the ped, an audiologist and even one speech therapist push me off. Turns out, he really does need a little speech therapy. He is understandable now, completely so (he's 5) but has pronunciation issues still. I wish he had gotten help earlier when I tried to have him treated for that as well...his other issues are being treated but we're waiting on this...I am completing a hearing with the SSA before I start getting into having him treated @ school and such.