little baby cousin

[wum]

So my cousin's b-day is coming up and she's turning 5. problem is she's kinda developmentally slow i think. we went out to eat with the family today and she kept showing off her little tube of toothpaste that she got at the dentist. she doesn't speak in full sentences. she just kinda yells your name, points at tweety bird on the bottle, and goes: "bird!" or "this is my toothpaste!"

For almost the entire duration of the meal, and while everyone else was all clapping for her and whooping it up, i got a kinda sinking feeling. i want her to have a bit more social skills. i didn't smile at her when she kept directing my attention to her shit. i just want the spud to be all grown up and well adjusted. and so i'm ignoring it when she's acting like a total peek-aboo-i-see-you kinda kid. i feel i'm being mean, but something has to be done :(

[mojo]

you cant really speed up her developement man. she will learn at her own pace.
what you can do is support her and make her feel loved.

ignoring does neither of these things.

[mugsy]

mojo has definately got it right.
i've worked with hundreds of kids from ages 3 to 18, and ignoring is not the way to go. ive also done loads of work with the specail needs, people at all different levels of both mental and physical abilities, and disregarding their thoughts or actions is completely the wrong thing to do.
some kids just dont learn as fast as others, it would be rediculous to think every child was the same. hell my little cousin coudlnt string proper senetnces together for a long time, she started school like everyone else and her sentence structure became normal, but they discovered she had a minor speech impetiment which caused her slower pace at learning earlier on. (shes in grade 7 now, and a straight A student)
give your little cousin time, shes only five. i have a cousin who is five as well, six actually in december, and he doesnt talk completely correct yet. but he does get alot of encouragment when he does talk correctly, and no one ignores him.
seriously speaking dude, you are being mean. rather than just straight up ignoring her, why not encourage her?

[cubed]

Suggest to your aunt and uncle to have tested for Pervasive Developmental Disorder or PDD. I have a younger brother who suffers from it and the earlier it is diagnosed the better off the child is. It will allow her to get the extra help she needs. One of the initial traits of it is a developmental hump in the verbal development of the individual. If she is diagnosed with it I would suggest having her see a speech therapist as it will greatly increase her chances of over coming the disorder.

[wum]

Originally Posted by cubed

Suggest to your aunt and uncle to have tested for Pervasive Developmental Disorder or PDD. I have a younger brother who suffers from it and the earlier it is diagnosed the better off the child is. It will allow her to get the extra help she needs. One of the initial traits of it is a developmental hump in the verbal development of the individual. If she is diagnosed with it I would suggest having her see a speech therapist as it will greatly increase her chances of over coming the disorder.

hmm. that would be difficult to broach with her parentals. for a long time i figured she wasn't being socialized properly since she doesn't hang out with kids her age much and her family just sort of interacts with her in sound bytes, like: "oh, show us your hula dance!" "chubby cheeks!" etc.

she tends to repeat the same thing a lot, like asking me if i had a haircut or what i'm doing. whenever i ask her something a bit abstract like, Who's your best friend? she just smiles wide at me not saying anything :031:

as well, there are these two girls (kate and rebecca) who live in my neighbourhood who are about the same age as Lulu, and whenever i'm chilling out in the backyard i can hear them rounding up the other kids on the block where they are dictating a game like Treasue Hunt and they've drawn all the maps and shit.

a few times Lulu tried to join their reindeer games and she would just grab something from her play pen and shove it in their face going, "toy!" :( I don't want her to be a misfit when she grows up.

[stabmyhead]

As it's been stated already, with proper stimulation, encouragement, and patience, her verbal skills will improve dramatically. Try to be active with your conversations with her, if she shows you a toothbrush, ask her to show you how to use it, where she got it from, etc. Basically try to get her to elaborate her conversations, and show an interest in what she has to say.

[Veni*C]

^^ awesome advice. :y:

[wum]

Originally Posted by stabmyhead

As it's been stated already, with proper stimulation, encouragement, and patience, her verbal skills will improve dramatically. Try to be active with your conversations with her, if she shows you a toothbrush, ask her to show you how to use it, where she got it from, etc. Basically try to get her to elaborate her conversations, and show an interest in what she has to say.

I hear what you're saying. but most 4 year olds are beyond being fascinated with inanimate objects aren't they? like i said, my neighbours who are the same age make up very elaborate games and play with other kids. Lulu still gets excited over lame stuff like a hair brush or a nerf ball. I was thinking that maybe i could wean her off those things and maybe she'd move onto making friends and becoming more sociable? :) We don't want her playing with objects forever.

[ty_guy]

hey! there is nothing lame about a nerf ball ..... those things are still in. i have fond memories of me un-loading rounds at my older sister and i would ALWAYS win. hehehehe