Bragging = High Expectations

[ttremble88]

Okay, let me address everyones questions:

Playfelt: She was moved from her last daycare due to the family moving cities. The mom had mentioned, in email before our interview, that "she speaks Chinese, due to her last provider, but I am not sure if any of it stuck" Mind you, she had only been out of this daycare, as far as I know for a month. She has yet to say anything to me and another language in attempt to voice herself. I think that her vocab is on par for her age. But you mostly hear it during free play. If you ask her something, she just stares at you blankly. She hears you. Is just lost for words.

Busy ECE Mommy: She does indeed make eye contact with both her peer and myself and paly appropriately with toys. She is able to carry on a conversation with her peers, provided that it is play. She enjoys role playing with our toy animals and acts out situations with the other children. But if asked a question, she usually just stares at the person, not saying anything, until I pull an answer out of her. For example, if she is playing with a cow, she will say, "I eat hay", but if you ask her "what does a cow eat?" She will just stare at you blankly. This goes for personal questions, for example, would you like water or milk? She usually replies with "Ummmmmmmmmmmmmm " I have not noticed any face expressions or behaviours that do not match the situation.

[bright sparks]

Okay, let me address everyones questions:

Playfelt: She was moved from her last daycare due to the family moving cities. The mom had mentioned, in email before our interview, that "she speaks Chinese, due to her last provider, but I am not sure if any of it stuck" Mind you, she had only been out of this daycare, as far as I know for a month. She has yet to say anything to me and another language in attempt to voice herself. I think that her vocab is on par for her age. But you mostly hear it during free play. If you ask her something, she just stares at you blankly. She hears you. Is just lost for words.

Busy ECE Mommy: She does indeed make eye contact with both her peer and myself and paly appropriately with toys. She is able to carry on a conversation with her peers, provided that it is play. She enjoys role playing with our toy animals and acts out situations with the other children. But if asked a question, she usually just stares at the person, not saying anything, until I pull an answer out of her. For example, if she is playing with a cow, she will say, "I eat hay", but if you ask her "what does a cow eat?" She will just stare at you blankly. This goes for personal questions, for example, would you like water or milk? She usually replies with "Ummmmmmmmmmmmmm " I have not noticed any face expressions or behaviours that do not match the situation.

This absolutely sounds like a working memory problem unless it simply is anxiety related to transitioning in but I don't think so by the sounds of it. It is not a hearing issue. If you have to pull the information out of her then she has a processing issue. Document everything and if after a couple of months MAX you see no improvement then I would recommend you give a copy of the written documentation to the family and suggest they take it to discuss with the family dr or pediatrician if they have one. It is a very common issue and requires you to just figure out the best method of asking a question so her working memory is able to process what she heard and get it to the tip of her tongue

[Fun&care]

. But if asked a question, she usually just stares at the person, not saying anything, until I pull an answer out of her. For example, if she is playing with a cow, she will say, "I eat hay", but if you ask her "what does a cow eat?" She will just stare at you blankly. This goes for personal questions, for example, would you like water or milk? She usually replies with "Ummmmmmmmmmmmmm " I have not noticed any face expressions or behaviours that do not match the situation.

Yes this is what I experienced with the dcg I mentioned before. It got to the point where if she wanted a toy or anything, she HAD to ask and until she did she did not get what she wanted. It's weird, I know...a part of me thought that sometimes this was her way of controlling her environment...sort of a manipulative behavior. Hard to explain but after seeing how manipulative she was with her parents by not answering etc. I realized this was a controlling behavior which is why I began demanding that she ask for things properly etc. I don't think you should rule out medical/ behavioral issues but I wouldn't jump the gun and say anything just yet to the parents and if you don't see any improvement in a few weeks try being a bit more demanding in terms of getting her to articulate herself. Clearly as you have mentioned her vocabulary is fine so that is not the problem...the question is WHY is she choosing not to answer...does she just need more time, is she being manipulative or could she be somewhere on the spectrum? All you can do is watch and wait.