Have his hearing tested. My son is hard of hearing which made if very difficult to understand why he wan't talking. I KNEW he could hear. I just didn't know that he couldn't hear high frequency sounds like "s" or "f" And don't allow anyone to delay the testing.
It was 1977 in Naperville, Illinois. I took my son to the schools to check his hearing and waited and waited for the promised appointment. Every time I checked they told me to wait longer. Later I found out that, on the advice of the school psychologist, the principal decided they should try "behavior modification techniques" on him before bothering to test his hearing. That meant they pushed him to do what he was told, thinking that he was just stubborn, when he had no idea what he was told to do. He was only just 3 years old! You can imagine how terrible that was for him. He's never been the same happy person that he was before. And this was a GOOD school system: Naperville, Illinois.
A year later a doctor sent us to a college clinic. It took them quite a few sessions to determine what he needed. I leaned later that a professional could have done it in ONE session. Overall, a year passed before he was fitted with hearing aids. Then he learned to talk right away from us and from playing with the neighborhood children.
Yes, as you can tell, I still am upset about this more than 30 years later. My son is in China now, teaching English, but he's never again been light-hearted. So learn form my experience. Don't be too trusting. And have your son's hearing checked. You will probably find that he has no problem, but just to be sure. ... View related article.
