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proexpert37
proexpert37, Educator/Life Coach
Category: Parenting
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Good evening!! I have a 28 y.o daughter who lives in Brazil

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Good evening!!

I have a 28 y.o daughter who lives in Brazil with her Portuguese speaking husband and inlaws. My daughter has a 2.5 y.o son. She and the baby are here in the states for Christmas. No one here in the US have seen them (other than on Skype) for just over a year. The little guy is very adaptable and interacts well with other people. However, he is not disciplined well by his mom and he babbles more than speaks. He has mimicked a few words in English and perhaps a few in Portuguese. Of course he lives in a bilingual home where English is only spoken by my daughter. So perhaps 10% of the time is he hearing English.
My 78 y.o. mother was here for a visit on Saturday. She may have seen him for a total of 30 minutes at the most and even then didn't really engage with him. She read him a book for about 10 minutes on Sat. night but that's pretty much it. She's trying to butt in and strongly suggest that she have him evaluated, before they go back to Brazil in a month, by a pediatric audiologist because he doesn't speak yet. And he doesn't appear to "listen/obey" when one says no to him. I think he's fine, just my daughter's inability to discipline him b/c he doesn't seem to know the word NO.
Should I tell mom to butt out? Or do you think there is an issue??
Hello and Thank You for using Just Answer. All children develop their oral language skills at different rates. It is hard to say that there is a problem especially when you do not see him on a daily basis. Many children, especially boys, blossom with their speech at the age of three and even a little beyond. They may seem to babble and mimic words and then it is almost as if overnight they start to talk in sentences. If your daughter is keeping up with your grandson's routine check ups, then one should not be concerned just yet. If he was around the age of 4 and still not speaking, then a speech therapist should be seen to evaluate your grandson. However, hopefully he is receiving a great deal of social interaction with verbal exchanges with children as well as adults. Tell your mom that she need not be concerned right now. As for the discipline issue, hopefully your grandson is hearing more than just the word "No" from his mother. Children are such observational learners and need a great deal of positive guidance as they mature.

Have a great evening!
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