2 WWYD questions.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

1. I have 2 1/2 year old DCG who started here 1 month ago. Everything she says is a repeat of what you say and she will say it 4-5 times in a row. She does say other things beyond clearly imitating, like "Towel for bottom. Towel for bottom. Towel for bottom." after going potty.

"It's time to go potty." -Me
"Go potty? Go potty? Go potty? Go potty? Go potty?" -Child

"It's time for lunch! " -Me
"Sit down. Sit down. Sit down. Sit down. Sit down."

"Go play with your friends, please." -Me
"Go play. Go play. Go play. Go play."

:confused: I've worked with a lot of 2-3 year olds but I've never run into a child who wasn't clearly labeled autistic who demonstrated echolalia. Maybe it's this combined with issues in other areas (that I'm not mentioning) that makes me think this child is developmentally delayed, but could this be normal? Has anyone experienced this with a 2.5-year-old who is not developmentally delayed??? Am I overthinking this or should I start keeping track of my concerns to bring up in X amount of months (and just how many months would that be)?


2. Mom sends DCC with nice looking boots. Mom then says DCC can't wear boots when we go outside and that they must wear another pair of shoes brought or the boots could get ruined. DCM tried to take boots with her yesterday but DCC said, "No. I want the boots!" so they were left. They were worn again today. DCC wants to wear the boots. I really don't want to tell the child what shoes they can wear while in my car when they clearly wore those shoes earlier today when Mom was present. If they wear them coming here, then they wear them to the park ... or is that wrong? I should do as DCM said? :confused:
*I do not have anything in my parent handbook about bringing multiple pairs of shoes to school. It simply says closed toe shoes and socks in the winter.

[crazydaycarelady]

Why buy boots if they can't be worn?? Sheesh! I'd tell dcm that the child is upset that she can't wear the boots so either she needs to leave them at home or the child gets to wear them.

As for the other, I'd give it a little more time and see if there are any changes.

[Country Kids]

1. I have 2 1/2 year old DCG who started here 1 month ago. Everything she says is a repeat of what you say and she will say it 4-5 times in a row. She does say other things beyond clearly imitating, like "Towel for bottom. Towel for bottom. Towel for bottom." after going potty.

"It's time to go potty." -Me
"Go potty? Go potty? Go potty? Go potty? Go potty?" -Child

"It's time for lunch! " -Me
"Sit down. Sit down. Sit down. Sit down. Sit down."

"Go play with your friends, please." -Me
"Go play. Go play. Go play. Go play."

:confused: I've worked with a lot of 2-3 year olds but I've never run into a child who wasn't clearly labeled autistic who demonstrated echolalia. Maybe it's this combined with issues in other areas (that I'm not mentioning) that makes me think this child is developmentally delayed, but could this be normal? Has anyone experienced this with a 2.5-year-old who is not developmentally delayed??? Am I overthinking this or should I start keeping track of my concerns to bring up in X amount of months (and just how many months would that be)?


2. Mom sends DCC with nice looking boots. Mom then says DCC can't wear boots when we go outside and that they must wear another pair of shoes brought or the boots could get ruined. DCM tried to take boots with her yesterday but DCC said, "No. I want the boots!" so they were left. They were worn again today. DCC wants to wear the boots. I really don't want to tell the child what shoes they can wear while in my car when they clearly wore those shoes earlier today when Mom was present. If they wear them coming here, then they wear them to the park ... or is that wrong? I should do as DCM said? :confused:
*I do not have anything in my parent handbook about bringing multiple pairs of shoes to school. It simply says closed toe shoes and socks in the winter.

I have one the same age and they are a huge repeater!!!! We have tried everything and nothing works. Seems on mark with everything but just not in the repeating department.

For the boot department, all my children keep a pair of rain boots here for when we are outside. Keep the nice things for the parents and the play stuff for here. So I have a basket they put all their shoes in and then a basket for all their boots.

[wdmmom]

I dont have much in the line of advice for question 1. I can say this much...if this is an only child with not a lot of experience in daycare or with other kids, she may just be a delayed talker and is picking up new words, hense the repeating.

As for #2...I would just tell dcm that the child needs to come to daycare ready for the day. This includes shoes. If shes coming in with boots, its boots she'll wear regardless of other shoes. Just tellthe mom she needs to come in clothes and shoes that are applicable to your program.

[LittleCrawfishCC]

I can't tell you much, but I would watch the little girl, these are the same things my 3 year old daughter did and does do. This was part of her getting diagnosed with Aspergers. Does she had any other signs? I wouldn't wait to long the earlier she has an intervention the better. It's never a good idea to wait with a speech delay

[Mommy2One]

As a parent, I would recommend telling the mom that DCG needs to come in the shoes she will wear all day in your program. Letting her daughter wear shoes she loves may make it easier to get her daughter dressed in the morning, but she's setting the kiddo up for a melt down later.

I purposefully send my daughter in clothes and cheap shoes I don't really care about because I know that they frequently go the playground, take nature walks, water the plants, and play with chalk, paint and other messy art supplies. I feel it's my job to watch out for my daughter's clothes but I'd rather my provider just focus on taking care of the kiddos. That being said, I provided a pair of generic Crocs (only $5 at Walmart) to keep at the provider's house. They act as back up shoes if my daughter gets her regular sneakers too wet or muddy to use the rest of the afternoon and I would hope that if the provider knew they were doing something sneaker-ruining (like playing in the water sprinkler) she would have DD wear the Crocs instead. My provider also warns me if she has an especially messy, may-not-wash-out project planned. That's when my daughter wears the outfits my in-laws buy for her (:: j/k...mostly ) or clothes that she's about to outgrow,etc. My daughter and I both love shoes so she has boots, dressy shoes and "nice" sneakers to wear on the evenings and weekends. If we have errands to run after care I bring a bag with clothes and shoes I like better.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

Child #1 is not an only child, but is the oldest. The child has never been in daycare before.

[Malmom]

As for the repeater, it seems normal to me. All three of my children repeated things over and over again. And if they said something to me and I didn't repeat word for word what they said, they got mad. I just chalked it up to them learning new words and wanted to make sure I was understanding what they said.

As for the boots, I'd just switch them. One of my daycare kids always comes in with one pair she wants to wear and one pair that she needs to wear. No biggie for me to change it.

[Lilbutterflie]

As for child #1- I think it's normal for 2 yr olds to repeat things very often. You have a right to be suspicious though and watch for other signs of speech delay or being on the spectrum. But if this were the only sign, I wouldn't worry. With my 2 yr old repeater, I just try to get him to repeat a wide variety of things so that his vocabulary and sound pronunciation can develop as a result. Here is a good article about echolalia in toddler development:

http://littlechildren.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/echolalia/

As for child #2 with boots. My handbook says that they must come dressed appropriately for indoor & outdoor play. I would tell mom that if the boots can't be worn outside, the child cannot bring them to daycare. If the boots DO get ruined, you know you will be blamed. I also wouldn't want to deal with the child constantly asking for the boots. This is a case of mom choosing to make this YOUR battle instead of her own. You have to switch it back to making it HER battle to say "No" to the boots.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

I'll be monitoring the child closely because I really do think there's something else going on there ... it's way beyond the echolalia. I'm hoping some things change.