# pronoun reversal in my kindergarten 5 year old...is this a problem?



## rcarter143 (Sep 1, 2012)

Hi,

My 5 year old daughter just started kindergarten and still has constant pronoun reversal. Is this normal? Everything i have read is with autism and my daughter is not on the spectrum.


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## rcarter143 (Sep 1, 2012)

anyone with any input on this would be so helpful...thanks in advance

concerned mom


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## rdehoff-us (Aug 27, 2012)

Pronouns are a tricky concept for little ones to grasp. If they hear, "Would you like a cracker?" and reiterate the phrase, "You like cracker?" when they are often just repeating and learning phrases. At other times it seems to be an early indication of Aspergers Syndrome. I would not stress so much about a learning disorder at this age since it may be a simple misunderstanding of pronouns that can be gently corrected with time and patience. But if it bothers you then I would encourage you to speak with a developmental specialist and maybe seek a support group in your area to see if other parents out there are struggling with this same worry could be of help.


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## ThreeTwoFive (May 7, 2011)

Have you asked her teacher whether he/she thinks it's a problem?


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## rcarter143 (Sep 1, 2012)

yes, I have..she doesnt give me a straight answer..she has just told me that a routine speech assessment was given to all the kindergarten students and that the speech teacher has informed her that she will be contacting me..i am waiting to hear from probably on Tuesday but I was just hoping to get some outside input...as everything i read points to autism or DD and I am just confused as to what causes this for such a long time...as at 5 I would think that she would have outgrown this by now....


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## rcarter143 (Sep 1, 2012)

considering she is NOT on the spectrum and doesnt exhibit any other symptoms...she is however a twin and they were both premature...wondering maybe if this plays a role in such a delay?


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## baltmom (Nov 8, 2011)

My son is 2.5 and is on the spectrum (high-functioning), but our speech therapist had an insight that I thought could possibly be helpful. He had pronoun reversal at first, and she pointed out that there is a difference between simply switching "I" and "you," vs. if they are saying what they want you to say, which indicates more of an issue with initiation of a conversation (eg, "Would you like some more water?"). In our case, it was some of each, but I mostly felt like he was giving me my line, so I worked on helping him initiate the interaction from his point of view instead of mine. For the simple reversal, I did a lot of putting his hand on his chest and saying "I" together, and his hand on my chest and saying "you" together. Good luck!


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## rcarter143 (Sep 1, 2012)

thanks for the advice and luck!!!! We have started doing that with her since pre-k a year ago and still no improvement...I am hopeful that when she starts speech she will improve!


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## ~cassie~ (Sep 30, 2006)

My son is 5 and he does hgave trouble with this sometimes. He is speech delayed(hearing loss) and we model the language like pp said and that helps a lot but he does still do it some.


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