13 year old struggling with irregular verbs

[Anonymous]

She has a slow processing speed and was in speech therapy for many years. She is still, at 13, saying things like, “who beated them in the war” instead of “beat” or “i catched a cold” instead of “caught.”

When I tell her that “beated” isn’t a word, she’ll correct herself and say it properly. If I verbally quiz her (i.e. asking her “what’s correct: I buyed it or bought it”) she will always guess correctly...she gets it. But she still messes these words up in conversation all of the time.

Isn’t 13 a little old for this? She struggles socially and I don’t want this to further isolate her from her peers, because it makes her sound babyish. Anyone else’s kid with slow processing speed struggle with irregular verbs as a young teen? Or might it be something else?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I don't see a processing speed connection here. "Processing speed is a cognitive ability that could be defined as the time it takes a person to do a mental task. It is related to the speed in which a person can understand and react to the information they receive, whether it be visual (letters and numbers), auditory (language), or movement."

You are describing a verb tense mistake. You will want to read this study on specific language impairment, analyzing kids who make mistakes on when to use a tense, not how to. It seems your daughter knows how (answers correct in the abstract), but not when (misusing in context).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3866428/

[Anonymous]

Have you always corrected her with these verbs or is this something new on your part?

I've corrected my kids since they could talk. They picked it up pretty quickly. (Same for other grammatical issues.) When they have friends over, I can tell which parents emphasize grammar and which do not.

It is all a choice. But if this is something new that you're just starting to work on, it will take a while to sink it.

[Anonymous]

sink in!!

[Anonymous]

Has she had a full speech and language evaluation? What she is doing is not developentally typical.

[Anonymous]

New SLP - few are great with older kids. That is not normal and should have been addressed.

[Anonymous]

I have a child with low processing speed and he does not do this in either language (we are a bilingual household). I think this is a language impairment. I think you may need an evaluation so you can get her the right treatment.

I suggest you cross post in children with special needs.

GL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a child with low processing speed and he does not do this in either language (we are a bilingual household). I think this is a language impairment. I think you may need an evaluation so you can get her the right treatment.

I suggest you cross post in children with special needs.

GL

+1. I have a child with very low speed processing (ADHD- Inattentive) but he speaks very advanced for his age and doesn’t have this issue. They are completely separate.

[Anonymous]

My son with ADHD and low processing speed is an advanced reader and speller.

This is a red flag for a language disorder, low IQ, dyslexia and/or a lack of reading and conversational practice. She needs to read a whole lot more, and at the dinner table or other daily chunk of time, you need to engage her in current-events conversation, or something similar, where she will practice talking correctly.

You might want to get her evaluated.

[Anonymous]

Does she read a lot? I find reading is the best way to absorb grammar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does she read a lot? I find reading is the best way to absorb grammar.

But by 13, assuming English is the primary home language and school language, I don't think it is about reading anymore for the kind of grammar mistakes she is making. I think this is a language disorder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does she read a lot? I find reading is the best way to absorb grammar.

+1 I was just about to post this.

I am an immigrant, came here as a child, and my parents still do not speak English. IMO, the best way to learn grammar is to watch the news and read. That's how I learned. You can only learn so much grammar in class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does she read a lot? I find reading is the best way to absorb grammar.

But by 13, assuming English is the primary home language and school language, I don't think it is about reading anymore for the kind of grammar mistakes she is making. I think this is a language disorder.

I disagree. My American born children whose primary language is English also learn grammar through reading complex text.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does she read a lot? I find reading is the best way to absorb grammar.

But by 13, assuming English is the primary home language and school language, I don't think it is about reading anymore for the kind of grammar mistakes she is making. I think this is a language disorder.

I disagree. My American born children whose primary language is English also learn grammar through reading complex text.

Of course, but hearing that "I catched a cold" is wrong and knowing it is "I caught a cold" is something that people don't need to read complex text to learn. That is pretty basic, and OP is right to be concerned that a 12 year old speaking that way will make her seem babyish to other kids. If she is growing up in an english speaking environment and has parents and teachers speaking correctly, that is an outliear.

Her dd needs to be evaluated and needs targeted help. Just reading isn't going to help. She needs real help to learn it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you always corrected her with these verbs or is this something new on your part?

I've corrected my kids since they could talk. They picked it up pretty quickly. (Same for other grammatical issues.) When they have friends over, I can tell which parents emphasize grammar and which do not.

It is all a choice. But if this is something new that you're just starting to work on, it will take a while to sink it.

It is not a choice. It is a language impairment that will require therapy. Read the link above.