How has your speech been?

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My parents don't remember the details, but they agree that I learned to speak much earlier than average.

Then over the years, it became more and more apparent that I paused to search for which words to use and messed up my words. When I was little, nobody gave it a second thought, I guess, because little kids are not supposed to be eloquent or make too much sense. When I got older, some people directly asked if I had a speech impediment, and a doctor brought up the possibility of a language evaluation.

If you have speech, how has your speech been like over time? Am I the only one who began to speak early but turned out to be a verbal mess?

Honestly, I don't remember a lot about what I had said when I was younger.
My parents tell me that I was good about speaking in a Cantonese Chinese/English household (mostly English) as a 1 year old, but I had started dropping words, or not progressing. Until I was 8, the longest sentence I knew how to say was "I went to _______." Most of my responses or thoughts were numb sentences less than 3 words. I was bullied a lot, mostly because people knew I couldn't respond, but knew full well I understood then. I doubt I have selective mutism, because one of my friends through elementary and middle school was diagnosed with it and I am nothing like her. I remember being able to read better than most people though, I probably did not understand everything I was saying.

I don't know about my early speech. I hardly spoke at preschool/primary school. My speech can be either very simple and childish, or extremely complex, old-fashioned, and incorporating words which confuse most adults.

My primary speech difficulty in childhood was that I came from an ESL background. I had no problems in my primary language (German). I spoke no English when I began school, and the teacher said I was a slow learner. One year later, I was reading and writing in English at an advanced level.

Even today, I express myself far better in writing than through speech, although I have a good vocabulary and a broad range of interests. When I'm tired, there are times I feel I can't put together a coherent sentence, although other people tell me I'm doing okay.

I think I learned to speak at an average age, but I spoke really quietly and quickly with a speech impediment and a stutter. I did speech therapy in preschool and elementary school, and it didn't really help except that I learned to speak a little slower.

Just realised it says "How Has Was Your Speech Been Like?" instead of "How Has Your Speech Been Like?" But it's too late now to change it. Oops.

My speech progressed like normal for the most part, I think. One interesting thing was that I'd always be really quiet in public, and around my family I'd talk a lot. Somedays it felt like I'd saved all my words and needed to get them out around my family.

According to a speech therapist back in middle school, I had, and still have, a speech impediment. I was a talker when I was younger, always boasting out things really loudly that may or may not have gotten a few odd looks. But one year my father said I was talking weird, so he had me sent to a speech therapist to correct the way I said my "S's." Never worked. Probably because I really didn't like my therapist and didn't feel I needed to be there. If I could say an S, who cared how I said it?

It's never really changed. I tend to stutter a lot when I'm feeling some stress. Like a big part of my communication function shuts down because I'm trying to deal with the weight of another situation.

I started to speak a bit late and hit a snag at around 3 years old, but as soon as I learned to read (I was reading fluently by my 4th birthday) then I quickly got better.

There's a VHS tape of my parents asking my 3 year old self basic questions, like "what's mommy's name?" I answer "daddy". I also didn't use pronouns. There's yet another tape of my mom vacuuming and I'm saying something that can be translated as "is scared vacuum".

English is my second language but it's actually easier for me to use it instead of my mother tongue, French. It just agrees more with my brain. French is full of stupid exceptions and weird twists of speech. It's actually kind of ironic that I had that kind of difficulty when I was young because I learn languages very easily as an adult.

If it was up to me...we'd all be talking like cavemen....

I was a precocious child. I think I learned to speak at the normal time but I also learned to read much earlier in life than most (about age 2 1/2) which affected how I talk. I often mimic the writing style of whatever book I'm reading when I talk. However, I also have grammar issues and also tend to speak and write gramatically correct but just awkward sentences, like this one. I seem to think faster than my brain can filter speech. My biggest problem as far as being understood is talking too fast.

I had no speech until age 5 1/2.

Within a few months, I spoke like a "normal" kid. I started using "big" words when I was about 8.

I also developed a stutter, which is present to this day.

I used to have trouble with the distinction between "r" and "w" sounds. I still say things like "woad rerk" (road work).

I learned to read when I was quite young. I was spontaneously reading books by age 5. I was reading an anthology of Greek mythology in first grade. I believe the reading level about 4-5th grade.

I learned to speak at the normal time, maybe even early, though I've always been a quiet sort. I did have trouble pronouncing a lot of sounds and had to go to speech therapy.

My family says I was a very early talker and skipped over one word responses and went straight to sentences. Of course most people couldn't understand half of what I was saying and I would call fish tomatoes. When I was in 2nd grade I was sent home with a letter suggesting I see a speech therapist though I don't know what for. My mom was annoyed with the school and threw the letter away. Otherwise all I know is I used to talk very, very softly and still have that problem quite often. I also tend to sound like a little kid quite a bit, though I've worked on it enough that people quit asking to speak with my mom.