Could pandas be responsible for a child's speech delay? my 3 year old relative is still not talking . although he shows intellegence in many other areas, he only makes consonet-vowel sounds like "ba" very loudly and is upset when his desires are not under

PANDAS : Pandas stands for pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infection. This uncommon syndrome is characterized by a sudden onset of symptoms after strep infection such as - motor or vocal tics - obsessions and/or compulsions - moodiness or irritability - sometimes separation anxiety it usually is not associated with speech delay. Speech delay is much more common and can be caused by many things such as a hearing disorder or expressive speech delay. Your relative should be evaluated by his doctor for speech delay so he can receive the services and care he needs depending on the cause. Research does show that the sooner delays are diagnosed and dealt with, the better the kids do in the long run. Good luck.

Possible but...: If speech delay is the only thing your child has, then my answer would be 'not likely.' have you had his hearing checked? I would recommend speech evaluation/therapy if you haven't already done so. Pandas usually presents with more tic-like movements (including vocal tics), but not usually speech delay.

Not an issue: This is a curious disorder of older school age kids and adolescents. At 3, various forms of speech and language delay, verbal apraxia etc are more common and relevant. An evaluation by a developmental pediatrician and speech and language pathologist would give you more information.