How to make my 5-year-old speak in first person when she speaks in second person?
My 5-year-old daughter talks a lot. But when she does, it's in second person (i.e. the second person in the conversation), saying what she expects I would say when directed towards her. So she's not speaking in first person, but in first person from my perspective.
For example, she will say "I will take you out to a bike ride this evening" pointing to me, as she wants me to say that. What she means is "Let's go on a bike ride," or "Take me on a bike ride".
Another example is when she wants to comment on the temperature of something. She will say, "Is it hot?" as though I am asking the question, when in reality she is trying to say, "It is hot".
It has been rather cute, so we kept going like this for the last couple of years. But she is growing up now and needs to talk normally in social settings.
How can I get her to speak in first person and also is this indicative of a larger problem?
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It is normal for a 3-4 year old to exhibit 'play talk' when learning pronouns, but at 5 years old it should have started to remediate.
There are several techniques that we use in therapy, including play based therapy, to correct issues like this. You can research some of these techniques online or you can go see a Speech Therapist to learn techniques to use at home. At our clinic we focus on teaching parents while also working with children. A few sessions or a discussion with a Speech Therapist is the best resource for your child.
Hope that helps.
Edit: Sorry, I should have mentioned that my wife is a Speech-Language Pathologist and we own a Speech & Occupational Therapy clinic that specializes in Pediatric speech therapy.
As of now, there's no indication of a larger problem. You haven't been correcting her so looks like she's just continuing it out of a habit.
Start responding to the questions in the correct manner, not in the manner she expects. I mean, if she says 'Is it hot ?', you should reply 'No it's not , do you think so ?'. When she says 'I will take you out to a bike ride this evening', respond with 'Yes, where will you take me ?'
After a while, she'll get a hang of the conversation and slowly learn how to talk. It's a gradual process. She may get irritated that you are not answering her in the manner she's used to but you need to keep reminding her this is how big girls talk (I know she's too young but toddlers and young kids tend to think of older kids as role models so this would probably help her change).
If there's no improvement even after you try this for a few months consistently, you can take her to a doctor/therapist.
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