Understanding Your Child's Speech Development
What's Typical, and What to Do If There's a Problem
A talkative older sibling is not going to usurp a child's natural language development.
— Amy Piper, a clinical assistant professor in the speech and hearing department at Indiana University
When he turned 2, Wolfgang Stucker of Bedford, Indiana, spoke only six words : "dada," "mama," "kee" (kitty), "mo" (more), "nana" (banana) and "appa" (apple).
Wolfgang was developing typically otherwise, said his mother, Keeva Stucker, and he understood everything she said.
At his 2-year wellness checkup, Wolfgang's pediatrician recommended that his speech be assessed by Indiana's First Steps, a nonprofit early intervention program for developmentally delayed infants and toddlers.
Wolfgang was found to have a speech delay. He soon was one of 14,000-plus children receiving speech-language therapy yearly through First Steps in Indiana.
Speech or language delays commonly occur alongside conditions such as autism, Down syndrome or cerebral palsy. But for many children, the reason for the delay is never identified, as was the case with Wolfgang, now 5. He started talking at age 3, Stucker said.
Amy Piper, a clinical assistant professor in the speech and hearing department at Indiana University, says some children just have their own developmental paths. "There are not always clear-cut answers," she said.
Early Assessment and Intervention
Preschool-age children with speech and language delays might be at increased risk for learning disabilities when they reach school, the journal "Pediatrics" reported in 2006. They could have difficulty with written language and reading, which can lead to overall academic underachievement and even to lower IQ scores.
Speech and language are different things, but they work together. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association explains that a speech disorder occurs when someone can't produce speech sounds correctly or fluently, or has problems with his voice. When someone has difficulty understanding others or sharing thoughts and feelings, he has a language disorder.
The national prevalence rate of children ages 2 to 4½ with delays in both speech and language ranges from 5 percent to 8 percent, according to "Pediatrics."
For parents of a very young child, it can be difficult to decide to have their youngster evaluated. Parents want to think their children are developing typically, Piper said.
There are telltale signs that a child needs an assessment, she said, such as if a child is frustrated with his inability to express thoughts and feelings and is acting out as a result.
Children also typically have what she calls a "language burst" – an obvious growth spurt in speech and language skills – between 18 and 24 months that parents should be able to recognize.
"If that's not happening, I encourage parents to seek advice from a professional," Piper said.
Another milestone to watch for is putting two words together, such as "me milk," which children start doing around 20 months.
Parents can find professional help for assessments through ASHA or seek out a speech-language pathologist through state government services.
If a delay is identified, early intervention is key. Ages 2 to 4 are prime, Piper said.
Results can be had later, but the changes come more slowly. Children's brains develop very quickly, but development slows as they age. The younger they are, the more receptive they are to the therapy and the faster they will make progress, Piper said. The more time that passes for a child who needs intervention, the higher the chances the child will develop secondary complications, such as behavioral problems.
Misconceptions About Learning Language
Misconceptions about speech and language development abound. The idea that late talking runs in families and therefore should not be cause for worry is one of them.
While ASHA says 28 percent to 60 percent of children with a speech and language deficit have a sibling or parent who also is affected, a child with a suspected delay still should be assessed. Development trends can be caused by parenting tactics, the child's environment or an individual medical condition, not necessarily genetics.
Another common misconception is that having an older sibling – especially one who talks a lot – hampers a younger child's language development.
"A talkative older sibling is not going to usurp a child's natural language development," Piper said.
Another myth is that kids who are developing physically more quickly than verbally have their focus on the physical instead of the communicative.
"Kids are going to have strengths and weaknesses. That doesn't usurp your development in another area," she said. Kids are meant to develop in multiple areas at once. If a child isn’t getting around on her own physically to explore the environment, however, language development will be affected. Independent exploration encourages the use of new words and language skills.
Another common theory is that children learning two languages at once will be slow to speak. Also not true, say Piper and others.
"Children learning two languages simultaneously may have smaller vocabularies in one or both languages compared to children learning only one language," reports the website for Zero to Three, a nonprofit organization within the National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families. "However, when both languages are taken into consideration, bilingual children tend to have the same number of words as monolinguals."
Parents Can Help
Parents can play a big role in encouraging a child's language development. For one thing, they can make sure kids get routine medical checkups and early assessments, which can spot disabilities or conditions that otherwise might be overlooked or unidentified. Those include autism, for which children now are being screened at 18 months and 2 years, and hearing loss from frequent ear infections.
Ear infections can cause scarring in the ears, a muffling effect on hearing caused by fluid and a general feeling of malaise, all of which can affect speech and language acquisition.
Parents also can help encourage language skills by talking to their children during everyday activities, such as diaper changing, grocery shopping and peekaboo games, even if the child isn't talking back.
The introduction of sign language also can help avoid or alleviate the frustration a child may feel when misunderstood. Start with signs for basic needs, such as "milk" and "eat."
Wolfgang picked up sign language quickly from the instructional kids' DVDs Stucker showed him, she said. Soon after his third birthday, not long after a year of weekly First Steps visits, Wolfgang began talking fluently. Stucker doesn't know how much of the improvement was because of the speech therapy, which she said he enjoyed.
What she does know is that today, he chatters constantly.
"He's talking ... Now how do I shut him up?" she said, jokingly.
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