What To Do When Your Child Won’t Speak
Do you have a child who is old enough to start talking but he is not talking yet? Are you worried that something maybe wrong with him? Well, you are right to worry, however, don’t jump to any conclusions just yet. It could be frustrating for parents when their kids are eighteen months and above and yet utter no words. There could be many reasons responsible for this. Sometimes the child is not interested or has no need to talk just yet, it could be delayed speech, and sometimes even though you child cannot speak, he has his own way to communicate the things he wants to say or do. It could be pointing at things when he needs them, shaking his head etc. In most cases though, babies who are late talkers end up speaking just fine within the coming years. If your baby is not talking yet, however, there are some simple things you can do at home to encourage him. It is perfectly ok and appropriate to be concerned as a parent because at this stage, it is clear that your child is behind the curve from a developmental perspective. Usually, he is expected to start using two-word sentences around the age of two years. Psychologists refer to this as telegraphic speech, and it might include phrases like “Mum, milk” or “Dad, candy”. Kids at this age convey a meaningful sentence in just two or three words, leaving out the articles such as “and”, “or” and so on. There appears to be an increasing number of children who are well behind the norms in relation to speech and language development. In fact, it is becoming so common, according to at least on speech pathologist, that some are calling for new ‘norms’ to be created since later development seems to be the new norm. Note: While it is true that children need to hear an abundance of words to develop healthy skills, encouraging language is about the quality and quantity of the words we speak. Encouraging you child to talk isn’t about chattering incessantly to him in order to expose him to as many words as possible. Honestly, can you think of anything more off-putting than someone blabbering? Even our adoring babies, the captive audiences they are, will tune out because they are unable to throw something or ask you to stop. The great new is that both come naturally when we perceive babies as whole people able communicators ready to be informed about the happenings in their lives, and in turn share their thoughts and feelings. Comprehend this simple truth, interact, engage, and converse naturally, and we have the language lessons nailed. Why is Your Child Not Speaking Yet? As we said above, there are several reasons responsible for your child not speaking, it could be one or more of these reasons that affect your child’s ability to start communicating. We will look at some of these reasons and how you can work around them to help [...]