The ability to communicate through words is one of the most important developmental stages to be achieved by children, especially at preschool age. Therefore, parents need to know the signs of a late child speaking early.
According to data from the University of Michigan Health System, speech delay or late speech occurs in 5-10 percent of preschool-age children.
Speech delay itself is a condition when a child has not been able to reach a certain number of vocabularies or communicate verbally according to the age stage, which he should have been able to.
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On average, when speaking late, children are also unable to understand what other people are saying and communicate well.
Signs a child is late talking
So what are the signs that a child is late speaking that parents need to pay attention to? Here’s the review, Mother:
1. Not paying attention to other people
According to Katrina Zeit, a speech pathologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, social interaction is the foundation of language development.
“If a child doesn’t pay attention to other people, doesn’t respond to sounds, music, games, or moving toys, that can be a warning sign that the child is late talking,” said Zeit, as quoted by Parents.
2. Don’t babble
Between the ages of 4 and 6 months, babies will generally begin to show an increase in sounds such as cooing and slight vocalizations.
Delivered by a speech and language pathologist at UT Dallas Callier Center for Communication Disorders, Suzanne Bonifert, babies will start making some vowel sounds at first. As they approach 6 months of age, they will begin to construct some consonant and vowel sounds.
When this process occurs late, parents need to monitor further and continue to provide stimulation.
3. Do not recognize own name
Zeit said that between the ages of 6 to 9 months, babies will usually turn their head when their name is called. Children also begin to respond to various sounds that parents make, perhaps even trying to imitate them.
“That’s why it’s so important for parents to talk to their babies as much as possible,” Zeit said.
Research shows that children with parents who talk a lot develop their language skills more quickly.
4. Pronunciation of the first word is late
Most babies say their first words, such as ‘mama’, ‘papa’, or ‘baba’ at around 12 months of age. But don’t worry if your baby can’t talk yet, some may need more time.
Mothers can help increase their child’s vocabulary by reading books and simply inviting him to talk.
5. Don’t imitate movements
Most children begin to imitate movements around 12 months of age. For example, waving and saying goodbye, and shaking your head ‘no’.
Parents can stimulate babies by playing rolling the ball back and forth, sharing food, or even inviting them to turn the pages of a book simultaneously.
6. Difficulty following simple requests
Your baby should be able to respond to his name, understand the words ‘no’ or ‘goodbye’ and fulfill simple requests by 18 months. In this age range they can also point to various parts of the body when asked.
To help with stimulation, you can invite him to play games like peek-a-boo.
7. Lack of expressing his feelings
By 24 months, the average child is able to communicate his needs to his parents using words (though not all of them are coherent). At this age, adults should be able to understand children’s speech around 50 percent.
8. Vocabulary does not increase
As soon as the child starts to hear and tries to imitate the various words around him, the child’s vocabulary will increase more and more every day. On the other hand, when a child is late in speaking, his vocabulary appears to be stagnant, aka not increasing for more than a few months.
9. Can’t compose sentences yet
Entering the age of 2 years, most children have started to be able to make two-word sentences. As he gets older, the number of sentences he can put together will also increase.
A sign that a child is late in speaking is that their ability to pronounce words in the form of sentences is usually not as good as it should be.
10. His speech is difficult for other people to understand
If a child has reached the age of 3 years but his speech is still difficult for adults to understand, then this can also be one of the signs that a child is late in speaking that you need to monitor.
What causes children to talk late?
In fact, it is not always clear what causes speech delays in children, because it can be different for each individual. Sometimes kids just need extra time and more stimulation to develop these skills.
Many things, including premature birth, can influence when a child begins to reach age-appropriate speech abilities. Premature babies usually catch up to the achievements of other children by the age of 2 years.
Speech delays can also be caused by conditions such as hearing loss (which may be caused by repeated ear infections), cerebral palsy, or other developmental conditions such as autism.
If your child has not yet reached the age-appropriate stage of language development, you can help him by providing additional stimulation. For example, increase eye contact, chat often, read together and play.
If necessary, also consult with a pediatrician or child psychologist for growth and development screening. Referral to a speech therapist may be necessary in certain cases.
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(rap/rap)