My 18 month old only says a few words: My 18-month-old doesn’t talk yet. What should I do?

Опубликовано: December 8, 2022 в 10:43 pm

Автор: alexxlab

Категории: Miscellaneous

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Why doesn’t the child speak? Psychologist’s advice

Why does the child not speak? Psychologist’s recommendations

All modern parents want their children to start talking on time, and this important aspect of development has kept up with the norm. Unrest on this issue begins to grow even at the threshold of one year of age, if the baby does not have the first words by this time.

STD (speech delay) today is one of the most common disorders in young children, mainly associated with the development of brain stem structures. However, it is too early to panic – often time and classes with specialists help to solve the problem: a speech therapist, a speech pathologist-defectologist and a neuropsychologist. We will analyze everything in order in this article.

According to the existing standards, a baby up to 4 months old should begin to walk and respond to the speech of adults.
By the age of 1, syllables should appear; to 1.5 – words; by 2 years – phrases. At 3 years old, a child should fully speak at least in simple sentences. Further, his vocabulary expands and increases, and speech becomes more developed, more complex speech constructions appear in it.

With a large temporary deviation from these norms, in the absence of words at 2 years and full speech after 3 years, it is definitely necessary to contact specialists! And the sooner, the better.

Main reasons why the child did not start talking

It is important to know that the cause of RDD can lie both in physiological disorders directly related to the health of the child, and in social ones (society, environment, general environment, parents).

Possible causes of RRR:

• Genetic predisposition. If the parents of the baby spoke later than their peers, then you should not expect early speech development from the child. Although even in this case, everything is individual.

• Stress and mental disorders. If the family often swear, speak in raised tones, or the child experiences systematic stress from the outside, this also inhibits the development of speech and, in general, adversely affects the psycho-emotional development of the baby, provoking multiple developmental disorders. It is necessary to isolate the child from the stress center and contact a child or family psychologist.

• Individual pace of development. It must be understood that all children are unique and develop in different ways, slightly deviating from existing norms. If speech development somehow occurs in your baby, he pronounces sounds, individual words, then perhaps he needs a little more time to “talk”.

• Parental overprotection often results in reluctance to speak. Indeed, if a child is understood from a half-gesture and any of his desires is fulfilled without stimulating him to speak in a voice, then, alas, there is no reason to strain and start making a speech. The reverse system, protest, also works here. If you make unnecessary attempts to talk the baby, force or, even worse, belittle him, this will begin to reject him. In everything you need to know the measure.

• Wrong behavior of society. With a child – from birth – you need to talk a lot. In the era of smartphone addiction, we all really began to talk less, and therefore the speech function of children develops with a delay. Talk to your child as much and as often as possible, always at a moderate pace and clearly (avoid fluent speech). The child must clearly hear all sounds. Read fairy tales with expression and different intonation. Tell and describe to him what is happening around. Demand this approach from the society with which your baby spends time.
It is important to understand that gadgets will not replace human communication, on the contrary, they give the opposite effect due to background sounds and an overly bright picture, which the child does not have time to follow, while comparing speech and delving into it. Accordingly, this is another reason for the RRR.

• Bilingual family. Bilingual children often have IDD, and these children usually take longer to understand languages and start speaking. Later, they often have speech problems due to language confusion. Bilingual children from an early age are best dealt with by a speech therapist. And, if possible, use one language to communicate with a young child.

• Violations of the articulatory apparatus. The list of causes of this disorder is very large – from weakening of muscle tissue to problems with the frenulum of the tongue. The speech therapist will always help to identify the cause after diagnosing the baby.

• Hearing disorders. As a rule, this violation can be detected even in infancy, if the baby does not react in any way to sounds, does not show interest in sound toys, or does not smile at his mother’s voice. At the slightest suspicion of hearing problems, you should immediately contact a specialist (otolaryngologist and neurologist)!

• Visual impairment. If this problem is present in a child, it may be difficult for him to begin to reproduce speech, because. he does not see or poorly sees the picture of what is happening around and does not understand what to relate to. With this violation, of course, urgently see a doctor.

• Brain damage associated with birth trauma, intrauterine infections, asphyxia, infectious diseases in infancy, craniocerebral trauma, disorders of the central nervous system, congenital pathologies (autism, oligophrenia, hypothyroidism, all forms of cerebral palsy, etc.) . In these cases, complex assistance from physicians, speech pathologists and neuropsychologists will be required.

It is important that any cause of delayed speech development can and should be addressed! Depending on the disorder, doctors and specialists such as a neuropsychologist, psychologist, speech therapist and speech pathologist come to the rescue. The sooner parents suspect IDD and seek help, the faster and easier the development of the child’s speech function will begin and, as a result, this will help to avoid developmental delays in other mental functions of the child. For example, the development of speech is directly related to the development of thinking.

Child does not speak at 1 year old

If the child does not speak at the age of one, then, most likely, it is too early to worry. If we mean speech directly – words or phrases, then a year old child should not please you with a wide vocabulary. Of course, there are times when even at the age of one, children begin to speak, but this is the exception, not the rule.

What to pay attention to and how to detect violations in the speech function of a one-year-old child?

1) See how your child reacts to the speech of an adult. The kid should hear appeals to him, perform any simple tasks or respond to them, for example, with discontent or an appropriate shake of the head (yes / no).

2) Pay attention to the reaction to any sound objects, for example, toys with sound. Is the baby interested in them, does he show a desire to interact, does he turn his head in the direction where the sound is coming from?

3) Remember how the baby developed during the first year: when the cooing, babbling, the first syllables began. In a good way, the baby should start “gurgling” before 3 months of age, babbling should appear by 9 months, and in a year – no syllables (ba, yes, pa, ma, etc.).

If a child has no babbling and syllables a year, he does not respond to sounds and addressed speech, it is worth contacting specialists and undergoing a diagnosis.

Child does not speak at 2 years

As a rule, by the age of 2, most children (especially girls) “talk”. Of course, they still do not have a wide vocabulary, but it is gradually growing. Many children by this age speak in phrases or simple sentences, but there are exceptions: some children speak very well, including speech understandable to adults and compound / complex sentences; some continue to be in “silent” mode.

All children are different and they develop differently too. There is nothing wrong with your child lagging behind peers in any skill.

Of course, it is very important to engage with the child: talk, read fairy tales, poems, sing children’s songs and pay special attention to the development of fine motor skills. It is she who largely affects the launch of speech.

If the child does not speak at 2 years old, pay attention to what stage of development his speech function is at. At a minimum, the baby should have at least a small vocabulary with which he periodically operates in a dialogue. Otherwise, do not neglect visiting specialists. It is better to start with a speech therapist, neuropsychologist and neurologist.

Child does not speak at 3 years old

According to statistics, by the age of 3, 80% of healthy children master speech. It is at this age that special attention should be paid if the child is still in no hurry with colloquial speech. See how your baby’s vocabulary grows. If every day you see at least a slight progress, then there is no reason for concern – your child is about to start talking. In any other case, it is not recommended to wait – it is urgent to carry out diagnostics, identify the cause of the RRR and begin work. As a rule, classes with a neuropsychologist and a speech therapist give positive results quite quickly, progress will be visible after a few months of stable classes.

Read our detailed article on speech delay at 3 years

Child does not speak at 4 years old

In the absence of speech at this age and later, the child should already be under the supervision of specialists and work with them to start speech. ZRR at the age of 4 is not yet a gross pathology, but it already requires systematic sessions with a speech pathologist-defectologist and a neuropsychologist. Speech development work usually includes speech therapy massage, logorhythm, sound production exercises (articulatory gymnastics), active stimulation of fine motor skills, elements of sensory integration, and various game techniques that trigger the child’s speech function.

Similar activities are carried out if the child does not want to talk
at 5 and 6 years of age, respectively.

How to help a child?

The first thing that parents need to understand and accept is not to neglect the advice of specialists. You should seek help as soon as you begin to notice specific deviations in the speech development of the child, without waiting for a certain age. The sooner you start working with a problem, the faster and easier it will be for you to solve it, until it becomes overgrown with additional complexities.

In addition to classes with a speech therapist or a speech pathologist, it is necessary to create all the conditions for harmonious development and, accordingly, the speedy start of speech at home.

Firstly, a calm atmosphere should reign in the family. No raised tones – only love and harmony, daily enveloping the child.

Work with your baby every day – this should be included in the schedule of mandatory activities. Set aside 15-20 minutes 3-4 times a day. Drawing, reading, modeling, activities with small objects (for example, cereals), educational games – alternate everything during the day. And be sure to pronounce each action.

You need to talk to your child constantly. Wash dishes – speak; iron things – speak; prepare – speak. The kid needs to hear your speech, and it is important: the speech should come from the people around him, a TV or any other gadget will not work, on the contrary, it will only slow down the start of speech. Take it as a rule: all electronic media with a child (especially with him) are taboo.

Motivate your child to speak. If the child wants something, ask to say it in a voice, do not fulfill the desire at the slightest gesture. Help make a request, say the syllables several times.

Spend as much time together as possible: walk outdoors, talk about the environment, take you to parks, playgrounds and playgrounds, public places and, of course, do not neglect kindergarten – GKP or full-time. Socialization and being in society (especially with speaking peers) always goes to the aid of “silent people”.

Additionally: ventilate the room where the child is, create humidity (at least 45%), the air temperature in the room should not exceed 22-23 ° C.

All these actions should be done not only by the mother, but also by everyone who is and communicates with the child. The more people who participate in these activities, the better.

Try to identify the cause of the RRR or contact a specialist – a speech therapist or a speech pathologist-defectologist. It is very important to work not only with the violation itself – it is much more important to work out the root cause, because often it entails other developmental delays in the child.

Take care of your children and always provide them with the attention they deserve!

Why does the child not speak? 12 reasons that delay the development of speech

The reasons why the development of speech in a child is delayed may be different. Influence is exerted by various factors – from physiology to psychological aspects. Some of them can be corrected independently, with others you will have to seek help from a specialist, but it is extremely important to figure out what “prevents” the child from speaking.

Qualified assistance will be provided by a professional speech pathologist. At the initial examination, the specialist will determine the reasons why speech is delayed and suggest ways to correct it.

Reason 1. Individual pace

Undoubtedly, every child is unique and should develop at their own pace. If your baby went a month earlier than the neighbor’s son, but said the word “mother” a few weeks later, there is nothing wrong with that. Everyone has their own pace.

Such a delay in the development of speech is called tempo. With a little delay, everything will go back to normal and the child will form his ability to speak in the same way as all children.

Just pay attention to the fact that experts “allow” to attribute only a slight lag behind the norm to individuality. Be careful!

Reason 2. No need

Oddly enough, the joke about the English boy who was silent for many years and spoke only when he was served improperly cooked porridge is not so far from reality. Children who are overprotective of parents do not really need to learn how to verbally express their desires. Lack of motivation has a big impact on development.

Read also: The child understands everything, but does not speak. What is the reason

Reason 3. Pedagogical neglect

Such an unpleasant term does not mean at all the need to engage in special exercises with a newborn child. A baby from birth should be surrounded by speech. If they do not talk to him, only when performing the necessary care and feeding, do not communicate constantly, the formation of speech is impossible. Without hearing the speech addressed to him, the child is not able to expand the passive vocabulary, and will not begin to speak well.

Reason 4. Bilingual family

Bilingual children “have the right” to start speaking with some delay from the norm. Hearing around them speech in different languages, they find themselves in a more difficult situation than their peers, who need to learn only one language.

In order to build speech correctly, a child needs to separate one language from another. This requires a certain amount of time. So it is quite acceptable to delay the start of speech formation, and the absence of common sentences, and errors in the grammatical construction of phrases.

Reason 5. Stress, unfavorable psychological environment

Unfortunately, stress affects not only adults but also children. A strong fear, an uncomfortable psychological climate in the family, even quarrels between parents can cause a lag in the formation of speech. Children need calmness, positive emotions and a reasonable daily routine.

Strong feelings, fear, psychological trauma can lead to stuttering and delayed speech and mental development.

The problem of “hospitalism” in children should also be highlighted. The absence of speech syndrome caused by weaning from the family in children placed in medical institutions is associated with both psychological stress and lack of communication. Cases of occurrence of this syndrome and at house children are probable. Formal care of a child without well-established communication, love and attention from loved ones provokes a developmental lag.

Reason 6. Negativism in the child

Sometimes parents are so persistent in their desire to “talk” the child that they can cause denial in their child. Especially if the baby is stubborn from birth and is not inclined to make concessions.

Constant requests from the family to say a word lead to the opposite result – the baby may withdraw into himself and refuse to communicate at all.

Reason 7. Genetic predisposition

If a child is in no hurry to start talking, it is worth asking when his mother and father said their first word. Heredity is a great thing. Perhaps the baby simply received the genes of a not very hasty parent.

Be careful though. Too much delay in the formation of speech can lead to other difficulties. For example, mental retardation.

Cause 8. Complicated course of pregnancy and childbirth in the mother

Prenatal hypoxia or difficult childbirth can interfere with the correct formation of the child’s nervous system. As a rule, difficulties are detected during examination by a neurologist at an earlier age, but may become noticeable during the period of active development of speech.

Correction requires careful implementation of all the recommendations of specialists – from a neurologist to a defectologist.

Cause 9. Hearing impairment

For the formation of an active vocabulary, it is necessary that the child first of all perceive the speech around him. If he does not hear at all or hears poorly, he will definitely have certain difficulties with the formation of speech – from its complete absence to problems with pronunciation and construction of phrases.

Your child’s hearing can be checked by an otolaryngologist.

Cause 10. Imperfection of the articulatory system

Sound is formed during the operation of the speech apparatus. If there are problems here, this will certainly affect the speech development of the child. Decreased muscle tone, insufficiently long frenulum of the tongue and other disorders cause difficulties with articulation.

It is worth paying attention if the child cannot chew solid food, he has frequent salivation, his mouth is constantly open.

Reason 11. Alalia

This term means primary underdevelopment of speech centers. It occurs as a result of damage to the cerebral cortex during early infancy or fetal development. This condition is described in more detail in the article about alalia.

Let’s just say that you will not be able to cope with alalia on your own, be sure to seek help from specialists.

Also check if your child has echolalia.

Reason 12. Problems of intellectual development

The formation of speech is directly related to the mental and mental development of the child. Various genetic diseases, autism, Down syndrome, mental retardation will undoubtedly affect speech. Working with specialized specialists will help to establish communications and correct the formation of speech.

In order to help your child learn to speak, it is important to know why the delay has occurred. You should not wait until the silent child speaks immediately in common sentences. A consultation with a speech pathologist will help you find the cause of the problem and build a plan to solve it .

We have listed the common causes of lack of speech in children. In some cases, the child begins to speak as a result of homework with parents, but most often urgent help from specialists is required.

Normally, at least some rudiments of speech (expressed interest in the words of adults, understanding of addressed speech, babbling words) should appear before 1.5 years. If there is not even this, then parents do not need to look for reasons and reassure themselves, but urgently show the child to a specialist.

The lack of speech limits the mental and mental development of the baby. Early diagnosis and correction makes it more likely that speech development will return to normal.

What reasons for the absence of speech at 2-3 years of age are usually identified by specialists? Let’s talk about them in more detail.

Autism. An experienced psychologist or psychiatrist can identify the disease in children older than one year. Such a child is characterized by behavior when he does not make contact at all, even with mom and dad, and when communicating does not look into the eyes of an adult.
Mental retardation is diagnosed by a psychiatrist and defectologist.
Rhinolalia is placed during examination immediately after birth. Requires urgent surgical treatment and classes with a speech pathologist-defectologist.
Aphonia is a dysfunction of the vocal cords, often occurs with cerebral palsy. These children have no voice at all. The treatment is carried out by an otorhinolaryngologist, a phoniatrist and a speech pathologist-defectologist.
OHP (general underdevelopment of speech) , associated with hearing loss, is usually given to non-speaking children over 3 years old. Children with this disorder are usually very inattentive, for example, they do not respond to soft sounds. Consultation with an otorhinolaryngologist and defectologist is obligatory.
STD (delayed speech development) is the most common cause of lack of speech in children aged 2-3 years. It is characterized by the lack of full communication with peers or bilingualism at home. You need the help of a defectologist or a speech therapist.
ZPRR (delayed psychoverbal development) is due to pedagogical neglect. Usually the violation is detected in 2-3 years. It occurs when parents do not develop speech at all or do it wrong, or, conversely, take care of the baby too much. Another reason is the unfavorable climate in the family. Assistance is provided by a psychologist and a speech pathologist.
Aphasia (OHP level 1) occurs in children over 3 years of age with a poorly treated head injury or severe illness. Speech disappears or is at an extremely low level. Parents usually complain that the child spoke in phrases, and then stopped. A neuropathologist and a speech pathologist deal with the problem.
Anarthria, articulatory apraxia, dysarthria (OHP level 1) – these disorders are detected in children from 2 years of age. Such a child cannot eat solid food, blow, smile, make sounds. Very often these speech disorders accompany cerebral palsy. The treatment is carried out by a neuropathologist and a speech pathologist.
Motor alalia (1 OHP level) is usually given at 2.5 years. The child understands the addressed speech well, but cannot speak, does not remember well, and does not repeat the words after the adult. Despite this, he can give the impression of a smart and receptive kid. For communication, he usually uses gestures and sounds that only those close to him understand.