Speech and Language Problems Affect a Child’s Emotional and Social Interaction - Health Tips

Speech and Language Problems Affect a Child’s Emotional and Social Interaction

Most parents worry about their toddler’s speech and language development at one time or another. Many question why their child may not be talking as much as others his or her age. This is a normal reaction for parents of very young children. Most infants and toddlers will catch up with their peers quickly, however some children continue to have problems.

Boys Town Pediatrics urges parents not to wait to see if their child outgrows a problem. The sooner a child is diagnosed by a specialist the more successful his or treatment will be. Parents should become concerned if their child is learning to speak later than expected, has unclear speech, or regularly needs directions repeated in order to complete tasks correctly.

A child’s doctor will check language development at his or her regular well-child checkups. Typically, a child who is developing normally will reach certain language milestones at the following ages:

Birth - Undifferentiated cry
2 to 3 months - Differentiated cry and responsive cooing
3 to 4 months - Random babbling
5 to 6 months - Rhythmic babbling
6 to 11 months - Imitative babbling
12 months - 1 to 2 words
18 months - 5 to 20 words
24 months - 2-word sentences, increasing vocabulary size

At 2 to 3 years, children really begin to understand language. However, if parents are concerned about the speech and language development of their child, they should contact their child’s physician.

Problems with speech and language can affect a child’s emotional and social interaction, in turn causing problems with intellectual development and success in grade school and beyond. This makes it especially important for a child’s parents and physician to carefully monitor progress throughout the child’s school years.”

Specific problems that a child with a speech and language disorder will experience, include:

By age one - Does not understand, “no,” his or her name, a few words, or simple commands, such as “where is your teddy?”
By 14 to 16 months - Does not say single words.
By age 3 - Can’t answer the questions, Who? What? Where? People outside the family have trouble understanding a child.
By age 5 - Can’t tell a simple story.
By age 7 - Can’t tell a more complicated story.

Other concerns include chronic hoarseness without having a cold, limited development of vocabulary, poor school performance, or a significant gap between nonverbal and verbal abilities. If a child experiences any of these difficulties, he or she should see a specialist for an evaluation right away.