How to help child speak
Delayed Speech or Language Development (for Parents)
As with other skills and milestones, the age at which kids learn language and start talking can vary. Knowing a bit about speech and language development can help parents figure out if there's cause for concern.
How Do Speech and Language Differ?
- Speech is the verbal expression of language and includes articulation (the way we form sounds and words).
- Language is giving and getting information. It's understanding and being understood through communication — verbal, nonverbal, and written.
What Are Speech or Language Delays?
Speech and language problems differ, but often overlap. For example:
- A child with a language delay might say words well but only be able to put two words together.
- A child with a speech delay might use words and phrases to express ideas but be hard to understand.
What Are the Signs of a Speech or Language Delay?
A baby who doesn't respond to sound or vocalize should be checked by a doctor right away. But often, it's hard for parents to know if their child is taking a bit longer to reach a speech or language milestone, or if there's a problem.
Here are some things to watch for. Call your doctor if your child:
- by 12 months: isn't using gestures, such as pointing or waving bye-bye
- by 18 months: prefers gestures over vocalizations to communicate
- by 18 months: has trouble imitating sounds
- has trouble understanding simple verbal requests
- by 2 years: can only imitate speech or actions and doesn't produce words or phrases spontaneously
- by 2 years: says only some sounds or words repeatedly and can't use oral language to communicate more than their immediate needs
- by 2 years: can't follow simple directions
- by 2 years: has an unusual tone of voice (such as raspy or nasal sounding)
Also call the doctor if your child’s speech is harder to understand than expected for their age:
- Parents and regular caregivers should understand about 50% of a child's speech at 2 years and 75% of it at 3 years.
- By 4 years old, a child should be mostly understood, even by people who don't know the child.
What Causes Speech or Language Delays?
A speech delay might be due to:
- an oral impairment, like problems with the tongue or palate (the roof of the mouth)
- a short frenulum (the fold beneath the tongue), which can limit tongue movement
Many kids with speech delays have oral–motor problems. These happen when there's a problem in the areas of the brain responsible for speech. This makes it hard to coordinate the lips, tongue, and jaw to make speech sounds. These kids also might have other oral-motor problems, such as feeding problems.
Hearing problems also can affect speech. So an audiologist should test a child's hearing whenever there's a speech concern. Kids who have trouble hearing may have trouble saying, understanding, imitating, and using language.
Ear infections, especially chronic infections, can affect hearing. But as long as there is normal hearing in one ear, speech and language will develop normally.
How Are Speech or Language Delays Diagnosed?
If your child might have a problem, it's important to see a speech-language pathologist (SLP) right away. You can find a speech-language pathologist on your own, or ask your health care provider to refer you to one.
The SLP (or speech therapist) will check your child's speech and language skills. The pathologist will do standardized tests and look for milestones in speech and language development.
The SLP also will check:
- what your child understands (called receptive language)
- what your child can say (called expressive language)
- sound development and clarity of speech
- your child's oral–motor status (how the mouth, tongue, palate, etc., work together for speech as well as eating and swallowing)
Based on the test results, the speech-language pathologist might recommend speech therapy for your child.
How Does Speech Therapy Help?
The speech therapist will work with your child to improve speech and language skills, and show you what to do at home to help your child.
How Can Parents Help?
Parents are an important part of helping kids who have a speech or language problem.
Here are a few ways to encourage speech development at home:
- Focus on communication. Talk with your baby, sing, and encourage imitation of sounds and gestures.
- Read to your child. Start reading when your child is a baby. Look for age-appropriate soft or board books or picture books that encourage kids to look while you name the pictures.
- Use everyday situations. To build on your child's speech and language, talk your way through the day. Name foods at the grocery store, explain what you're doing as you cook a meal or clean a room, and point out objects around the house. Keep things simple, but avoid "baby talk. "
Recognizing and treating speech and language delays early on is the best approach. Call your doctor if you have any concerns about your child’s speech or language development.
Reviewed by: Julia K. Hartnett, MS, CCC-SLP
Date reviewed: March 2022
Tips on Learning to Talk
This article gives a brief introduction to language development and includes age-appropriate activities for children birth to 3 years old who are learning to talk.
Learning to talk is a process that starts at birth, when your baby experiences how voices can sound. By 2 years old, most babies have a large vocabulary and can put words together to express their needs and ideas. Let’s see how this process unfolds and what you can do to encourage your baby’s ability to communicate.
Learning to Talk: From Birth to 3 Months
Your baby listens to your voice. He coos and gurgles and tries to make the same sounds you make. You can help your baby learn how nice voices can be when you:
- Sing to your baby. You can do this even before he is born! Your baby will hear you.
- Talk to your baby. Talk to others when she is near. She won’t understand the words, but will like your voice and your smile. She will enjoy hearing and seeing other people, too.
- Plan for quiet time. Babies need time to babble and play quietly without TV or radio or other noises.
From 3 to 6 Months
Your baby is learning how people talk to each other. You help him become a “talker” when you:
- Hold your baby close so he will look in your eyes.
- Talk to him and smile.
- When your baby babbles, imitate the sounds.
- If he tries to make the same sound you do, say the word again.
From 6 to 9 Months
Your baby will play with sounds. Some of these sound like words, such as “baba or “dada.” Baby smiles on hearing a happy voice, and cries or looks unhappy on hearing an angry voice. You can help your baby understand words (even if she can’t say them yet) when you:
- Play games like Peek-a-Boo or Pat-a-Cake. Help her move her hands along with the rhyme.
- Give her a toy and say something about it, like “Feel how fuzzy Teddy Bear is.”
- Let her see herself in a mirror and ask, “Who’s that?” If she doesn’t respond, say her name.
- Ask your baby questions, like “Where’s doggie?” If she doesn’t answer, show her where.
From 9 to 12 Months
Your baby will begin to understand simple words. She stops to look at you if you say “no-no.” If someone asks “Where’s Mommy?” she will look for you. She will point, make sounds, and use her body to “tell” you what she wants. For example she may look up at you and lift her arms up to show you she “wants up.” She may hand you a toy to let you know she wants to play. You can help your baby “talk” when you: Show her how to wave “bye-bye.”
From 12 to 15 Months
Babies begin to use words. This includes using the same sounds consistently to identify an object, such as “baba” for bottle or “juju” for juice. Many babies have one or two words and understand 25 or more. He will give you a toy if you ask for it. Even without words, he can ask you for something—by pointing, reaching for it, or looking at it and babbling. You can help your child say the words he knows when you:
- Talk about the things you use, like “cup,” “juice,” “doll.” Give your child time to name them.
- Ask your child questions about the pictures in books. Give your child time to name things in the picture.
- Smile or clap your hands when your child names the things that he sees. Say something about it. “You see the doggie. He’s sooo big! Look at his tail wag.”
- Talk about what your child wants most to talk about. Give him time to tell you all about it.
- Ask about things you do each day—“Which shirt will you pick today?” “Do you want milk or juice?”
- Build on what your child says. If he says “ball,” you can say, “That’s your big, red ball.”
- Introduce pretend play with your child’s favorite doll or toy animal. Include it in your conversations and your play. “Rover wants to play too. Can he roll the ball with us?”
From 15 to 18 Months
Your child will use more complex gestures to communicate with you and will continue to build her vocabulary. She may take your hand, walk you to the bookshelf, point to a book and say “buk” to say, “I want to read a book with you.” You can help your child talk with you when you:
- Tell her “Show me your nose.” Then point to your nose. She will soon point to her nose. Do this with toes, fingers, ears, eyes, knees and so on.
- Hide a toy while she is watching. Help her find it and share in her delight.
- When he points at or gives you something, talk about the object with her. “You gave me the book. Thank you! Look at the picture of the baby rolling the ball.”
From 18 Months to 2 Years
Your baby will be able to follow directions and begin to put words together, such as “car go” or “want juice.” He will also begin to do pretend play which fosters language development. You can spur your child’s communication skills when you:
- Ask your child to help you. For example, ask him to put his cup on the table or to bring you his shoe.
- Teach your child simple songs and nursery rhymes. Read to your child. Ask him to point to and tell you what he sees.
- Encourage your child to talk to friends and family. He can tell them about a new toy.
- Engage your child in pretend play. You can talk on a play phone, feed the dolls, or have a party with the toy animals.
From 2 to 3 Years
Your child’s language skills will grow by leaps and bounds. He will string more words together to create simple sentences, such as “Mommy go bye-bye.” He will be able to answer simple questions, such as “Where is your bear?” By 36 months he will be able to answer more complicated questions such as, “What do you do when you are hungry?” He will do more and more pretend play, acting out imaginary scenes such as going to work, fixing the toy car, taking care of his “family” (of dolls, animals).
You can help your child put all his new words together and teach him things that are important to know when you:
- Teach your child to say his or first and last name.
- Ask about the number, size, and shape of the things your child shows you.
- Ask open-ended questions that don’t have a “yes” or “no” answer. This helps them develop their own ideas and learn to express them. If it’s worms, you could say: “What fat, wiggly worms! How many are there?…Where are they going? Wait, watch and listen to the answer. You can suggest an answer if needed: “I see five. Are they going to the park or the store?”
- Ask your child to tell you the story that goes with a favorite book. “What happened to those three pigs?” Reading spurs language development. Take him to storytime at your local library. Your toddler will enjoy sharing books with you as well as peers.
- Do lots of pretend play. Acting out stories and role-playing create rich opportunities for using, and learning, language.
- Don’t forget what worked earlier. For example, your child still needs quiet time. This is not just for naps. Turn off the TV and radio and let your child enjoy quiet play, singing, and talking with you.
(Note: This information was adapted, with permission, from Learning Link: Helping Your Baby Learn to Talk, by C.E. Morrisset Huebner and P. Lines, 1994, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement.)
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