Delay in the development process that is most commonly encountered at the age of development is the speech delay. At least, one out of five children experiences speech delay compared to the other four. Are your children 3 years old yet aren’t able to communicate well? Is this natural?
Children may experience problems in the society as it is difficult for them to convey what they need or want. Speaking and recognizing the language are a dynamic process for the children. There are several aspects needed in order to form a language, they are understanding, processing and then producing a communication.
Do Moms know that producing a communication is complicated? The process begins with the brain’s command toward the organs that form articulation (oral cavity, teeth, tongue, etc) to the step of delivering air from the lungs to from sound.
Sometimes speech delay is temporary and will improve with the help of stimulation. The stages of recognizing language and talking to the children are important for their development process. Speech delay causes by these several issues:
- Articulation or speech disorder such as stuttering.
- Abnormal quality of the sound that makes speech difficulty (children with cleft lips condition).
- Speech difficulty with improper sentence arrangement.
- Some abnormalities such as mental retardation, brain paralysis and hearing loss.
- The use of 2 languages at once.
Before deciding whether or not the children are having speech delay, firstly Moms should know their normal stages of speech:
Age of 1-6 months: responding to other people’s voices by muttering or producing sounds
Age of 6-9 months: Babbling. Moms might know this with the term “baby language”.
Age of 10-11 months: Imitating other people’s voice, saying “mommy” or “daddy” randomly.
Age of 12 months: Consciously saying “mommy” or “daddy” (“mommy” to refer to the Moms), following 2-3 words.
Age of 13-15 months: Speaking 4-7 words, their conversations aren’t yet understandable.
Age of 16-18 months: Speaking 10 words, imitating words from other people.
Age of 19-21 months: Speaking 20 words, their conversations are starting to be understandable.
Age of 22-24 months: Speaking more than 50 words, able to form sentences from 2 words, most sentences are understandable.
Age of 2-2.5 years: Speaking more than 400 words, including names; able to form sentences from 2 or 3 words; sentences are easier to understand.
Age of 2.5-3 years: knowing their age and gender, able to count until three, using 3 to 5 words in a sentence, sentences are easy to understand.
Age of 3-4 years: Using 3 to 6 words in a sentence, forming a question, able to tell a story
Age of 4-5 years: Using 6 to 8 words in a sentence, able to recognize colors, able to count until ten.
Just like the other development point, stimulation is very important. Adults around the children could do this by often talking to them, not only by conversing but also through body language. If the speech delay case is quite “heavy”, help from a professional therapist is needed.
Now that you have understood the stages of children’s speech and language development, if they haven’t reached certain speech ability according to the development stage, when should you seek for help? Check out the guidance below:
- When they aren’t able to babbling at the age of 12-15 months.
- When they do not respond to a simple order at the age of 18 months.
- When they aren’t talking yet at the age of 2 years.
- When they aren’t able to form a sentence at the age of 3 years.
- When they aren’t able to tell a story at the age of 4-5 years.
Well, if the children meet the criteria of needing further assistance, consult a pediatrician immediately. The sooner they are treated, the better their development will be. Then what should Moms do to overcome this condition at home?
- Stimulate the children by playing children’s songs.
- If the children point at an object, do not help them to get it, but you could ask them about what they want. For example: They point at milk. Ask them, “Do you want some milk?” Then before handing them the milk, repeat the question, “Do you really want this? This milk?” This will encourage the children to repeat your words.
- Teach the children to recognize all objects around them.
- Limit them from watching television, up to one or two hours a day.
- Make a dining session as the moment to learn talking by conversing with the children.
- Read them stories in an interactive way. For example, ask them about the animal that appears in the story. Ask them to point at the picture and imitate the voice.
It’s not that difficult to stimulate your children so their speech development is in line with their age, right? Happy trying.
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