My child is two and only says 10 words. What can I do?
My child was very slow to talk and seems behind other children of his age. Do you have any ideas for how to help him at home?
First, if your child has noticeable delays, please arrange to have a speech and language evaluation done. This can often be done free by your local school system or Child Find system. Private SLP’s are certainly another (possibly faster) option. If there is a local university that has a speech pathology program, they probably have an inexpensive clinic there. My posts on Reading to Your Child , Stimulating Your Baby’s Language Skills, and Language Stimulation Ideas for Toddlers may give you some more ideas. Any child, with or without language delays, can benefit from a stimulating environment. It is also important for a child to have language therapy if necessary because language deficits can last for years, affecting future academic performance and social skills.
My child had many ear infections as a toddler. Is this likely to affect his speech development?
Yes, it certainly may. While many children have frequent ear infections with no noticeable affect on their speech and language skills, other children are not so fortunate. When children (or adults) have fluid in the middle ear, it causes a mild hearing loss. Sounds are likely to sound muffled and words can be difficult to understand. If this continues for weeks or months, the child may not hear the differences between some speech sounds, impeding his ability to learn to produce them correctly. Or he or she may show vocabulary or syntax (grammar) deficits because he wasn’t hearing high-quality speech at crucial learning times. The first three years of life are very important for language learning, so make sure your child is able to hear well. If your child has struggled with frequent ear infections, be alert to the possibility of delayed speech or language. It is important to both correct the hearing problem if possible and to help the child catch up in his language skills as early as possible!
When you think of a speech/language disorder, what comes to your mind? A child who stutters? One who says, “wabbit” for “rabbit?” An autistic child who has only a few words in his spoken vocabulary? Speech-language pathologists work with a wide range of issues. These issues fall into several main categories:
Articulation
Articulation disorders include any type of speech sound errors.
Language
A language disorder is a deficit in receptive language (comprehension), expressive language (speaking), or both. The child may have deficits in vocabulary, have difficulty formulating complete sentences or difficulty answering questions. He may exhibit poor grammar or misuse pronouns. His speech may sound fairly normal, but he may not use it appropriately in social situations.
Stuttering
A child (or adult) who stutters has difficulty with the fluency of his speech. He or she may repeat sounds or syllables. He may stretch out sounds at the beginning of words or “get stuck” when speaking. He may avoid social situations that he fears will cause him to stutter. Many children exhibit short periods of disfluency between the ages of two and four as their language skills are rapidly increasing. This can be perfectly normal. If the symptoms are severe, or if the patterns continue beyond four, it may be indicative of a stuttering problem that needs speech therapy.
Voice Disorders
The most common voice disorder in children is a hoarseness caused by vocal abuse. This is typically seen in little boys that scream a lot. It is also common in singers. This vocal abuse can cause physical damage that requires surgery. A speech pathologist can work with the child to help him or her learn speaking methods that will be gentle on the vocal folds, allowing the damage to heal.
Another common voice issue with children is hyponasality or hypernasality. These are generally affected by cleft palate (repaired or unrepaired) or hearing impairment.
Speech-language pathologists also work with some issues that are not directly related to speech, such as swallowing disorders.
If you suspect that your child may have a problem in any of these areas, a speech and language assessment may be advisable. A speech pathologist can help determine whether your child’s speech behaviors need remediation, should be watched and rechecked later, or are within normal limits for his age.
