Often, hearing your child speak his or her first word is an event looked forward to with much anticipation and excitement. Those cute babbles and adorable expressions of language make our hearts melt and are sealed in our memories for life.
The first word is often spoken by the age of one, and a child builds up a vocabulary of about ten words by the age of 18 months. However, there is a segment of the population, usually of about 10 per cent, that experiences speech delay. Having a child with speech delay can be an anxiety-filled experience for parents imagining the worst.
Understanding the common speech issues in children can help you determine which one affects your child so you can come up with solutions or with the help of a qualified professional.
What is speech delay?
A child is considered to be delayed in speech when he or she does not meet the speech milestones.
The speech milestones are as follows:
| Age |
Speech Milestones |
| 1 to 6 months |
Coos in response to a voice |
| 6 to 9 months |
Babbles |
| 10 to 11 months |
Says “mama”, “dada” without meaning |
| 11 months to 12 months |
Says “mama”, “dada” with meaning, imitates three to four-syllable words |
| 13 to 15 months |
Utters about four words |
| 16 to 18 months |
Utters about 10 words |
| 19 to 21 months |
Utters 20 words |
| 22 to 24 months |
Utters 50 words, forms two-word phrases |
Basically, a child’s speech is at least 25 per cent understood by strangers by the time he or she is 18 months old, and at least 70 per cent understood at two years of age. If a child’s speech development does not fall within this bracket, he or she might be experiencing speech delay.
Causes of speech delay
There may be several factors as to why a child is not meeting his speech milestones and a qualified physician with a competent knowledge of speech development can help you understand the cause better. It is crucial to understand this speech delay, as early intervention can often rescue a potential future problem as soon as possible.
Some of the causes of speech delay are:
Hearing loss
When a speech delay is first detected, one of the first steps to follow is to ensure that the child isn’t experiencing hearing loss. A direct cause of inappropriate speech development is the lack of hearing and we need to eradicate this possibility before deliberating the actual cause.
Maturation delay, bilingualism
A developmental language delay is often the cause of speech delays in children who are late talkers. There is a delay in maturity and so the acquisition of speech is slower than usual. Thankfully, children who experience delays due to this cause are able to talk well enough by the time they go to school. Like Einstein, he faced speech delay due to maturation delay and was able to speak only at the age of four! Therefore, it must be noted that speech delay due to maturity delay is not a direct cause of lesser intelligence.
Bilingualism can cause speech delays as a child sets on the journey of learning two languages. It happens in the early stages of acquiring both languages, but becomes effectively communicative by the age of five.
Expressive Language Disorder (ELD)
ELD is due to brain neurological development issues in a child who is not able to translate thoughts into words. The child has normal intelligence, hearing, good emotional relationships and articulation but is not able to express his thoughts and uses gestures or sounds to supplement his limited vocabulary. Speech therapists can help for early intervention.
Autism
One of the prominent signs of autism is lack of eye contact and speech delay. If the child is not meeting the speech milestones, has a lack of eye contact and does not relate to others, giving the impression of being in his own world, then autism might be the probable cause of the speech delay. The child will need to be evaluated by specialists to overrule being on the spectrum.
How to encourage speech in a child?
The first five years are crucial in child development and this is when the basic so-called ‘DNA’ of learning is implanted. With the advent of technology, lack of social interactions affect a child’s speech and communication abiliites. Enroll the child in a good nursery where he or she can communicate with other kids and this can greatly benefit the child with his or her speech.
But the base to speech development, definitely, lies within the home. Parents need to talk, interact with and constantly stimulate the child with questions and comments. The family should encourage to start the journey of good speech for long-term effective communication skills.
With thanks to Ruhie Jamshaid, Educational Consultant and Principal at First Steps Nursery Montessori (Contact 04-3486302).