Talking Point is a website specialising in providing information to parents and educators about children’s communication. It also provides advice and suggestions for encouraging children’s communication development from ages 0-17 years.

If you would like to discuss your child’s communication development with us, do not hesitate to contact us on 043 3327491 for your free telephone consultation.

Talking Point Ages and Stages

iCommunicateTherapy Speech and Language Milestones

Select your child’s age and read about the skills that children typically develop at their age.

If you have any concerns or you would like to discuss any area of your child’s communication with a qualified speech and language therapist, contact us for a free telephone consultation on 043 3327491.

“It’s very difficult to predict which late talkers will catch up and which will fall into the 20-30% group who don’t,” [3]Weitzman cautions. “A ‘wait and see’ approach simply delays treatment that can make a huge difference to a child who needs it.”  When parents notice that their toddler isn’t reaching the appropriate language milestones for his age, Weitzman recommends that they get an assessment from a licensed speech-language pathologist, who will help them decide whether intervention is necessary.

“We know that the window of opportunity is greatest when a child is very young”, says Weitzman.  “If a toddler is late in his or her language development, parents will never regret acting early. They might, however, regret acting too late.”

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How can I Help?

Difficulties with speaking fluently between 2 – 4 years affects about one child in 20. While the underlying causes are not fully understood, we know that parents do NOT cause stammering – also called stuttering. Evidence shows that most children outgrow this phase over a few weeks or months, although at the time this can be hard to believe.

It can be a shock when your child starts to speak differently, “out of the blue”. Sometimes your child may get quite stuck. This can be painful to see, and you may feel helpless and worried. Some periods may seem more difficult than others. The non-fluency may also come and go.

Our advice is to refer your child to a speech and language therapist (SLT) as soon as you can. You can usually do this directly without seeing a GP. BSA can provide you with local contact details. For the one in three or four children who need extra help, speech therapy has been shown to be more effective before the age of five. Although your child may not need regular therapy, the therapist can carry out a full assessment, offer advice, and help you to monitor your child’s fluency.

In the meantime, take a look at the following guidelines. They cover areas of communication that can help young children to develop their fluency skills. See if there are any changes you could make to help support your child. It may also be helpful to show this leaflet to other family members and adults in your child’s life such as nursery teachers or childminders.

The BSA good communication guide

When speaking to your child Slow down your rate of speech, but don’t tell your child to slow down or take a deep breath. Let your child have special time when she leads the way with an activity of her choice. Ask one question at a time and give him plenty of time to answer. Use short, simple sentences. When listening to your child Keep eye-contact. Pay attention to what your child is saying, not how he says it. Pause before answering questions. Make sure everyone gets a turn to speak. Acknowledge speech difficulties with reassurance and encouragement – not with corrections or criticism. Other people Ask other adults in your child’s life to follow this guidance.   For a reminder of these helpful communication tips to use with children, simply print off this pdf (713kb) and cut out the guide. Or you can get a hard copy as part of our pre-school information pack. You can keep it as a bookmark or attach it to somewhere noticeable like your fridge and calendar.

Helpful tips for parents

1. Show your child that you are interested in what he says, not how he says it. Try to maintain natural eye-contact when he is having difficulty talking. Don’t finish his sentences – this can be frustrating for him.

2. Be supportive. Respond to a speech difficulty in the same way that you would with any other difficulties that arise as they develop their skills, such as when they trip over or spill things. If you feel it’s appropriate, acknowledge the difficulty in a matter-of-fact way, so that she doesn’t feel criticised. Avoid labelling the difficulty as stammering. You could use expressions like “bumpy speech” or “getting stuck”, or ask her for her own words or descriptions.

3. If you speak quickly, slow down your own rate of speech when you talk to your child. Telling him to slow down, start again or to take a deep breath is unhelpful. Pausing for a second before you answer or ask a question can also help him to feel less rushed.

4. Be encouraging if your child gets upset about her speech, just as you would if she was upset about any other difficulty. You might say something like “Don’t worry, talking can be tricky sometimes when you’re still learning.”

5. Observe your child’s speaking patterns but try to resist seeing it as a ‘problem?’. Stammering is not caused by parents, but your anxiety can be passed on to your child, who may feel he is doing something wrong. In fact, he is just struggling a bit at the moment, and the stage may well pass.

6. Set aside a few minutes at a regular time each day when you can give your full attention to your child in a calm, relaxed atmosphere. You could follow her lead in playing or talking about something she likes. Try to talk about the things you are doing together right now, not about things that happened in the past or are planned for the future.

7. Reduce the number of questions you ask. Always give your child plenty of time to answer one question before asking another. This way, he is less likely to feel under pressure. Keep your sentences short and simple and instead of asking questions, simply comment on what your child has said, thereby letting him know you are listening.

8. Take turns to talk so that everyone in the family can speak without being interrupted. This will reduce the amount that your child is interrupted, or that she interrupts others.

9. Respond to your child’s behaviour in the same way that you would with a child who does not stammer. As with any other child, discipline needs to be appropriate and consistent.

10. Try to avoid a hectic and rushed lifestyle. Stammering can increase when your child is tired. Children who stammer respond well to a routine and structured environment at home and at nursery or playgroup. It is also helpful to establish regular sleep patterns and a regular healthy diet.

Case study 1 – Give instructions one at a time

“I realised we were expecting too much of my bright and capable three year old daughter. We have all slowed down and now use language more appropriate for her age – in particular just giving her one instruction at a time.

Rather than: ‘Please find your toy shopping trolley, put the shopping back in it and bring it back into the playroom,’ I now break it down. Eg, ‘Can you find your trolley? Good girl. Let’s put the shopping back in it. Well done. Can you now take it back to the playroom?’

This seems to have really helped her.”

Social Language

1) Eye contact. When communicating with your child, look at his or her face and eyes as often as possible. This helps your child learn that it is appropriate to look at people during communication. Children learn a lot about you through facial expressions and acquire articulation skills by watching the movement of your mouth.

2) Taking turns. Talk to your child and then pause to give them a moment to verbalize. This teaches them the art of turn taking. This skill can also be accomplished during play, using objects and toys.

Expressive Language

3) Give your child space. When your child is trying to communicate with you and you know what they want, give them a few seconds before you instantly meet their needs. This will give them the opportunity to vocalize (coo and babble), point, or attempt a word.

4) Give your child choices and then let them express their choice by pointing, vocalizing, or attempting words. The feelings of confidence a child gains by expressing their own choice are building blocks for further exploration of expressive language.

Receptive Language

5) Get your child to follow instructions. Start with simple requests that only involve one element, such as “smile” or “kiss.” Then increase to two elements when one element becomes easy for your child (i.e. “Hand up,” or “Touch your nose,” and so on).

6) Read simple books to your child with one or two pictures on each page. Ask them questions that can be answered verbally or by pointing to the correct picture. Try not to put too much pressure on them. If your child does not respond after about 10 or 15 seconds, model the answer for them with a positive tone of voice.

Vocabulary Development

7) Reinforce and demonstrate. If your child produces a verbal attempt that resembles a word, praise them with a pleasant tone of voice and then model the word that you think they attempted. For example, if the child says “ba” for ball, say “You said ball. Yes, it is a ball!”

8) Explore. There are wonderful opportunities to model vocabulary out in the community. A simple trip to the market can be a great chance to name items for your child.

Articulation

9) Observe how often other people understand your child’s speech. This will give you an idea of how clear his or her articulation really is (parents usually understand their children more than an outside listener). Don’t worry if your toddler is not producing all the sounds in the English language. Many sounds may not develop until four years of age or later. However, you should consider consulting a speech pathologist if it is extremely hard to understand your child’s speech at 3 years of age.

10) Articulate your words clearly when you communicate with your child. Speak slowly and remember to look directly at your child’s face. While speech and language development varies with each child, there is no question that positive daily involvement from a parent and/or a loving caregiver makes the process much smoother. You, the parent, are the “super model” for your child’s speech and language development. Taking time to put these tips into action can give you a thoughtful approach as you interact with your amazing little communicator.

Original text by By Karin Howard, M.A., CCC-SLP
www.speechtherapyweb.com