With children settling into early childhood education facilities and being back to school over the last few weeks, you may be wondering if your child’s speech and language skills will catch up with their peers.
It is well known that early intervention for a child having difficulty is vital for setting their speech and language development on a good path. However, it is easy to be lulled into a wait-and-see approach by well meaning friends and family who try to encourage ‘they’ll catch up’, or ‘Uncle Bob didn’t talk until he was 7 years old’.
In my Speech Language Therapy private practice ‘Tongue Twisters’, I frequently work with families who wish they had followed their gut instinct and started therapy earlier. This particularly seems to happen with parents of four-year-old boys struggling to make themselves understood. With a school start around the corner, parents grow increasingly concerned. Shay Grant, parent and a former client of Tongue Twisters says “I often wonder what [my son’s] first year at school would have been like if we had started therapy when he was younger, and feel guilty that I didn’t push for more help.”
There are a multitude of reasons for children to have communication delays or difficulties and it can take time to see improvement. Unfortunately, there can be a roll-on effect whereby communication difficulties can lead to behaviour, literacy, and social difficulties.
Maree Lewis, Deputy Principal and Special Education Needs Co-Ordinator at Woodstock School agrees. “[Children] require the appropriate language to express their ideas, express their feelings, learn, problem solve and establish relationships. Oral language is the foundation of literacy so poor oral language impacts negatively on students’ ability in written language and reading. Building up a child’s language can only but enhance and develop their confidence when starting school.”
If you have concerns about your child’s speech and language development, stuttering or communication skills, please consider that ‘wait and see’ is not an evidence-based option. It is beneficial to seek help and get your child’s speech and language development assessed by a Speech Language Therapist. If you would like to book an assessment, contact me.
As a Speech Language Therapist, I am a registered member with NZSTA. Email me at melva@tonguetwisters.co.nz
Tips for Helping Your Child’s Speech & Language Development
1. Talk to and with your child Tell them about what you see, explain what things are and how they work, wonder together, tell stories with or without books.
2. Play with the sounds of speech. Make talking a game with ‘I spy’, finding items starting with ‘s’ in the house, breaking up long words into syllables he-li-cop-ter.
3. Limit screen time (unless you’re skyping Grandma!). When watching a screen, the opportunities for conversation are significantly reduced.
4. Seek support early. It’s rarely too early to learn how to improve your communication skills to give your child the best advantage.