Identify Speech and Language Delay in your Child

Speech and Language delay is quite common in a child. It has been seen that almost 5-8% of children suffer from speech and language delay every year. This delay is mostly in the pre-school days. And today there are many tools available that can help a child in case of speech and language delay, but the treatment part comes much later. The important part is to identify and find out if your child is suffering from speech and language delay or not. In order to identify you need to first understand what speech and language delay is.

Let’s have a brief look at the same.

What is Speech Delay?

 Speech delay is the disability to speak at a certain age. Either he is completely unable to speak or you cannot understand what he/she is speaking. It’s like words are coming out of his mouth but they are not clear. Speech delay is all about sound.

What is Language Delay?

 Language delay is the advanced version of speech delay and it is understood only when your child attains a specific age. Whereas language is about meaning or the correct sequence in which he/she speaks. Language delay is usually more serious than the speech delays.

So, now since you have understood what is meant by speech and language delay, let’s have a look at what are the different milestones that a child needs to achieve in his early growth and development:

• At Birth: Loud Crying. Sometimes a baby is kicked at his back in order to make him cry
• By 2-3 months: Cries under different situations. For instance, maybe when he has wet himself or when he is hungry
• By 3-4 months: Starts blabbering which is difficult to understand but you can still hear something
• By 5-6 Months: His blabbering has increased considerably
• By 6-11 Months: Babbles with some meaning or in response to something
• By 12 Months: Starts saying some meaningful words, recognizing peoples and sounds
• By 18 Months: Begins saying names more clearly
• Between 1-2 Years: begins by telling 1-2-word sentences
• Between 2-3 years: Identifies body parts or colors
• Between 3-4 years: can tell sentences of 4-5 words or sentences
• Between 4-5 years: answers simple questions about “What”, “who” and “Why”
• Between 5-6 years: Identifies people in the house, pets, and speaks in shorter sentences

So, if your child is not meeting the above standards then you need to see a pediatrician immediately. The first step is to get the hearing test of your child tested. If his hearing skills are fine, then you can move to the next stage. It is very important to know and understand that what causes such speech and language delay.

Following are Some of the very Important Tips which will help to Cause Speech and Language Delay:

1. Developmental Disorder: This is very common among children. Every brain functions differently and if you see that a child is not able to grasp something then there might be some developmental disorder with the child.
2. External Factors: There might be some negative or stressful situation in the family that is hampering the child’s growth. Thus, his speech and language delay can be because of the negative factors he is facing and he might be terrorized of the same.
3. Autism: Speech and Language delay is one of the early signs of autism. Thus, if you see your child suffering from such delays it’s better to get him tested for autism.