Every child grows and learns at their normal pace. This normal can be different for different children.
There is no specific deadline for a child to start talking and using full sentences or words.
But in many cases it has been observed that for a child having a normal birth, the time frame to make some meaningless sounds is from birth to 6 months.
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What’s the Typical Case for a Normal Child?
In the 1st year, the child may make his first understandable word.
In the next year of his life the child learns new words and may try to increase his vocabulary by some 20 to 30 words. And then there is a significant increase in the number of words used by a child.
A typical 3 year old child may use 500 to 1000 words. The child may call names and may make meaningful sentences. This number may increase significantly if you communicate with your child properly.
Signs of Speech Delay
Speech delay is often mistaken for language delay. Speech delay means your child is unable to make any sound by a specific age.
Language delay is pretty normal for many children but if you observe that your child is not cooing or making any sound by the age of 2 months then it certainly indicates that he is suffering from speech delay.
But don’t worry with timely intervention and medical care the speech delay issue can be rectified.
Signs and Warning Signals
There are few things that should be kept in mind to be sure of the fact that your child has some speech delay issues.
Age 2 if your child is 2 years of age and does not use 20 to 30 words then it may be a sign of speech delay.
Age 3 If your child is 3 years old and didn’t speak 200 words or find it hard to memorise the names then it may also indicate that your child may need medical support.
What Are the Causes of Speech Delay?
Speech delay as we have already discussed may not be an issue of grave concern and may hint that your child has a different time table and will eventually catch up.
But there are few other things to look at in this regard to be cent percent sure of the issue.
The major causes of delayed speech may include the following
Premature Birth
This means that your child may have some issues by birth and your child’s developmental processes did not get enough time to be fully mature. A detailed outlook by the paediatrician may give the best possible solution in this regard.
Hearing Impairment
If a child has some hearing issues by birth then it affects his ability to speak well and properly. As a child cannot speak on their own and will not be able to tell the issue so you have to be vigilant in this regard.
You can diagnose the hearing issues faced by your child by the fact that they will face difficulty in forming apt sounds and will not be able to recognize things by sound but they will do so if you use signs and gestures.
Communication Gap
A growing child will only learn new words if you use these words with him. The communication gap has shown to be a significant cause of the speech delay in a growing child.
Malnutrition
There could be a possibility that your child may be lacking in the nutrients that are required for proper muscle growth and development. This means that the child may face difficulty in speech.
Giving the adequate amount of nutrition in the early phases of life is crucial as it may help with their mental and physical growth and development.
The recent study done on children has suggested that there are cases of developmental and behavioural problems in children that are linked with severe malnutrition.
Autism
If your child has autism then it may be difficult for him to understand and form new words. Autistic children are often shy and they will hesitate to make eye contact with you or anything for a longer period of time. Try to console autisitc child and take another route that could be a non verbal way of communicating with your child.
If your child is also diagnosed with autism then first of all you need to keep your morale up as many parents think that it will be impossible to make any good difference in the child.
Here are some amazing tips that you can take to deal with an autistic child.
What are the Treatments?
The treatments for delayed speech are varied depending upon the causes and other medical issues.
But on a baseline, the speech therapy is found to be of great help.
Speech Therapy
Speech and language therapy can help to significantly increase speaking power.
Speech therapy is a skill and not everyone knows how to deal with it. Click here to get the consultation with the best speech therapist in your area.
Early Medical Intervention
It is necessary to treat the ailment as early as you can as it has proved to greatly increase the chances of your child to feel normal. This will not only help your child with their confidence but they will also be able to speak normally.
Research has shown that speech and language delays may lead to difficulty with reading in elementary schools.
Rectifying the Underlying Problems
As we got to know, delayed speech is often linked with some other underlying issues that may include hearing or vision problems.
So treating the issues may help in getting the desired results and may help with the speech problems of your child.
Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is important for toddlers and infants and may help them with proper development. Breast milk is thought to contain all the essential nutrients that are required by a child for not only his physical growth but also for mental growth and development.
Breastfeeding has shown to greatly increase the child’s mental capabilities.
Nutrients that are present in breast milk are better for better brain health.
There are many other benefits of breastfeeding which you can study here.
Takeaway
Speech delay is observed in many children but there is always room for improvement.
Getting the best medical counselling and medical intervention may prove helpful for your child to feel normal. Above all this should be kept in mind that flowers, no doubt grown in the same medium, bloom at their own specific time.
