Speech Therapy for Children

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 Speech therapy is used for children who have difficulty speaking certain words or are not showing any interest in speaking. This form of therapy uses exercises to help enhance the ability of the child to speak. The reasons for speech loss/impairment are many. The child may have undergone extreme trauma which delayed the verbal process of speaking, or he may have a genetic syndrome that delayed his speech. Speech therapy works on the child’s speaking ability in order to strengthen it and enhance it. 

 If you are worried that your child’s speech is not improving at a normal speed, you should keep in mind the following milestones. You must keep a buffer of three to four months as each child develops differently and at his own pace. It is also important to note that doctors may not always recommend speech therapy for toddlers unless their general verbal progress is extremely slow. 

• Your child might not be talking yet, which is perfectly normal for this age.
• Check to see if your child uses specific sounds to identify things around him.
• Your child should be babbling and cooing, which shows an interest in communicating.
• At nine months, your child should be making sounds to form words even if he does not understand the meaning.

• Harder consonants like ‘p’, ‘n’, and ‘m’ sounds should be more audible by now. However, you must keep in mind that each child learns some sounds at a different pace.
• Your child should show signs of listening to adults, talking, and trying to imitate words.
• Your child should be able to understand and follow simple instructions.

• Your child should have no difficulty speaking 20 to 50 words coherently.
• By now, your child should be able to join words together and try forming sentences.
• Your child should be able to identify the objects that he sees on a daily basis, along with his various body parts.
• He should be able to understand and follow more complex instructions.

• Your child should have a much larger vocabulary and should be learning one to two words a day.
• Your child should be able to link more words together to form full sentences.
• Your child should be able to understand almost everything that you say with the ability to distinguish between similar-sounding instructions.

Every child develops at a unique pace. Sometimes, your child may require an encouragement to help him reach his milestone. The main question is, when does your child require a speech therapist? If your child meets the following criteria, you may want to consult a specialist or a speech therapist.

• Your child does not use any hand gestures or does not attempt to communicate in any manner between the age of 12-24 months.
• Even after 18 months of being born, he shows no signs of trying to mimic the sounds he hears.
• He uses only non-verbal communication and does not attempt to speak or say even a single word after reaching the age of 18 months.
• He does not show signs of understanding simple sentences or instructions.
• Your child is not able to make sounds or speak independently after the age of two.
• He can only make sounds or imitate other people while speaking, but cannot use the same language to communicate at a later date even after being a two-year-old.
• Your child’s stutter worsens with time, instead of improving.
• Your child’s lisp becomes more noticeable.
• At the age of two, your child has a more nasal or unusually raspy voice.
• After the age of four, your child should be able to at least voice out simple needs in a way that a total stranger can understand. He should be able to communicate when he is hungry or needs to go to the toilet. Failure to do so at this age may require medical attention.

Remember, see your child’s specialist before going to a children’s speech therapist and do so only if the doctor feels there is a need. Sometimes, the child may not require any therapy and may show normal development in every aspect but may have verbal delays that go away with time.