Worried your child might not be talking enough?
Or your child can’t quite follow directions like other children do?
It is normal to have these concerns. It is never too early to consider your child’s development
and language skills. I just advise you not to google it too much and stress yourself out. My
advice, is of course, get a speech and language evaluation from a certified speech language
pathologist, if you have concerns. This will help you understand more of what is going on with
your child in this area. It also will help ease the worry and provide you with a plan to move
forward.
Okay, now you are thinking, “my child is still a toddler!”. You might think this is too young.
Let me assure you. No age is too early to encourage and enrich your child’s language skills.
Yes, it is true some children “grow out of it” and develop age appropriate language skills without
intervention. But some do not. Without intervention, the children that do not “grow out of it” will
have continued struggles as they progress through school. They will struggle with key skills
such as phonological awareness, expressing complex emotions, social interactions will be more
challenging, and trouble with reading. Language is the foundation for their future success in
school and really, in life.
Evidence based research tells us that the first 3 years of life are extremely important in brain
development and learning language skills. That is why it is crucial to intervene early if there is a
suspected problem. Early intervention can help increase and remediate language skills before
they enter school. The ideal goal is to get a child to age appropriate development before school
age so there are no gaps in learning or social development.
Early intervention has been proven by research to be the most beneficial route rather than the
“sit and wait” method. So I ask you, why wait?
Dana Buchli M.S. CCC-SLP
Resources:
Ellis EM, Thal DJ. (2008) Early language delay and risk for language impairment. Perspect Lang Learn
Ed., 15(3): 93-100.
https://www.asha.org/public/early-identification-of-speech-language-and-hearing-disorders/