Speech Delays In Toddlers

It is amazing to see your toddlers growing up and you feel on top of the earth when you hear your toddler saying those first words “mamma…papa”. However, many parents become concerned when they find that their child is just making some sound but not any particular word. Speech delay is a common problem among kids. Almost 3 to 10 percent of toddlers are affected with speech delay. It has also been determined that boys are affected more than girls. Speech development is to some extent predictable in toddlers as they follow a usual path. However, while most toddlers begin to speak fluently by the age of three, many toddlers might lag. With so many resources available on the internet, parents often get misled and become confused as when to seek professional help. It is to be remembered that each child is special and they grow up in their own pace. While some toddlers learn to speak fast, others do not. Again some toddlers learn a few words by the age of 10 months, but their cognitive skills don’t develop after that. Further, some kids can start talking by the age of 1 and improve gradually. Speech delays can happen due to many reasons including lack of balanced diet, emotional stress, and trauma. Mentally challenged kids can also show signs of speech delay. Toddlers have speech delays if their parents are abusive, or if they get any shock at their tender age. Young and first time parents feel helpless when there is slight delay in speech in their toddlers, while this can be absolutely normal. Parents should know what is normal and when to seek the help of physicians. It should be noted that speech delay alone is not enough to conclude whether the child is autistic. Instead of looking up the internet for information, it is advisable to consult the child’s pediatrician to get your child diagnosed. If there is really any speech delay, early medical intervention and speech therapy can do wonders to help your kid with his/her speech. If you wish to learn more about the typical sings of speech delay in children, read the section that follows.

• While kids of similar age around you have started to speak clear words, your toddler is still making just incomprehensible sounds.
• Each age has certain developmental milestones in terms of speech and language development. When the toddler is lagging in certain developmental milestones, it should be a cause of concern to the parents.
• The kid has problems with articulation, difficulty in articulating a word properly, and problems with substitution and omission of certain sounds.
• The toddler struggles to form complete sentences and faces problems in using words to form a sentence correctly.
• Children between the age of six and eleven months start to babble. If there is any lack of babbling it might be a probable sign of speech delay.
• Toddlers with speech delays sometimes do not try to communicate even through gesturing.
• The kid being unable to speak properly even after crossing his/her third birthday.
• Having trouble in following directions.
• Echolia or frequent repetition of words is also a common sign in toddlers with delayed speech especially if the kid is autistic.