Encouraging Early Speech

There are many ways to encourage early speech. Here are a few ideas:

• Pair Gestures with Your Words - Nod when you say "yes," wave when you say "hi."


• More True Toys, Less Passive Toys - If there are speech concerns do away with all the electronic toys that do the talking and make the noises for your child. When a child plays with the Fisher-Price Farm, the child should be doing the "mooing" and "baaing" not the toys.


• Echo Expansion - When the child says "Juice?" say "More juice?" If they say "More juice?" say "More juice please?" The idea is to give back their language intact and add to it. You are not requesting or requiring longer phrases, just modeling them.


• Provide Running Commentary - Running commentary means you are talking about all that you are doing, seeing and feeling. In the grocey store I might say, "We need some apples. Mommy is going to put this red apple in the bag. Now we have two apples in the bag. I am putting the bag in the cart." Use labels often, rely on repitition, provide functional definitions. If the child points and says "bus" giving a definition would be "Yes, the school bus takes children to school."


• Give Language to Their Pointing - When the child is excited and pointing but not able to come up with the word that is needed, many parents are quick to fill it in. Let's say the child sees a dog at the park and is pointing and saying "uh-uh-uh." It can be tempting to say "Thats' a dog." Rather pause and point and say "Look," or "What's that?" pause for a few seconds again before you say, "That's a dog." You are first giving language to their pointing and then giving them time to find the word themselves before you fill it in.


• Don't Anticipate Needs - If all the child has to do is point toward the fridge to get a cup of milk, there is very little need for language. At least for a few seconds, not to the point of frustration, pretend to not know what they mean. Let them grapple a bit for the word.


• Don't Repeat Mispronunciations - As cute as they are, if there are speech concerns don't repeat mispronunciations. now this shouldn't feel like a correction either. If the child says "ram-baid" when asking for a band-aid avoid saying "No honey, it is band-aid." This feels like a correction and now the child doesn't want to talk to you. Just respond inthe positive with what they meant and clearly anunciate. Say, "Yes, you need a BAND-AID."

Early Speech Milestones

With so many patterns of normal speech and language development it can be difficult to sort out what is most important. There are a few basic milestones that if not met, signal flags in early language development.

• First word - Most people say babies should have a first word by 1 year old. The range of normal for a first word is 10 to 16 months.
• 50 words by 18 months, concern if less than 10 - Most babies have in the ballpark of 50 words by 18 months. There is concern if there are less than 10, particularly if those 10 are garbled or only used once or not really in context. I actually wouldn't be concerned if they only have 5 words but those words were clear, well used in context and consistent.
• 2 words together by 24 months - Most babies are putting two words together by 24 months. Many of them are stringing 6 and 7 word sentences but the concern is single words only.
• For articulation - Think that children should be 50% understood by strangers at 2 1/2 years old. This means half the time when your child speaks to the lady checking groceries, she understands him. By 3 years old this jumps to 75%, meaning more often than not she understands. It doesn't count to be understood by grandma or great babysitter, they hear his language often. This marker is for strangers.

I am a firm believer in the benefits of early intervention. If you feel or worry your child has a speech or language issue, there is no harm in having an evaluation. Children often enjoy the process and at best they reassure you and let you know to let go of the concern. At worst the child qualifies for what were needed services and you get started on a better long-term path. Somewhere in the middle, they may not qualify for services but you are given great guidance for working with your child to make improvements at home. Whatever the outcome, early intervention also provides a baseline. A professionals take of where your child is and how to move forward.

Using Developmental Checklists

We started our morning Play & Workshop program with a checklist of Language Development milestones by age so I'll give a few comments about using checklists (I'll post this list tomorrow if I can figure out how). For now I'll just mention - the best way to use checklists is to look for progress overtime. I hesitate to even give checklists because many parents immediately fall into one of two traps:

Trap One - Looking only for weaknesses

Many parents get bogged down by items their child is low on. Child may be high on 6 of 7 measures but the parent is narrowly looking at the seventh category.

Trap Two - Comparing to every other child in the room

Many parents fill out the checklist while glancing just as often at their neighbor's paper and can't help but ask, especially if they find an area that's low (see above).

The best way to use checklists is to fill it out, put it away for a few months, get it out again and fill it out like new. Then go back and check for progress. By all means if you see an area of weakness, you might make a plan of action on how to improve and then really look for progress based on your efforts. While I don't want you stuck in weaknesses, if you made efforts and still don't see progress it may warrant further investigation just don't get stuck. Worry doesn't tend to serve you well here.