Tips To Help A Toddler With A Speech Delay

For the purpose of this article, a toddler refers to children between the ages of 18 and 30 months (give or take a few months).  However, many of the following tips will work for other age groups as well.

Before geting into the tips, we need to make sure you understand the difference between speech and language, as many people will say “my toddler has a speech delay” when they actually are referring to a language delay.  So here is a very brief overview to show you the differences between speech and language development:

What is Speech Development?

Speech development refers to the production of specific speech sounds.  Most children will learn the sounds /p/, /b/, /m/, /n/, /h/ and /w/ first, along with some basic vowel sounds.

What is Language Development?

Language development refers to both the use and understanding of language.  This encompasses:

•  learning and using new words
•  combining words into phrases and sentences
•  grammar
•  asking and answering questions
• following directions
• social skills such as turn taking, eye contact, etc.

The tips bellow will be for both speech and language. If you feel (or have been told) that your toddler’s speech and language development is not where it should be for his/her age, give these tips a try.

17 Tips To Help A Toddler With A Speech Delay

Tip Number 1: Have Their Hearing Checked (Audiologist)

Even if you think that your toddler can hear everything, his hearing may not be 100%.  The cause of a mild to moderate hearing loss in toddlers is usually due to ear infections.  Since any language  young children are hearing is new to them, they don’t know what to expect.  So they must hear everything clearly, if they are going to use and understand that language.  Something as simple as fluid in a child’s ears, can affect their hearing.  Imagine yourself underwater and hearing a language that you are not familiar with.  This is what it can sound like to a child with a hearing loss as a result of middle ear fluid.

 If your child has a history of ear infections, you can make an appointment with an Audiologist to have your toddler’s hearing checked.

Tip Number 2: Seek The Advice of a Speech-Language Pathologist

If you ever feel like your child is delayed in any area of development, seek professional help.  The earlier the better!  A child’s early years (birth to 3) are a crucial time in their development.  Please do not take on a “wait and see” approach when it comes to your child.  You are not a bad parent because your child is not developing as per expectations.  And you will be a great parent by seeking help for your child.

You are your child’s best advocate so make sure you use that skill.

Tip Number 3: Speak Slowly

Think about yourself learning a new language.  If the people you are in regular contact with are speaking quickly, never repeating themselves you would have a hard time learning that language.  The same goes for your toddler.  This is especially true if your child is learning more than one language.

If you notice your toddler has tuned you out, or seems to be ignoring you, it could be because you are simply going to fast and he can’t keep up (or it could relate to Tip 1).  If you are speaking directly to your child make sure you slow down!  You don’t need to sound like you are in slow motion, but take your time when speaking.  This doesn’t mean you should use baby talk though

Tip Number 4: Make Eye Contact

Make sure you are looking at your child when you are speaking to him.  Children can gain a lot, by looking at your mouth while you are speaking.  Making eye contact is also an essential part of communication (in most cultures).  It is also a foundation skill that comes naturally to most children.

Tip Number 5: Over Pronounce Early Sounds

As mentioned above, the first sounds typically made by a baby/toddler are /p/, /b/, /m/, /n/, /h/ and /w/.  If your child is struggling with these early sounds, make sure you are pronouncing them very clearly.  And from time to time, over pronounce them.  For example, if you are blowing bubbles for your child really enunciate the “p” in “pop”.  You can even point to your mouth to draw your child’s attention to the movement of your lips, while you are saying “pop”.  The same goes for “bubble”.

Tip Number 6: DO NOT Make Your Child Repeat You

This can be a tricky one for many parents.   A child will say a word, for example “bud” (for “bubble”) and the parent will say something like “oh you mean bubble, say bubble, I know you can, say bubble.”  This will result in your toddler becoming very frustrated and tuning out.  It is ok for you to repeat the word, but drop the expectation of having the child repeat you.  While you may think he should be capable of saying the word correctly, he probably isn’t.  

A toddler is not developmentally ready to pronounce every sound and word correctly.   Pronunciation, or articulation involves many muscles and fine motor skills that a toddler has not developed yet.

Tip Number 7: Be a Good Speech/Language Model

This basically is a summary of tips 3,4,5 and 6.  If you are following all of these tips, then you are being a good speech and language model!  And this leads us into tip 8.

Tip Number 8: Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

You will feel like a broken record, but your child needs the repetition.  Children need to hear words 100’s, probably 1000’s of times before they begin using the word themselves in a meaningful way (not just repeating you or only using it in certain situations).  Let’s go back to the bubbles activity.  Narrate what you are doing.  For example, you could say “look at the bubble, do you see the bubble?  The bubble is floating away.  Uh oh, the bubble popped.  Let’s blow another bubble“.  In the 2-3 seconds it took you to say those phrases, you have said the word “bubble” 5 times!

Tip Number 9: Get Down to Their Level

Your child will gain more from your interactions with him if you are down at his level.  This means getting down on the floor and playing.  This can be hard for some parents. It can even be one of the hardest things for them to do.  May be it just doesn’t feel natural to them and they would have much preferred to sit on a chair and “observe” their children.  However, the importance of “getting down to their level” is that it does get easier and the reward of seeing your child’s smiling face makes it worth the effort.  So let your inner child out!

Tip Number 10: Remove Batteries From Toys

Toys with batteries can get quite annoying.  And for toddlers, the sounds that these toys make will not enhance their learning.  Some toy manufacturers claim that their toy will teach a child “letters, numbers, colors, etc”.  The whole goal is to get your toddler vocal and verbalizing.  If the toy is doing all of the “talking” the child can sit back and listen.  Also, most children are more likely to imitate a person over an electronic toy.

Another thing to point out is that you should not be trying to teach your baby or toddler academic skills. There is plenty of time for a toddler to learn academic skills.  Language skills are a greater indicator of success later on in school, than is the fact that your 2 year old can recite their ABC’s.

Now, all of that being said, may contradict a bit.  Don’t feel like you cannot have any toys with batteries.  Some toys need batteries for basic functioning.

Tip Number 11: Expand and Add Language

If your toddler is starting to use some single words, expand on what she said and add more language.  For example, if your child brings you a toy truck and says “truck” you could respond with “yes, it’s a big truck”, placing the emphasis on “big truck”.  You could then add even more language around the word “truck”.  “The truck has wheels” or “The truck is red”, etc.  Or if your child drops something and says “uh oh”, respond and say “uh oh, your cup fell down, let’s pick up your cup“.

Tip Number 12: Take a Step Back

Try not to dominate your child’s playtime.  Take a step back and watch what your toddler is doing and then wait some more.  Listen to see if he is saying anything to himself.  Or if he isn’t using any words, perhaps he is gesturing or looking intently at something.  By taking a step back you can find many new opportunities to communicate with your child!

Tip Number 13: Let Your Child Lead

Your child may be interested in things that aren’t of much interest to you.  You may try to steer her towards a toy you feel she should be playing with, or an activity you believe would be better for her.  If your toddler expresses an interest in something and you follow her lead, she will be much more interested in interacting with you.  You can let your child lead by imitating what she is doing, commenting on what she is doing, repeating things she has said (and expanding), etc.

If you are interested in something, chances are you will be more engaged than if you are doing something that you aren’t interested in.  The same goes for a child.  If the child is always redirected and doesn’t have the opportunity to do what she would like to do, she will disengage and the language learning opportunities will be lessened.

Tip Number 14: Skip the Academics

As mentioned in Tip 10, many toy manufacturers are using the fact that their toy teaches “academic skills” as a selling feature.  Please do not listen to this.  A toddler does not need to work on academic skills.  What they do need to work on is developing play skills.  Play skills build the foundation for academic skills later on.

Tip Number 15: Read, Read, Read

Read to your child daily!  Find simple yet engaging books.  But stay away from e-books for children of this age group.  While an e-book on a phone/tablet may be engaging because of the ability to touch an item on the screen and watch something happen (cause and effect), studies have shown that children do not engage with this type of book the same way that they do with a physical book.  Children do not retain what they heard to the same extent that they do with a physical book.

Cause and effect books do exist as physical books!  These are usually “lift the flap” books or “pop-up” books.

Looking at a physical book (holding it, pointing to pictures – without something happening, turning the pages) all help with pre-literacy skills and print awareness.

When looking at books with your child, you do not always have to read the story word for word.  Make it up as you go!  Let your child point to items in the book and then pause and wait.  See if your child says anything.  If the book you are reading is a repetitive book such as the classic “Brown Bear Brown Bear” by Bill Martin/Eric Carle and your child has heard it several times, pause to see if your child will fill in the blanks.

Tip Number 16: Ask Questions (but not too many)

Ask your child questions to keep the conversation going, but don’t ask too many.  You don’t want to come across as a drill sergeant.  Ask simple questions such as “where is the ball?” (assuming the child can see it) or “what is on your foot?”  This will help with a child’s understanding of language and reinforces vocabulary words.  However, don’t “test” your child.  This will end up causing a lot of frustration and perhaps even some temper tantrums.

Tip 17: Use Routines, Songs and Finger Plays

Some routines you may be familiar with such as peek-a-boo.  A routine basically has certain steps that follow an order and can be repeated many times.  Children learn from these routines because of the repetition and if the routine is a people game such as “peek-a-boo” it is also quite fun for the child.  You can also make up your own routine if there is something your child is interested in.  

 Songs and finger plays are also a great way to help with language development.  Nursery rhymes also fall into this category.  An example of a finger play would be “this little piggy”.  

Toddlers also love finger puppets that you can incorporate into finger plays!  The puppets allow for further vocabulary development and can be used later on for story telling as well.

Source:

Seem and Liz

Posted by Kids Are Special in CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Relevant articles:

•  Speech and Language Development Milestones: Children 0-4 years
•  6 Signs of Speech Delay In Your Toddler
• 3 Easy Steps to Help us Raise Happy Kids
• How to Raise a Smart Kid Who Loves to Learn
• The Activities a Baby Needs for Development