Language Delay
Speech Therapy for Children Facing Language Delay
Language Delay is a communication disorder often present when a child is not hitting the so-called milestones given for their age. With a child developing their language slower than the children they are surrounded by, they commonly have a lot of trouble with expressing how they feel, what they want, or even may find it difficult to understand what others are saying. With language delay in trouble comes many different obstacles. The child may exhibit difficulty in saying words, learning new words, making sentences, and understanding sentences.
All children develop at different rates but there are certain milestones that are targeted for children. If a child is not meeting these certain milestones, seeking help or a professional opinion from a speech therapist is necessary. These certain milestones are the child is not trying to use sounds, gestures, or words to express when they want something or need help by 12 months of age. By the age of 2, a child is expected to say around 50 different words, can combine two or more words to express a want, can copy phrases spoken to them, and/or understand simple instructions and perform them such as “get your shoes” or “do you want a drink”. Language Delays at this stage can be assisted by the child’s family and speech therapy. As they get older and still exhibit speech language delays, it is important they seek more attention as it can be related to a developmental disorder.
What is Language Delay?
A speech therapist is beneficial in helping your child communicate better verbally and non-verbally, acquire new words, improve their ability to combine words or lengthen phrases, answer and understand questions appropriately. Speech Therapists work one-on-one with the children and can do this through playing, talking, reading books, using graphics, objects or games to promote their language development. It is important to monitor the child’s development and milestones as it is better to intervene earlier rather than later in life when their learning is less malleable. Infants, toddlers and preschool aged children with language delay benefit the most from early intervention therapy as their brains are still developing on learning communication skills therefore therapy at this stage should be done as soon as possible. It is also encouraged that parents continue the work of speech therapists at home as well, so the child is surrounded by constant learning to promote their language skills as they grow up.
Here is a link to language milestones for children on our website
https://speechtherapyworks.ca/speech-and-language-developmental-milestones/
The first step will be an assessment to see your child is exhibiting a delay. If the child is exhibiting a delay we assess how much. We also determine in what areas of language the child is delayed, for example- vocabulary, syntax, sentence mean length of utterance etc. The speech therapist will formulate therapy goals based on the child’s needs and discuss them with parents. After the assessment, speech therapy will take place once a week. We will target language goals through play and other engaging activities. We also train parents on what to do in between sessions to ensure generalization and carry over of new skills developed in therapy.
Contact our office for additional information or to book an appointment with a speech therapist to work with your child. Please email info@speechtherapyworks.ca
Speech Therapy Services
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