Freedom of Speech: 5 Signs Your Child May Need Speech Therapy
If you suspect that your child may be having issues expressing themselves through speech, it can feel a bit isolating. However, it’s important to remember that you’re not alone. Around 1 in 12 children in the U.S. has had a voice, speech, or language disorder in the past year.
Fortunately, speech therapy can be a powerful tool. Keep reading to learn about the most common signs to look for to help you determine if you need to look into speech therapy for your kids.
1. Your Young Child Isn’t Babbling
Around 4-6 months or so, your child should start to babble, attempting to communicate in their own way. If you notice that your child is more than 7 months old and not showing signs of babbling, it could indicate an auditory deficit.
Begin by talking to your pediatrician about your concerns. From there, you can look into speech therapy options for young children.
2. Your Young Child Does Not Gesture
Between the ages of 6 and 12 months, your child should begin to gesture to help them better express themselves. This often includes pointing, waving, and other similar movements. If your child is showing a lack of gestures, it could indicate a language disorder.
Consider looking into speech therapy options to help you get a better understanding of what might be happening behind the scenes.
3. Your Toddler Is Stuttering
Around the age of 2 or so, some children may begin to stutter when they talk. While some occasional stuttering is generally not a cause for concern, pay attention to see how frequently it happens. If your toddler frequently repeats words, phrases, or syllables, consider researching speech therapy for toddlers.
Some providers even offer at home speech therapy options to help your child feel more comfortable.
4. Your Toddler Is Not Speaking in Sentences
Between 18 and 24 months, your toddler should start to form sentences by putting different words together. Even if these sentences don’t always make sense, stringing words together is an important part of speech development. If by the age of 2, your child is still speaking in short one or two-word chunks instead of fuller sentences, they may be suffering from a language disorder.
In that case, search for a local toddler speech therapy provider who can work with your child to diagnose any issues and help them with fluency and articulation.
5. Your Toddler Is Hard to Understand
As a parent, you’re familiar with your child’s speech patterns and may be able to decipher what they’re saying when other people can’t. While this is normal, by the time they’re 2, other adults should also be able to understand at least half of what your toddler says.
By the age of 3, other adults should be able to understand about 75% of your child’s words and sentences. If you or other adults consistently have a hard time understanding what your child is saying, it could be indicative of a speech disorder.
When to Consider Speech Therapy
If your child is displaying any of the signs we’ve outlined above, consider signing them up for speech therapy sooner rather than later. The right speech pathologist will be able to help give you more clarity and help your child express themselves more clearly.
Interested in reading more content like this? Check out our full collection of articles today.
