Reasons for Delayed Speech in Children and Treatment for Speech Delay

After a baby is born, as the initial months pass, parents usually start thinking about efforts to educate their child! Teaching word repetition and speaking is the sweetest part of this journey. However, sometimes, for various reasons, we observe an impact on a child’s speech. It is completely normal for some children to start speaking at younger ages while others begin this process a few months later. But sometimes, this delay requires follow-up and the use of methods to treat speech delay in children. Understanding the difference in these conditions helps you seek appropriate treatment methods without worry or stress or make vigilant efforts for your child’s speech development.

In this article, we have examined the symptoms, signs, and when to seek treatment for speech delay in children, and we have reviewed details regarding mistakes that lead to speech delay in children.

Learn More: The Correct Way to Manage Children’s Phones That Parents Should Know!!

What Is the Standard Age for Children to Start Speaking?

Many people want to know the normal age for children to start speaking! However, it’s important to understand that the time children begin speaking varies depending on individual, family, educational, physical, and intellectual differences. In most cases, children start speaking between 1 and 2 years of age. Starting to speak is a crucial part of children’s growth and development. Therefore, it is necessary to examine it seriously. Sometimes, children’s speech delay can last until close to 3 years of age. However, you should consult a pediatrician and ultimately a speech therapist upon observing early signs of delay. The process of a child’s development in terms of verbal and linguistic communication is as follows:

1. This stage, from birth to about 6 months, involves children developing silently with random sounds.
2. From about 6 months to 12 months, children randomly repeat some words, and their vocabulary begins to expand.
3. Between 1 and 2 years of age, children increase their communication with single words. Although some children start forming sentences during this period, generally, the inability to form sentences at this age cannot be considered a problem.
4. Between 2 and 3 years of age, children begin using simple sentences. They gradually develop language and construct more complex sentences.

What Are the Reasons for Delayed Speech in Children?

Delayed speech in children may depend on various factors. Each child, based on their lifestyle, conditions, and experiences, may have a different process in starting to speak. However, there are several reasons for the occurrence of delayed speech in children, which we will explore in this section.

1. Individual Differences: It may be interesting to know that children’s individual characteristics, even as siblings in a shared environment, will differ. Each child has a unique developmental rate. Some children speak earlier, while others require more time.
2. Family Environment: The family environment plays a key and significant role in children’s language development. Children growing up in relatively active environments are much stronger in terms of interaction, vocabulary expansion, or speaking ability compared to children whose parents spend little time with them and have no educational or supportive program in place.
3. Biological Factors: Some biological factors can also affect a child’s speech development. For example, hearing problems or issues related to the speech system (physically or neurologically) can cause delays in language development.
4. Medical Conditions: Some children may face specific medical conditions that lead to delayed language development. In some cases, various medical issues in the brain and psyche can cause such problems. Children on the autism spectrum often experience this issue.
5. Excessive Phone Use: In older references, there is no mention of this significant factor! However, it’s important to know that excessive phone use can be a serious reason for speech problems in children. This is because most children who overuse phones become disconnected from those around them. Reduced physical activity in children sets the stage for slowing the development of skills, ultimately slowing the speech process in a interconnected manner.

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What Are the Symptoms of Speech Delay in Children?

Awareness of the symptoms of speech delay in children allows you to take smart actions. Speech delay is a common issue, and timely action can often play a key role in improving the situation. Therefore, we aim to familiarize you with the symptoms of speech delay in children so you can act wisely in this regard.

• Delay in Starting to Speak: Your child should begin speaking by the standard age outlined above. If you do not observe any stages of speech development in your child by the age of 2, be prepared for diagnostic and therapeutic actions.
• Repetition of Words or Sentences: If you notice repeated word repetition without progress in sentence formation or learning new words, take action for evaluation.
• Incorrect Pronunciation of Words: Some children, due to the way parents speak, accents, dialects, or even childish speech patterns, learn incorrect pronunciations. In such cases, speech therapy can be a very effective solution.
• Delay in Language Comprehension: If you feel your child cannot understand simple instructions or cannot communicate with those around them, take the symptoms seriously and act.
• Disruption in Speech Development: If your child’s progress differs from the standard process outlined earlier, you will definitely need to pursue it closely. Remember that the mentioned age ranges are considered maximums, and there is no need to wait beyond them.
• Communication Problems: The child cannot properly communicate with others and does not express meaningful words! In this case, you may observe screaming and aggression in the child.

Keep in mind that these signs and symptoms are very general and do not account for your child’s specific conditions. Therefore, we recommend that upon recognizing a few symptoms, you consult a doctor for more precise evaluations. Remember never to label your child under any circumstances and simply strive to pursue treatment for your child’s speech delay.

When Should We Consult a Doctor for Speech Therapy?

To decide to consult a speech therapy doctor, you need to be aware of certain symptoms. Knowing these details helps you take action at the right time to consult a specialist doctor and achieve the best results.

• Delay in the Learning Process: If your child is delayed in learning language and repeating words compared to their peers, you definitely need to consult a specialist doctor.
• Speech or Language Problems: If your child has issues with pronunciation, grammar, language comprehension, or communication with others, these problems may require speech therapy intervention. Although they usually wait until age 5 for pronunciation to improve gradually, education during this period is essential.
• Signs of Speech and Language Disorders: If your child shows signs of speech and language disorders, you need to consult specialists for a more accurate diagnosis. A pediatrician, after thoroughly examining the child’s condition, will refer you to a specialist in another field. Sometimes autism disorders and neurological disorders can cause speech and language weaknesses in children.
• Cessation of Speech: If your child was previously speaking well and sudden changes occur in their speech ability, you need to act wisely to thoroughly investigate the issue. Sometimes fear, incidents, or shock can cause such conditions.
• Disorders: If your child has disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or signs of anxiety disorder are diagnosed, the issue of delayed speech is likely related to these conditions.

What Mistakes Lead to Delayed Speech in Children?

Although parents always dedicate their utmost effort to their child’s growth and progress, sometimes, due to unintended reasons, mistakes by parents cause a delay in the child’s speech process. Therefore, you must study this section carefully.

1. Lack of Interaction and Communication: Children need to be influenced by their peers and establish good interactive communication. A lack of interaction and communication with children in your child’s age range causes a delay in the speech development process.
2. Lack of Technology Use Management: Nowadays, when technology use in some families is not properly managed, many children experience delays in learning, lack of focus, and delayed speech! To reduce this risk, you need to plan and set rules to limit mobile and tablet usage time. In this regard, the Imino app, as a professional parental control tool, can meet your needs.
3. Excessive Pressure to Master Language: If parents unconsciously put too much pressure on the child and enforce language learning with force, you will definitely witness a delay in the child’s speech process.
4. Hearing Problems: One of the most serious problems leading to delayed speech in children is hearing issues! These problems disrupt the child’s learning process and directly impact speech.
5. Lack of Proper Interaction: When parents do not interact well with the child, two-way communication, speech training, and vocabulary improvement do not occur, and you will need to address the child’s speech delay.
6. Lack of Encouragement and Reward: Children need a lever called encouragement and reward to improve their learning process! With any progress, they should receive encouragement and rewards to gain strong motivation for growth.

Treatment for Speech Delay in Children

Treatment for speech delay in children is primarily conducted by speech therapy specialists. For this, you should consult speech therapists after observing symptoms. In these centers, which usually operate as clinics, all possibilities are examined, and after a correct diagnosis, the treatment process begins. You should plan to visit a speech therapist to conduct an initial evaluation and accurate diagnosis while simultaneously pursuing additional steps. After this stage, based on the initial evaluation, a personalized treatment plan is prepared for the child. This plan includes exercises and activities to strengthen the child’s speech and language skills. Some of these actions are performed in the clinic, while others are provided to parents as exercises. Continuing this process will definitely lead to improvement.

The key point regarding the treatment of delayed speech in children is identifying its root cause. For example, if the reason for delayed speech is excessive mobile phone use, you need to undergo the treatment process by creating a safe, phone-free environment! Planning to reduce the time spent on mobile phones and technological devices has a direct impact in this regard.

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