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| Home / News / Speech News / | ||
| Why Isn't My Toddler Learning To Talk? | ||
| If a toddler hasn't said his first word by seventeen
or eighteen months, or if he hasn't begun linking words together in
two- to three-word phrases by the
time he is twenty-four months old, parents may well begin asking
themselves, "Why
isn't my toddler talking like other kids his age?" There may
be any number of reasons contributing to a child's delay in speech
and language skills. One of the more common is some degree of hearing
loss. Children
who have chronic ear
infections often experience fluctuating hearing
losses, which, although temporary, can significantly interfere
with speech development during the first two years of life. Other
children may have a permanent hearing loss of varying degrees, often
present since birth. The status of a child's hearing should always
be checked when speech and language skills are delayed. Another condition which can contribute to delayed speech development is what is termed a specific language impairment or language learning disability. Children with this condition will often continue to have trouble with grammar, vocabulary development and sentence formation as they reach preschool age and early elementary school. They generally benefit greatly from speech therapy. If a child is demonstrating delays in several areas besides speech (for example motor development, problem solving, and play skills) some degree of mental retardation may be suspected, although this may be very difficult to confirm for several years. At times, some measure of oral motor impairment will interfere with a child's ability to repeat sounds and form them into words. A condition known as developmental apraxia of speech may significantly impede a child's ability to imitate speech sounds, and the child may often appear to be groping to put his tongue, lips, and jaw in the correct position to produce a sound or word he has just heard. Another oral motor impairment is known as dysarthria, which generally results in some degree of slurring and slowness in speech production. Two less common conditions which may interfere with speech are autism and central auditory processing disturbances. If you have concerns about your child's speech and language development and live in the Seattle area, please contact us for more information or to schedule an appointment.
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