Parents can encourage healthy speech and language development in several ways. According to KidsHealth, a division of Nemours Children's Health system, modeling vocabulary and language structure is an easy way to help your child learn about speech. Have conversations in front of your child, read to him regularly, and name people and objects frequently. It is also important to engage your baby in verbal interaction, even if he is too young to speak.
Speech Development Factors
Speech development depends on two factors: physical development and environment. An infant's mouth, tongue, jaw and vocal cords are not fully matured. A baby's capacity for intelligible speech improves as these continue to develop. A 2002 University of Chicago study reinforced the long-held belief that environment is a critical factor in speech development. Children learn to speak by hearing and participating in verbal interaction. Children exposed to a language-rich environment learn to speak more efficiently than children who are rarely engaged in age-appropriate speech.
Time Frame
MayoClinic.com's infant development site lists typical milestones in speech development during the first two years of a baby's life. The first sound most babies make is crying, which begins shortly after birth. By around 3 months, babies typically make cooing or gurgling sounds. By 6 months, most babies repeat a pattern of basic syllables, such as "da, da, da." At 12 months, babies typically try to imitate speech and have a vocabulary of a few basic words, such as "mama." Children usually have a vocabulary of 8 to 10 words by 18 months and about 50 words by 24 months.
Considerations
According to MayoClinic.com, most children gradually transition from unintelligible sounds to recognizable words. "First word" is often subjective, open to a parent's interpretation. You might understand what your child is trying to say while others do not. Pediatricians use general milestone time frames to gauge a child's development, but many children develop faster or slower than this average. Most children's speech is difficult to understand even at 24 months.
Hearing Impairment
MayoClinic.com recommends that parents consult a pediatrician if their child experiences significant delays in reaching speech milestones. Children learn to speak through imitation. If a child is hearing impaired, this may cause delays in his language development. Your pediatrician may refer you to a speech-language pathologist for in-depth evaluation.
Developmental Delays
According to the KidsHealth website, there are several possible causes for language delays aside from hearing problems. Oral problems, such as a cleft palate or problems with the tongue, can delay language acquisition in infants. A speech delay may also be symptomatic of another type of delay, such as motor skill development.
References
- KidsHealth: Delayed Speech or Language Development
- National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders: Speech and Language
- University of Chicago Chronicle: Researchers Discover Environment Influences Children's Ability to Form, Comprehend Complex Sentences
- MayoClinic.com: Infant Development -- Speech Milestones from Birth to 24 Months
