Helping Late Talkers Build a “Language House”
As speech therapists who work with toddlers, the most common question we get asked is “when will my child start talking?”. Unfortunately, it’s an impossible question to answer. A child’s speech and language development is dependent on many factors, including (but not limited to) age, attention span, willingness to participate, underlying etiology of the diagnosis, severity of the problem, frequency of therapy sessions, regular attendance, family involvement, and at-home practice. Therefore, there is not one set timeframe for treatment, and we can’t predict with certainty when a child will use their long-awaited first words.
What we can do, however, is take a step back and look at a child’s communication skills from the ground up. Often, evaluating foundational language skills is the best way to understand a child’s expressive deficits. A simple way to think about this is by comparing language learning to building a house. Here, a child’s expressive language skills, such as the amount of words they use or their vocabulary, make up the roof of the house. This is one of the last things to be built. Before worrying about the roof, we need to make sure that the rest of the house is sturdy.
Laying the foundation: A young child’s ability to interact with their caregiver is the most important part of his or her language foundation. Interaction begins with joint attention, or the shared focus of two (or more) people on an object using eye gaze. For example, a child may make eye contact with their caregiver and then look at a toy as a way of directing their caregiver’s attention to the toy. Once joint attention is established, the interaction continues with turn taking. Turn taking can happen during everyday activities and routines. Eye contact is also an important component of interaction. Children need to learn to attend to their caregivers’ faces, including their eye gaze, in order to receive a variety of nonverbal information.
Building the walls: Next come the walls, or a child’s receptive language. Receptive language is everything that a child can understand, including vocabulary, concepts, auditory comprehension (such as being able to understand a story), and auditory processing (such as the ability to follow multi-step directions). We expect children to understand words before they are able to use words. They can demonstrate these skills by completing requests, responding to their name, identifying pictures in a book, or pointing to familiar objects or body parts when asked.
Installing the roof: After the foundation is stable and the walls are sturdy, we’re ready to lay the roof on top. At this point, many children are ready to begin using verbal expressive language. Expressive language is everything a child can say. Initially, it will consist only of single word utterances (usually nouns). Additional parts of speech will be added next, followed by word combinations, phrases, and sentences. A child will use his or her language for a variety of purposes, including making requests, asking questions, commenting, and sharing information.
A child saying his or her first words is an exciting milestone, and it’s understandable that parents are eager to start talking with their child as soon as possible. However, it’s important to remember that a language house requires a strong foundation. If we try to put the roof on before the foundation is solid and the walls are up, the entire structure can topple.
Does your child need support to build his or her language house? We can help with the foundation, walls, or roof! Give us a call at (914) 893–2223 or visit our website to learn more about the services we offer for young children with language delays, including individualized therapy sessions and parent training programs.
