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by David Laird
Most
babies start to say words such as mum and dad
by their first birthday. By 18 months or two years they
will have quite a large vocabulary of words such as
'ball' and 'more'.
New
speakers often have trouble saying word endings clearly,
so you may hear 'bor' for 'ball', for example, or 'da'
for 'dad'. Repeat the word back to your
child clearly
so that it can hear the right ending. Smile while you
speak to increase confidence. Don't reprimand fuzzy
speech or you could make it worse.
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Increasing your child's vocabulary: Talk slowly
and clearly, and don't speak against background
noise from a radio or television set, which may
obscure what you're saying. Look directly at the
child
as you speak and put emphasis and tone into your
voice. Any child will be eager to copy if you
sound interesting enough.
Let your child
hear new words all the time by explaining what
you're doing as you go about ordinary daily
tasks. Use clear, simple sentences such as,
'Let's go to the shops now' and 'here is your
teddy bear'. |
Buy
books: Even small babies of about six months or older
can enjoy brightly coloured plastic books. Start off
with books which have a single clear picture on each
page, so that you can point to and name the object for
the child.
Use
gestures: Body language will reinforce a verbal message
in a child's mind, so make appropriate gestures whenever
possible and encourage your
child to copy
them. Waving when you say goodbye to visitors, for
example.
Turn it
into a game: Point to your own nose, eyes, hair, mouth
or other parts of your body and say each word clearly,
getting the child
to repeat it back to you. Or line up two or three
favourite toys behind your back and bring them out one
at a time, naming each.
Avoid
baby talk, it's no easier to learn and it means nothing.
Build on
your child's speech, expand on what your
child says and
use the opportunity to introduce new words. For example,
if she points to her feet and says, 'shoes', you could
reply, 'yes they are brown/pink/blue shoes'.
When
does a child
need help? Ask a doctor or health visitors advice if a
child has not spoken, cannot put two words together or
still speaks unclearly by the age of two. Problems such
as poor hearing or fluid behind the eardrum may require
treatment, and whatever the cause of the difficulty, the
earlier help is given the better.
If your
child passes
the tests given by the doctor but you are still unhappy
about its speech, ask to be referred to a speech
therapist or audiologist for more detailed testing.
Sometime
there can be simple explanations for why a
child is
quiet. Is an older sibling too talkative or maybe the
TVs always on? Does your toddler need more one to one
attention from you? These are sometimes the poor
speakers' only problems.
More
Information...
Stuttering: Don't panic if your child's a stutterer,
many children
go through this phase and it may just be that there's
too much to say and it can't all come out at the same
time. Never interrupt or supply a difficult word. Give
the child the satisfaction of saying it, even if it
takes a long time. Don't make an issue of the
stuttering, this can make the child nervous and make the
stuttering worse.
If the
problem continues for more than two months, ask your
doctor about referring you to a speech therapist.
About
the Author
From
Baby Clothing Central - purveyors of the finest
baby clothes in the UK. |
