"Language development and advice for children with language development difficulties" | Samitivej International Children’s Hospital
Language development and advice for children with language development difficulties
On May 21, 2018
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Language development and advice for children with language development difficulties
Language development is one of the most important components of a child’s development. Language is the foundation of skills such as knowledge acquisition, intellectual ability, problem-solving and socializing including engaging in and contributing to relationship with others. Language can be defined into 2 areas:
Expressive language is the ability to generate symbolic output. It involves the communication of ideas, intentions and emotions. This includes not only words but also the grammar rules that dictate how words are combined into phrases, sentences and paragraphs as well as the use of gestures and facial expression.
Receptive language is the ability to understand information. It involves understanding the words, sentences and meaning of what others say, or what is read. Receptive language includes auditory comprehension (listening), literate decoding (reading), and mastery of visual signing.
Age (months)
Development
0 – 3 months
Alerts to voice
Social smile
Cries
Coos
4 – 6 months
Responds to voice and turns head towards sound
Laughs out loud
Squeals
Blows raspberries
Begins to babble
7 – 9 months
Responds to their name
Searches for sources of sound
Expresses their moods by sound and body language
Makes long, more varied sounds
Repeats syllables
10 – 12 months
Understands “no”
Understands gestures
Follows 1 step commands with gesture
Waves “bye bye”
Shakes head for “no”
Knows their own names
Says “Mama” and “Dada” appropriately
Says first few words other than mama/dada
13 – 15 months
“Follows 1 step commands without gesture
Identifies familiar people or objects
Protodeclarative pointing
Immature jargon
Uses 4-6 intelligible words
16 – 18 months
Points to 3 body parts
Points to 1 picture
Uses 10-20 intelligible words, mostly nouns
Chatter and imitate, use some echolalia (repetition of words and phrases)
Makes animal sounds such as “moo”
19 – 24 months
Follow 2 steps commands
Uses 20-50 intelligible words
Speaks 2 word sentences
Able to ask the ‘what’ questions
25 – 36 months
Knows their own gender and age
Understands the function of objects
Can tell their name
Able to ask “who” and “where” questions
Uses 3 word sentences
Speech is 75% intelligible
3 – 4 years
Understands size and length concepts
Identifies 4 colors
Understands most of what they hear
Can group objects such as foods, clothes and animals
Tells stories
Answers “what”, “where” and “why” questions
Usually talks easily without repeating syllables or words
Speech is 100% intelligible
Red-flag signs for a child who may be at risk of language development difficulties and should be evaluated to identify the causes
0–4 months – not responding to sounds when fully awake
5–7 months – not cooing – does not use his/her voice to attract attention
9–12 months – not turning towards a voice – not responding to his/her name
18 months – no words other than mama/dada – no understanding of simple commands – no pointing to what he wants
24 months – vocabularies less than 10 words
30 months – no 2 word phrases
36 months – no 3 word sentences – problems understanding the child’s speech less than 75%
48 months – unable to converse in sentences – unable to tell a simple story
Causes of delayed speech or language
Hearing impairment
Intellectual disability
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
Cerebral palsy
Developmental language disorder (DLD)
Environment risk factor; e.g. poverty, lack of parental stimulation
Other causes
Treatment
Depends on the nature of the child’s speech or language impairment.
Advice their parents on how to encourage language development, for example,
Speak clearly to your child as you are their good role model
Talk about things that your child is interested in
Elicit conversations with your child by using complex grammars and rich vocabulariesAdvice their parents on how to encourage language development, for example,
Provide your child with the names of objects or actions.
Practice speaking in a natural manner, such as using open-ended questions, expand on what your child answers, be a good listener, without rushing or putting pressure on the child. Provide your child with positive reinforcement
Give your child the opportunities to learn through different activities, for example, reading novels and through role-play activities
Limit time for electronic media. (The children, who are younger than 2 years old, are not allowed to watch television at all. The children, who are older than 2 years old, are allowed to watch less than 2 hours of quality program a day.)
