When children start talking: norms and deviations of speech development

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

The problem of speech disorder in children is currently very relevant. In every kindergarten and school there are children with speech impediments. For those who have serious disorders, specialized children's educational institutions have been created. What's the matter? What is the reason for this deficiency? How to prevent a speech disorder in a child? What are speech correction exercises? We will talk about all this and much more in the article.

Speech concept

The ability to speak is the main distinguishing feature of a person, which distinguishes him from the animal world. This is a way of communication, exchange of opinions, without which it is impossible to fully integrate into society. That is why all parents look forward to when their baby speaks, and want his speech to develop on time and correctly. The question of when children begin to speak becomes one of the most common among parents in the first years of a child's life.human.

The psyche, thinking and speech develop simultaneously, therefore, it is precisely by the absence of speech that deviations in the development of the child can be suspected. However, do not panic and focus on the stories of friends about when exactly their children started talking. Of course, there are certain terms when children begin to reproduce certain sounds, syllables and words, but these terms are relative. That is, the child can speak earlier or much later. This is considered an individual form of baby development.

At what age the child says the first word is very important, because by the development of the baby's speech one can judge how harmoniously his thinking and psyche develop.

Features of the development of colloquial speech in a child

When do children start talking and how does their speech develop? This question interests all parents. The process of speech formation in a child is divided into three stages:

• The first stage is preparatory, it includes screaming, babbling, cooing. By crying, the baby shows his parents that he is dissatisfied with something (hungry, wet, hot, cold). Thanks to the cooing (sounds “ay”, “aa”), the baby learns intonations, copying them from loved ones. Scientists have proven that this process of development is the same for all children of the world. Cooing gradually turns into babbling, the baby pronounces the sounds “pa”, “ma”, “ba”, “di” and so on. If by 6-8 months the baby has not begun to babble, you should consult a doctor and check his hearing.
• The second stage begins at about 8 months, when the child perceives the sound of somewords and responds with a gesture to questions like: “Where is dad?”, “Where is the bird?” The kid is happy that his speech is understood, he begins to copy his parents in games with toys. The babble becomes long, enriched with intonations, it begins to repeat the sounds “ma-ma-ma”, “ba-ba-ba”, which gradually turn into words. The pronunciation of individual words is imperfect, but he puts meaning into them. For example, seeing that his mother responds to the sounds "ma-ma", he begins to call her that, that is, he has a subject appeal.
• In the third stage, which begins around the second year of life, the baby understands everything that is said to him, performs simple instructions. He has purposeful gestures, which are accompanied by intonation and sounds of demand. Pointing gestures and questions like: “What is this?” - this is an important moment in the development of children's concrete-figurative thinking. At this time, the child's passive vocabulary is laid. The development of understanding of what was said is several months ahead of oral speech. Sometimes the difference between the moment when the baby began to point a finger at an object and call it a word is 5-8 months. At the third stage of speech development, the child begins to link two or three words into a phrase, for example: “Mom, hold it,” “Papa, give it.”

Baby speech up to 6 months

So, what is the speech of a baby under 6 months old?

• In one month he must respond to the words of his parents. For example, stop crying if mom comes up to him and starts talking to him.
• At about 3 months, he actively hums when communicatingwith adults, the sounds “n”, “k”, “g” predominate in his speech.
• At five months, the baby is actively looking for the source of the sound with his eyes, turns his head. While cooing, changes the intonation of the voice.
• About 6-7 months, pronounces the first syllables "ma," ba. Begins to understand what is at stake, listens to voices.

What words should a child say in a year?

• At about 8 months, the baby begins to pronounce the syllables: “pa-pa”, “ma-ma”, “ba-ba”, the sounds “a”, “g”, “m”, “b", "e", "k", "p".
• By 10 months, the baby says a few words like "mom", "lyalya".
• In a year, as a rule, a child speaks about five words, which consist of two syllables. In addition, he carries objects to their place; shows where parents and other close people are; understands when they say "no". Approximately one year is the age period when the child says "mom".

From one to three years of age, his vocabulary is replenished very rapidly, as at this age he learns the world around him, gets acquainted with objects, analyzes and compares.

Speech up to two years

So, in a year old, a baby pronounces 5-6 monosyllabic words, perfectly understands what is required of him, knows how to point animals in the picture with his finger. How does his speech develop from 1 to 2 years old?

• At a year and a half, the baby speaks about 10-15 words, can show 2-4 parts of the body (arm, leg, stomach, head).
• By the end of the second year of life, he shows many parts of the body, can combine 2 words into phrases, for example: “Wawa hand”,“Mom give”, “Take me”. There are already 20-25 words in the vocabulary.
• From one to two years is the period when children begin to speak words in large numbers. The child has both nouns and verbs in speech. In addition, babies at 2 years old can perceive simple stories without pictures by ear.

Speech up to three years

At two years old, a child speaks about 20-25 words. He performs certain actions that he is asked to do. Knows when they say "me", "I", "you".

At two and a half, the child shows who is who, understands the meaning of prepositions, remembers numbers, can count in order up to 3-5.

At three years old, a child speaks in sentences, he asks. Many children at this age know their names, how old they are, where they live, and remember their favorite fairy tale. This age is also called the “why-why period”, since the child is interested in everything: why there are clouds in the sky, why the car is driving, how it does it, why the cat meows, and so on.

When does a baby start talking? The core of the problem

What time do children speak well? There are no clear boundaries, there are only relative ones, because each baby is an individual person.

Main rule: never speak loudly in the presence of a child, never yell at him.

Besides, the biggest mistake many mothers make is that they do not allow the child to speak. There is such close contact between them that if the child raises an eyebrow, the mother already understands what he wants, andruns to fulfill his whim. Thus, there is no incentive for development. He just doesn't need to talk.

First of all, moms should:

• Properly organize the home space so that the child develops.
• Build the right relationship where he feels safe and secure.
• Talking to him in a way that encourages speech development.

As a rule, a jump in the development of speech occurs in a year and a half, but if a child does not speak well or is silent at all in a year, then the next round of speech development will come only at 2 years.

Reasons for delayed speech development

If a child was born absolutely he althy, then a delay in the development of speech may be due to the wrong behavior of adults: insufficient communication with the baby, inattention to his auditory perception and imitation of sounds.

Before speaking, the child must train all the muscles of the speech apparatus. That is, he must walk, babble, swallow, suck, chew. Scientists have proven that children who were breastfed experience speech delay less often than artificial ones, in addition, those who are accustomed to solid food in a timely manner speak more clearly and more correctly than their peers.

Reasons why the child does not speak:

1. Medical - short frenulum of the tongue, underdevelopment of the speech apparatus, hearing impairment. They must be excluded in the very first place by visiting the appropriate doctors.
2. Insufficient communication with the child. For the development of speech, it is necessary to constantly hear it, and if the child does not hear it and does not see how words are pronounced, he does not repeat them, and as a result, speech delay.
3. Restless baby. Such children, as a rule, are busy exploring the world, their speech development is somewhat different, they use action words, unlike assiduous children who memorize the names of objects.
4. Unfavorable atmosphere in the family. With problems in the environment of the child, he becomes withdrawn and gloomy, hence the reluctance to speak and speech delay.
5. Understanding the child from a half-word. He does not need to speak, there is no incentive to speak, because everyone understands everything anyway.
6. Psychological reason. When frightened or stressed, many impressionable children withdraw into themselves, some of them develop a stutter.

A child who was born deaf or lost his hearing as a result of a disease will not learn to speak until he is taught by a deaf teacher to read lips and pronounce sounds first, and then words. Such classes should start at the age of 3.

The development of speech is closely related to the development of fine motor skills of the hands. Children who play with the designer, sculpt from plasticine, do origami, embroider, draw, can, as a rule, speak correctly and reason logically, they have well-developed memory and attention.

Modern mothers know that babies should not be swaddled. Any restriction of movement inhibits the development of motor skills and speech functions.

Veryoften the retraining of the left-hander leads to a delay in the development of speech. In the right-handed person, the actions of the moving parts of the body, namely the fingers, the speech apparatus (pharynx, tongue, lips, soft palate, larynx), are laid in the left hemisphere, and in the left-handed person, respectively, in the right. If a left-handed child is not allowed to do anything with his left hand, then he has a spatial breakdown of movements. As a rule, overtrained children are late-speaking, incorrectly pronouncing sounds, awkward, deaf, unable to dance. In addition, the psycho-emotional state of the child is disturbed. He becomes either stubborn, or weak-willed, or uncontrollable, or unsure of himself. The child may develop a stutter that is difficult to overcome.

How can I help my child start talking?

Speech is not genetically inherited, and the time when the baby begins to pronounce the first words depends on the parents. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to try so that he always hears a clear and correct speech.

Here are some exercises that help strengthen the muscles of the speech apparatus:

• Whistling, blowing, drinking from a straw. A very good effect is given by exercises associated with the closing and tension of the lips. Soap bubbles, pipes, whistles, tubes for juices will help.
• A game of imitating sounds, that is, imitating the sounds of animals, trains, cars with a child.
• Read familiar tales, make sure he listens carefully to all sounds.
• Comment on each action, while showing and naming the objects that surround it.
• Speak clearly and distinctly to your child, neverlisp.
• To develop fine motor skills so that the child begins to speak, he should massage his palms, draw with his fingers, often play finger games, sort out small beads, cereals, string beads on a string, play with clothespins.
• Read little rhymes and at the end let the child finish them in rhyme, encourage him to name the objects that he sees in the book.
• Perform articulation exercises with the baby, which are aimed at memorizing certain sounds.
• More often go for a walk in the park, on the pond, square and show him all the items that are there.
• Never dismiss your child or ignore their questions. Try to answer them clearly, clearly and in detail, explain why certain things are needed. Pay special attention to the properties of objects and their distinctive features.
• Turn on music for the baby, read fairy tales to him, sing songs. They form such qualities as honesty, caring for others, kindness, responsibility.
• Ask the kid to tell how his day went, how he walked, what he saw. Let him talk in his own language for now, but in this way he joins the speech, actively participates in communication, and at the same time becomes self-confident.

Main signs of speech delay

Don't ignore the main signs of delayed speech development, these include the following:

• If by the year the child does not say anything, does not say a couple of words, even onomatopoeic.
• Does not remember the names of objects by the age of two, does notshows them, does not fulfill the simplest requests, does not respond to his name.
• Unable to form monosyllabic sentences by the age of two, does not repeat words after adults.
• Does not recognize body parts by two years, cannot distinguish colors.
• Does not speak in four or five word sentences by age three, does not grasp the meaning of simple stories.

Parents should be alerted by the guttural strange sounds that the baby utters instead of words, his slurred speech, hyperactive behavior. You need to pay attention if he cannot chew food, keeps his mouth open all the time, does not look his parents in the eye. These behaviors may indicate a delay in the psychological development of the baby.

Who to contact if a child's speech development is delayed

First of all, you should contact a pediatrician who monitors the development of the child. Perhaps all the problems are far-fetched, and these are the features of the development of the baby. But if there are problems, the doctor will send the child to a speech therapist or neurologist. Positive results are obtained with an integrated approach. The neurologist will prescribe drugs, additional examinations of the brain and spine. The speech therapist will advise the necessary exercises, speech therapy massage, gymnastics.

Don't let the problem run its course and wait for the child to speak on its own. It is necessary to turn to specialists for help, ask them questions: why the child does not start talking, how to help him? The sooner you identify the problem and start to deal with it, the better and faster results can be achieved.

If it's hard to pronounce the letter "r" at 5 years old

First, children make whistling sounds, then hissing, and the most difficult for them are "r" and "l". Usually their pronunciation begins to become by 4-5 years. You need to start setting the letter “r” with a growl, with this exercise only this sound is trained. Then add a vowel - "ra", "ru", "ro". Then you should train the reverse order - "ur", "or", "ar". You need to repeat the exercises often, every day, it is best to perform in the form of a game.

Speech therapy kindergartens

Many mothers are afraid to send their children to speech therapy groups, arguing their fear that the child will begin to imitate other children and speak incorrectly.

This is an incorrect statement, with the development of speech problems, the child must be sent to a speech therapy kindergarten, if there is one in the city. There are much fewer children in groups, so the speech therapist can pay attention to each child. In addition, groups are completed in such a way that they include children with similar problems.

Stuttering

The main reason for the development of stuttering - speech therapy neurosis - occurs when the child did not speak for a long time, spoke late and began to rapidly catch up with his peers. He has a lot of information in his head, he wants to say a lot, but he still does not know how to do it. He is nervous, in a hurry and, as a result, begins to stutter. Parents need to ensure that the child does not overwork. You should temporarily limit the computer, TV, do not attend mass events. In addition, you need to contact a neurologist andspeech therapist. If you seek help in time, this type of neurosis is easily treated and passes without consequences.

Tongue frenulum

If the hyoid ligament is short, it is recommended to cut it, and the sooner the better. Often this problem is addressed by parents whose children are 4-5 years old. They have very serious problems with the pronunciation of sounds, because the tongue simply does not rise as it should. You have to cut it, and this is a severe psychological shock for the child.

Bilingual families

All children are receptive to speech. In families where parents speak two languages, the baby easily learns both. Therefore, it is very wrong to assume that serious speech delays are due to the fact that father and mother speak different languages with the child. If a child has problems with the development of speech, you should look for the true cause, seek qualified help.

Instead of a conclusion

The time when the baby begins to talk is a joyful event for parents. It is important to know at what age babies say their first words, but it is equally important to understand that there are no strict limits. Normally, a child's speech development ranges from 10 months to 3 years, any minor deviations from these boundaries are not considered critical.