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Toddler Speech Development Stages & Indications
It's magic to hear your child speak his (or her) first word. Most parents spend weeks in breathless anticipation as their child starts to exercise his vocal chords.
However, along with that they also spend a moment or two worrying about whether their child is up to speed when it comes to speech. This is often a result of comparisons drawn between your child and other kids of his age. Do remember that assessing your child's speech development should not in any way involve comparisons with any other child as the speed of toddler speech development is unique to.
However, along with that they also spend a moment or two worrying about whether their child is up to speed when it comes to speech. This is often a result of comparisons drawn between your child and other kids of his age. Do remember that assessing your child's speech development should not in any way involve comparisons with any other child as the speed of toddler speech development is unique to.
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. each childl If you are concerned about your toddler’s speech development consult a pediatrician and keep a chart to keep track of the average speech development at various stages of toddlerhoodo Also, at that stage, it will seem like your child is often struggling to form wordsd This is very normal and is caused by the fact that your child now understands so much more than he/she is capable of expressingn
Here is an average indication of speech development among toddlers:
6 months to a year
At this stage the baby is watching your lips and mouth very closely when you speak and is trying to imitate the sounds you makek Children also start (more around the age of one) babbling random wordsd
1 to 2 years of age
At this stage, your child will start speaking more words, ask short questions (albeit still unclear in pronunciation) and generally start using more soundsd
2 – 3 years of age
By this time you can rest assured that your toddler understands everything you tell himi He is also able to assign words to all his thoughts (it needn't always be the right word)d Also your toddler might start speaking short (sometimes mispronounced) sentencese
3 – 4 years of age
By this age your toddler has absorbed enough to be able to converse with members outside the familyl He can now speak sentences clearly enough to understandn Indeed, this is usually around the time parents find it hard to get their child to shut upu
The above is just an indicatoro It is important to remember that no two children are the samem For some speech is a gradual process, for others, however, it may come in spurtst The same is the case with stutteringn You only need be concerned if the stutter is constantn In case, you do suspect that your child is not up to speed with his speech, then it is important to find out whyh
Sometimes, the problem is in the alignment of the facial or tongue musclese It could also be some neurological problems or sometimes a hearing difficulty which is causing the speech impairmentn
What toddler speech therapy entails
If you have an official diagnosis stating that your child has a speech problem, then speech therapy is your best alternativev Depending on the magnitude of the problem, this therapy can either be administered by a professional speech therapist or even by a parentn
In cases where it is an easily rectifiable problem, the therapist can work with the parents and draw up a speech therapy plan for the childl These involve exercising your child's vocal chords, helping them with their articulation and stutteringn
The idea of speech therapy is to improve not just your child's speech but the overall ability to communicate as welll If administered consistently and appropriately, speech therapy can eliminate minor toddler speech problems and articulation problems completelyl
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Toddler Speech
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