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Health and Science Editor
Name
Charles
-
Profession
Question
Some people say that the child speaks late if he walks early or have teeth early. Is this true?
Answer
This is not true. Speaking has nothing to do with walking or teething.
Name
Hanan
- Egypt
Profession
Question
Thanks for this session. My son is 5 years now, he hardly speaks few words, like mum, dad, etc.
I was told that he is hyperactive, that's why he is unable to speak.
I visited a psychiatrist, speech doctors, and I'm proceeding now in the treatment of his hyperactivity by some medics.
What is your advice to me so I can help him progress in speaking.
Thanks and sorry for my very detailed question.
Answer
Dear Hanan, You first have to know that your child has to do some more tests to check his cognitive level and sensory system function as we need to identify what other difficulties he may have so that we can at that time diagnose and put an individual program that all carers can follow with him. Hyperactivity may be due to a sensory problem, for example. After these tests we need to check his receptive language skills and expressive language skills. Also, I advise you not to put demands on him as school now as this will make him frustrated and you will have to deal with his compliance which will affect his learning process.
Name
Dolly
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Profession
Question
I have twins who are still 6 months old now. Should I send them to a nursery when they complete their first year in order to communicate with other children and speak earlier? Or I should wait more than that?
Thank you.
Answer
Carers at that age are supposed to be on 1:1 or 2:1 ratio at nurseries to take care of babies but if you are talking about communicating with other children this will be in the form of parallel play. Kids at that age and till the age of approximately 2 years old play parallel to each other and don't interact.
Adults are one of the main factors that help children to explore their world by commenting on everything they do and repeating back their babbling and expanding words with different intonations. I don't think they will benefit from going to nursery at that age.
Name
Syed
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Profession
Question
What are the signs that show the child might be late in speaking?
Answer
I think it will better to know the developmental norms of language and to compare those with where your child stands.
Between 4-6 months children should auditory attend to any sound in the room; by age of 1 year they should start saying their first words and these words may be the child’s own vocabulary and words (words approximation) and by age of 18-24 months a child should be using 2 word phrases to express himself. These phrases will be in the form of using one word like “mama” and then a variety of words like “bye, water, eat.” By the age of 2 a child should be able to follow one command like “clap, bring your shoes”...etc.
What I recommend is that if your child starts to struggle you have to go for help at the very early stages to make sure he is on an early intervention program that will help him with his language.
Name
Mother
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Profession
Question
I have two children one of them spoke when he was one and half years, the other however was a girl and talked earlier. Is this because girls talk earlier?
Answer
Girls do all things earlier but for language its almost the same.
Name
Maryam
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Profession
Question
My child is one year old now. How can I help him to speak? Or should I leave him and he will speak when he is able?
Answer
Does he babble or use any vocalization? Anyways, you need to make sure that he makes good eye contact when you talk to him and maintains it. Also, you need to comment on what he is doing or playing while using one word if he doesn’t use words at all and if he uses one word to expand and add one word on what he said. It’s very important to comment on what he is doing so that he can pair what you are saying with what he is doing and DO NOT ask him questions.
Name
Fazl Khan
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Profession
Question
My wife is pregnant, and I want to know the signs we should notice in the baby when born, to make sure he is not deaf or speechless.
Answer
For deafness you can make some medical check ups for this and/or you will see if you make any noise or sound next to him he should turn his head towards the sound or he will stop an activity he was doing like shaking his rattler or that when you or his mum enter the room making noise he will stop shaking it.
For speech, one of the main things is eye contact as you have to make sure that your child looks at you when you talk to him and responds to his name.
Name
Abdallah
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Profession
Question
Assalamou Alaykom,
I have a daughter who is two and a half years old who has followed the developmental stages you just stated smoothly El Hamdou Lelah. But even though she is now expressing herself in multiple-word sentences yet she still seems to be behind her peers when it comes to pronunciation; she still prefers to use shortened vocabularly or baby-talk despite the fact that in some cases she seems capable of pronouncing the right words (in other cases, however, she does fail to pronounce longer words and flips letters.)
Although her development in other areas also seems fine, she is generally of shorter height and light weight than the charted minimum for her age. We conducted growth hormone tests for her as instructed by her doctor and the results showed no problem there El Hamdou Lelah.
Do you see a problem with her speech development at this stage? And could her smaller physique have anything to do with her speech?
Answer
I think you have to consult as speech specialist to rule out if there is any element of dyspraxia as this is a problem with the coordination as she may say sounds and words once and doesn't say it again (motor panning in speech organs). Also you can help her by segmenting the words for her so you can use claps and each clap goes with one syllable of the word and if her visual skills are good you can use colorful blocks to relate to word syllables. Also, she should be referred for neurodevelopmental assessment to determine her actual cognitive level as you are saying that she is fine means not that good in other things.
Name
Ahmed
- United States
Profession
Question
When can one teach his children another language? And does it differ from one to another?
Answer
When the basics of his mother tongue are there you can introduce the second language. This can be around 3 years of age or maybe earlier, but not before he gets the basics for his mother tongue.
Name
Dana
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Profession
Question
I want to ask about activities that help the children to think and start to speak.
Answer
Dear, just comment on what the child is doing with very simple language e.g. if he is playing with a car you can say “car” and then you can add “push car” while his pushing the car; this will help him to pair words with the actions that he is doing. Also exposed him to different materials and textures while bathing or eating. Label everything that he is doing but using very simple language and make sure that there are pauses in your speech so that he can process what he is doing. We consider all day activities as opportunities to teach children language through it.
Name
Huda
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Profession
Question
Dear Doc
I'm pregant now, and I want to know when should the child speak? And when to worry if he/she does not?
Answer
He should babble and vocalize throughout his first 8 month then he should start using his words (single words) by 1 year old. The main important thing that I recommend to all parents is whether the child keeps eye contact as this shows whether the child is willing to communicate or not; does he look at you? Does he respond to his own name when called? Does he visually tracks his mother while moving in the room?
By age of 2 children should express themselves using 2 word phrases but you have to be aware that each child is different from the other and there are individual variations which we have to consider. Not all children are alike.
Name
Ali
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Profession
Question
Why do some children have problems with some letters? Is it a hereditary thing?
And how can we help them improve?
Answer
First, you have to rule out any organic problems through medical check up then you have to use corrective feedback for everything the child articulates incorrectly so that he will hear it correctly and in time he will be able to say it correctly. Sometimes we need to use other techniques to help them with articulating those sounds.
