Your Questions About Baby Sign Language Sharon asks… language skill development for babies? my 18 month old barely speaks. about a dozen sounds that we know what they mean, but mostly just pointing and grunting and getting frustrated. No multiword phrases at all. Shouldn’t she be talking more by now? Carol answers: Between 18 and 21 months, toddlers begin acquiring new words at breakneck speed, a phenomenon known as the naming explosion. “They go from learning one to two new words per week to learning as many as nine new words a day,” says Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Temple University, in Philadelphia, and coauthor of How Babies Talk: The Magic and Mystery of Language in the First Three Years of Life (Dutton, 1999). Some experts think that the naming explosion occurs once children discover that if their cup has a name and their daddy has a name, then everything else must have a name too. “Once they make that realization, they want to find out the names of everything around them, so they’ll frequently ask ‘Whaddat?’ ” says Dr. Hirsh-Pasek. Next, children begin to form partial sentences, such as “Me eat!” At this point, they may understand simple grammar, even though they don’t follow these rules in their speech. What You Can Do Children constantly test words and watch you for feedback to help them acquire language, so it’s crucial to help your child express herself. “Many studies have shown a strong relationship between how much you talk to your kids and how fast they develop language skills,” says Elizabeth Bates, Ph.D., a professor of cognitive science and psychology at the University of California San Diego. Here’s how to help: Name the things your child loves. If your toddler is playing with a truck, he’ll be more likely to learn the word truck than the word for the stuffed giraffe you’re waving in the distance, says Steven Reznick, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Have real conversations. “Even when my daughter was just a year old, I would ask her about her day,” Dr. Bates recalls. “I would pause a little for the answer, even though I wasn’t really expecting one. Month by month, she began to use words to respond to me.” Speaking with, rather than at, your child boosts confidence in her speaking skills. Ease up on the baby talk. Repeating your child’s shortened names for things reinforces incorrect pronunciations. If he points to a dog and says “Da!” say, “That’s right, that’s a dog.” As he learns to pronounce dog correctly, you can add description words, such as “That’s a black dog.” Stop referring to yourself in the third person. Your child won’t learn pronouns until you start using them when you speak to her. Use I instead of Mommy or Daddy. When referring to your child, use you instead of her first name. Turn to books and games, not television. Reading books to your child and playing games such as pat-a-cake encourage interaction, which fosters conversation. On the other hand, even the best children’s television shows require little verbal interaction, so limit viewing to less than one or two hours per day. Look for the hidden meaning in the babbles. You may wonder whether your child’s proclamations of “ba!” really mean “ball” or are just babble, but it doesn’t matter. “Infuse these communications with meaning, even if it’s not really there,” says Dr. Reznick. By saying, “Yes, that’s a ball!” you’ll reinforce that “ba” is a sound to make for “ball” and encourage your child to keep up her efforts. (Realone) I work with children on a daily basis and I’m educated in child development I found this info for you I hope that it helps. I feel your concern and I do recommend that you take your daughter to have a hearing screening to see if her hearing is compromised any because that will affect her speech greatly if that is the problem. Steven asks… is my son saying enough words for his age? He just turned 18 months yesterday, and he says “mama, dada, tickle, and here ya go” Carol answers: Dont listen to some of these people who like to post brag sessions for thier kids. Your child is on target and moving along very well and here are some resources that i have to prove it. ift.tt/1aNXQbU ift.tt/1bJOoFm ift.tt/1aNXQbW Maria asks… My 19 month old will not speak? he is almost 19 months and all he says is baaaaaa or dada or papa nothing else really. i remember my daughter said doggy at 9 months! should i be worried? well i already am but he knows everything else. hes can point to things on his body when i ask him and will get something if i ask him to. he sees intellegent but just doesnt want to speak. i dont see what a baby interventionist can do that i have not tried with him. Carol answers: You don’t necessarily need an interventionist, but a speech and language pathologist will absolutely help you work on strategies for helping him learn more words. At 18 months, they’re looking for a vocabulary of anywhere from 5-20 words so it may not even be a problem yet. The fact he can respond non-verbally to your questions is as you point out a very good sign. We did start working with a language therapist around 18 months, and at that age you have to almost get a bit mean with them. Put a toy you know they’ll want to play with out of reach but still in sight so they’ll have to ask for it, and keep repeating the name of the toy until they at least attempt to say it themselves. We used to play ball with our daughter and we’d have to hold the ball ready to throw until she would say ball. We had to repeat it over and over and the first time is always bad, but once that little light goes on and they realize what you want they do pick it up pretty quickly. I definitely wouldn’t suggest making everything into this type of activity, but once a day pick something along those lines like playing ball or putting a toy out of reach just once a day and stick to it for 5 minutes. If you give in too easily then they won’t learn – although it is really hard. Also make sure you keep modelling what you want him to say by repeating things for him. If he points to juice he wants, say juice a few times before giving it to him (not withholding it if you’ve already done that on something else – and I don’t really like the idea of withholding food/drink until they’ve really started to understand that all they need to do is repeat what you say and they’ll get what they want.) I’d keep an eye on their development though. Check out the milestone checklist linked below and if you still see problems at 24 months definitely get help – the earlier the intervention the better. Charles asks… Speech Development- 18 month old daughter is behind. Any advice? Personal experiences? My daughter, who is very bright in all other aspects, is behind in her speech development. I read that at this age that she should be saying 6-10 words, but the only “word” she really says is “bye-bye”. She communicates with gestures mostly, like using the gesture I always did when I would ask her “all done?”. Instead of saying dog, she pants like our dogs do. She “talks” all the time, and her inflection is right on, as if she was talking, but in a language I just don’t understand. If she’s angry, sad, happy, etc., her inflections and pitch are right. We’re 99.9% sure it is not a hearing problem. One theory is that she regressed when my son was born. They are a year apart. Anyone with kiddos this close together, please let me know your experience. She is an excellent problem-solver and very smart in every other aspect, but she babbles like a baby, and it is very frustrating. Would playing with other kids her age or slightly older help motivate her to talk? Ideas, advice??? As far as other developments such as crawling, walking, etc, she was very ahead the usual timeline. And I do make it a point to talk to her all the time. I have a little brother 10 years younger than me who was born with a minor cleft palate, and I was taught how to talk to him to teach him how to talk and speak properly when he was a baby. Another reason this is SO frustrating! My aunt is a speech pathologist, but 1500 miles away unfortuantely. We are going to ask for a speech referral at her next doctor appointment this month, but curious to hear other parents’ experiences and what worked for them. Carol answers: I had, and still have because it is a work in progress, the exact same problem. I would describe our daughter almost exactly as you did. Clearly smart and almost considered advanced in other areas, but speech. I ended up taking her to a program we have here called “Help Me Grow.” It’s actually through the Health Dept and they do not charge you anything until they are 3. I found out about a similar program through my cousin in TN, while I am in OH, so that tells you that you probably have something within your area. Try the HD first, then maybe if you have something like Job and Family Services.? Work with her everyday as well. Read lots of books and play educational games with her on the computer…my daughter loves those. And kids, playing with other children is definitely key. Don’t get too upset just yet…she’ll get there in her own time. Everyone did in fact tell me this, but it’s hard to believe when you don’t see any progress. Powered by Yahoo! Answers Tweet ift.tt/1aNXSAr
Posted on: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 08:25:46 +0000