Delayed Speech and Language

Alalia which is also known as delayed speech and language development in producing speech. What we would like to throw some lights on is that speech and language are two different things. Speech is the actual process, where your teeth, tongue, mouth, vocal cords, lungs, etc. are used to utter words. At the same time, language delay is an issue where the knowledge of the language is late.

Since these two terms are different from one another, one may have delayed either speech or language development. For example, a kid might have a delayed speech, which means he or she may not be able to produce speech sounds intelligibly; however, language delay may not happen.

No matter the case, the child may try to produce the amount of language according to the age, but the child may face challenges while understanding someone’s language. Now, because the child has had difficulty in understanding language and hasn’t uttered any speech sounds, the same child may also have a delay in speech.

The warning signs related to delayed speech and language can be categorized into different ages. The first sign or symptom may happen when the child is only 12 months old, and if not treated properly, it may continue to stay till early adolescence.

These are the signs of concerns for a child if he or she is having difficulty with speech and language; take a look:

• • The child is using gestures instead of words to say goodbye, hello, or pointing out certain objects to ask for it.
  • The child is using various consonant sounds to practice and unable to utter the exact sounds.
  • The child has a requirement for communication and vocalization needs.

If your kid is 15 to 18 months old and has a speech delay, then they are at a more serious problem. Here are some symptoms that will help you identify the problems:

• • The child is unable to say, mom and dad.
  • If you say bye, hello, or even no, the child is having difficulty understanding these simple words.
  • The child doesn’t have at least one to three vocabulary until they turn 12 months old and continue having the difficulty until 18 months old.
  • The child is not able to identify any of the body parts.
  • The child is not able to imitate different actions and sounds.
  • The child uses more gestures to tell you something rather than verbalizing.

Here are some signs and symptoms of speech delay if the kid continues having speech and language delay from 2 to 4 years of age. Please, have a look.

• • The child is not able to pronounce and utter any word proactively. And he or she is unable to phrase any sentences as well.
  • The kid is not able to follow any verbal instructions and commands.
  • Not able to connect two different words.
  • Unbale to make any consonant sounds during the starting and the end of each of the words.
  • Whatever the child says is getting harder for you or the relatives to understand.
  • The kid is not able to form any simple sentences as well.

As per some studies, children with speech delay are more likely to show behavioral issues when they grow up. Some of the other effects could be decreased learning skills, reading, and language understanding issues. These three are the most common issues with kids who have language and speech delay problems.

Some studies have also been conducted and have found out that children with speech delay will be having prolonged difficulties to bond with peers and while communicating. This could have a negative emotional impact on the person.

Once the child is diagnosed with delayed speech and language issues, a hearing test will be conducted to ensure that the child is indeed suffering from delayed speech and language.

Upon completion of the hearing test, the clinic will assign a therapist. The good part about us is that we have trained therapists working with us experienced in this field. They will take care of your child with speech therapy. Your child will inevitably benefit from the occupational and speech delayed therapy.