Children who are slow to speak, what do parents do to “practice voice” for their children?

Children are slow to speak because parents let their children “communicate” with phones and computers early on

Recently, teacher Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, Principal of Le Quy Don School (Hanoi) said that, after a long absence from school, children who go to school show many language problems such as slow speech, low speech, etc. lisp.

“Many children in 1st and 2nd grade have a phenomenon of language regression (previously, when they were at school, they could speak a lot, but after the epidemic break, they didn’t speak as much as before). even more livid,” said teacher Huong.

According to Dr. Dinh Thac, Head of the Psychology Department of Children’s Hospital 1 (HCMC), recently the number of children coming to the clinic for speech delay has also increased, mainly at the age of 2-3 years old. Fortunately, 95% of these are children with simple speech delays, with no accompanying physical or psychological causes.

According to Dr. Thac, only 5% of children who are slow to speak to the doctor come to the examination for medical examination because they have abnormal cleft lip and palate, children have abnormal mental manifestations, children have poor hearing, due to medical complications. meningoencephalitis, due to autism spectrum disorder… The rest of the children are slow to speak just because of “no chance to speak” and other psychological factors.

Doctor Master analyzed, 2-3 years old is a golden period for children to develop language. However, many parents are busy, so they do not interact, communicate and practice talking with their children. Many parents are afraid that their children will disturb them, so they just “put” their children on their phones, ipads or turn on the TV so that their children can “stick” their eyes to see it. That leaves the child with no opportunity to speak, increasing the risk of speech delay in the child.

“Excessive exposure to electronic screens is a passive way of communication, which is one of the causes of children’s delay in speech and language development. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that children over the age of 2 years old Being exposed to electronic devices, the duration of exposure is also limited, no more than 2 hours so as not to affect the child’s language development,” said Doctor Thac.

How to overcome speech delay for children?

Doctor Thac affirmed that when children are slow to speak, the great responsibility belongs to their parents and if they want to overcome their child’s delay in speech, parents also play a decisive role.

“The prerequisite is to limit children’s exposure to electronic devices and increase their ability to interact and communicate with children.

Parents are busy, but in the evening, they have to spend time playing with their children with interactive games such as hide and seek, talk, kick ball, play round, etc., which will make children excited and able to turn on speech sounds.

In particular, should teach children to make eye contact as much as possible. This will help children gradually understand what adults say, in addition, what children want, parents should teach them to point out what they need, teach them to say those objects, this improves non-verbal communication. language, language disorders, and speech delay in children are very effective,” said Doctor Thac.

In addition, adequate nutrition for children also helps children develop physically and mentally. Brain development is a continuous process of development from the fetus until the child is 2 years old and throughout the school period.

Children need to be guaranteed a nutritious meal with 4 groups of basic food ingredients such as: group of carbohydrates, protein, fat, fiber, vitamins, minerals, omega 3. In which, omega helps protect Brain cells, help brain cells develop optimally, help the nervous system conduct convenient, receive information accurately and faster.

Regarding nutrition to help children overcome speech delay in children, Dr. Le Thi Hai, former director of the Center for Nutrition Examination and Counseling (National Institute of Nutrition), Chairman of the Pediatric Nutrition Association said. , the group of omega 3 fatty acids – unsaturated fatty acids play a particularly important role in the brain.

According to nutrition experts, foods containing a lot of omega such as herring, mackerel, salmon, oysters, walnuts, soybeans… However, children need to be supplemented with omega groups because their bodies cannot. synthesize this substance.

According to Dr. Hai, among the types of omega 3 fatty acids, plant-based omegas are odorless, not fishy, ​​do not cause vomiting, and are more suitable for children. At the same time, plant-based omegas are easy to absorb, tolerable and especially safe for children.

“Parents need to pay attention to their child’s speech delay, take their child to a doctor and advise on skills to overcome the delay in speech, combined with adequate nutrition. Long term will make children shy, self-deprecating, affect their intelligence and emotions.

Even prolonged delay in speech can increase the risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, decrease in logical language thinking, and even lead to autistic children, “said Dr.