Experts show methods to help children with speech delay turn on and develop language

According to Dr. Dinh Thac – Head of Psychology Department of Children’s Hospital 1 (HCMC), many parents often realize that their children are late to speak, so they miss the golden period of language intervention for children.

As soon as the baby is 3, 4 months old, parents need to observe the signs of the child’s language development. From 2-3 years old and under is the golden period to support effective intervention if children have speech delay.

Early detection signs of children with speech delay

According to research by experts at Children’s Hospital of Canada, based on a number of assessment milestones, parents can identify whether their child’s language development is having difficulty or not as follows.

Stage 1 – 6 months: unresponsive to parents’ voices

6 – 9 months old: does not often say unclear words

10-11 months old: doesn’t imitate sounds like saying “mama, dada”

12 months old: do not say “mama, dada” for the purpose of calling parents; do not often imitate words with two and three syllables

13 – 15 months old: can’t say at least 4-7 words; Strangers may not fully understand what the child is saying.

16 – 18 months old: can’t say at least 10 words; Strangers cannot understand 20% of what a child says.

Age 19 – 21 months: can’t say at least 20 words; Strangers cannot understand 50% of what children say.

Age 22 – 24 months: not able to speak at least 50 words; not knowing how to use two-word phrases; Strangers cannot understand 60% of what children say.

Stage 2 – 2.5 years old: unable to speak about 400 words, including naming, speaking in two – three word phrases; use pronouns; Strangers cannot understand 75% of what children say.

Stage 2.5 – 3 years old: do not know how to use plural and past tense; have not counted 1 to 3 correctly; have not used 3-5 words/sentence; Strangers cannot understand 90% of what children say.

Stage 3 – 4 years old: can’t use 3-6 words/sentence; don’t know how to ask questions, chat, link facts, tell stories.

Stage 4 -5 years old: not yet able to use 6-8 words/sentence; do not know the exact names of four colors; did not count correctly from 1-10.

Dr. Dinh Thac said: “Children with speech delay often have behavioral disorders that make parents worry, such as children who are more destructive, like to do their own things, or eat or break things unreasonably, some children are not cared for and Early intervention can lead to a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, difficult to integrate into childhood life, and even become a child with autism spectrum disorder.

It is worth mentioning, many parents are subjective that, just wait a while, children will know how to talk. However, being slow to speak leaves no small consequences. 40%-60% of children with speech delay without intervention can prolong this condition and have a high risk of social and emotional problems, limited or regressive learning ability… disadvantage in work and life as an adult…

How to interact and nurture mode

From the above fact, Dr. Dinh Thac said that parents are people who are in constant contact and close contact with their children. Therefore, parents need to increase interaction with children. But the interaction here is a positive interaction to stimulate the child to turn on the sound.

The duration of active communication is not about how long you communicate with your baby but how much time you entertain, surprise, react, engage with, and understand what you are communicating.

For example, if you spend 10 minutes just reading a book to your child without caring about the child’s participation, it will still count as 0, but just 2 minutes if you make the child interested in looking at the book and willing to turn the page, that is 2 minutes of positive. .

Parents can encourage the awareness of lips and tongue movements, as well as coordinate other vocal organs for babies through activities such as brushing teeth, breathing or chewing food every day…

Nutrition is also very important for children’s language development. Dr. Dinh Thac said that the child’s language development speed is directly related to the child’s brain development.

In addition to providing a full range of 4 groups of basic food ingredients such as: carbohydrates, protein, fat, fiber, vitamins and minerals, plant-based omegas play a very important role in brain development. set. This substance activates the brain to work effectively because it stimulates neurotransmitters.

When there is an impact on the brain, it will transmit to the target organ. When they hear, children will imitate, pay attention and turn out voices in the pronunciation part.

Ths.Bs Thac said that plant-based omegas are essential for infants and children of developmental age, especially those born prematurely, with delayed speech or with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Without this substance, children will have a low IQ.

From the perspective of a nutritionist, BS.CKII Do Thi Ngoc Diep – Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Food and Nutrition Association said that omega accounts for 60% of the fat in the brain. Therefore, children are provided with enough omega fatty acids right from the time they are in the womb, and when they are born, they will make a very important contribution to brain development and language development.

Dr. Diep said: “After birth, our brain has about 100 billion neurons. Although there is no increase in the number of neurons after birth, there is an increase in the weight of neurons. The structure of the brain, the stromal tissues, and the connective tissues also increase, thereby increasing the weight of the whole brain. in which the group of omega fatty acids of plant origin is particularly important”.

According to Dr. Diep, the outstanding advantage of plant omega is that it contains ALA, which is very good for nerve conduction, increasing the ability to remember, focus, and transmit information faster and more accurately. In particular, ALA has an anti-inflammatory and cell-protective role. But brain cells are very vulnerable, so they need to be protected. After birth, our brain has 100 billion neurons, but these cells do not increase in number but only die gradually. Therefore, the protective role of ALA in brain cells is extremely important.

In addition, plant-based Omega is odorless, tasteless, and non-fishy, ​​so children from birth can drink it without irritation and vomiting, so it is easily tolerated by children.