TODDLER SPEAK

Ethan is a late talker. Some people comment about that but it's no big deal for me. I don't want to rush him nor pressure him. I just want him to take his time, to take things in stride. And now, he's practically a chatterbox. I hate it when people make everything a competition. "My daughter talked at age 1 1/2, he was potty trained at 2, she was reciting the alphabet when she was 3, he tied his shoelaces at 4". Frankly, who cares? As long as my kids are happy, healthy and have a love for learning, I'm contented. The world is a tough place and I don't have to add to the pressure.

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/childhealth/1935/a-toddler-of-few-words

A Toddler of Few Words
Posted by Robert Needlman, M.D.

It's often hard tell if a child is developing normally. Everyone knows that most children take their first steps around a year of age, and a child who isn't walking by 15 months is behind schedule. But language development -- the child's ability to speak and to understand -- is harder to judge. And language development is crucial

By age three, a child's ability to understand and speak is the single best sign of intelligence. You know you have a smart two-year-old if you hear her say, "Just one more story, mom!" Young children who don't speak also can be brilliant, but it's harder to tell. (Einstein was a late talker, apparently.)

Take Jeffrey.* He was born about two months early. He was healthy and grew well. At 16 months he could run, jump, and climb with the best of them. He could take off all his clothes and put most of them back on, with just a little help. He could give hugs, play patty-cake, and throw tantrums like any toddler. What he couldn't do was talk.

Jeffrey knew four words, all of them names of family members. He pointed to his nose on demand, slowed down when told to "stop," and followed other simple orders. His older sister, who was not premature, had been way ahead in the language department when she was his age.
I handed Jeffrey a shiny new board book. All the children who come to MetroHealth for checkups get new books at each visit, starting at 6 months of age, as part of our Reach Out and Read (ROR) program. The main purpose of ROR is to encourage parents to read aloud to their children, so that their children grow up loving books. But it's also a good way to learn about a child's developing skills.

Jeffrey took the book in both hands, and pried open the covers. He glanced at the picture (it showed Spot, the dog, looking for a ball), then closed the book, then opened it again. He kept this up for a long time, a look of concentration on his face. His mom stood next to him, helping him support the book, keeping quiet.

"Jeffrey seems to be very interested in how that book works," I remarked. "He has been paying attention for a long time; he must be learning a lot." Children tend to practice any new skill, again and again and again, until they have nothing more to learn from it; then they stop. But Jeffrey's focus on the physical book meant that he was missing out on the language learning.

To help Jeffrey learn more words, his mother would need to become much more talkative. She would need to shower him with words, not just sprinkle them around. I suggested that she could look at books with Jeffrey at least twice a day, every day. She could use the books to remind her to talk more, since chatting did not come naturally to her. Research shows that talking about picture books with a young child is one of the very best ways to teach the meanings of words, and to encourage the child to talk and understand more.

The trick is to work the words in, while still letting the child feel some control. Jeffrey's mom was wise not to swoop in and insist that he hold the book open and look at one picture after another. Instead, she started talking about what Jeffrey himself was doing. "That book's open; now it's closed. Now it's open again. Look, there's Spot; oops, now he's gone! Let's see if we can find him again." Once she got the hang of it, she managed to do a lot of language teaching, while playing "book" with her son.

Jeffrey is actually doing pretty well, developmentally. He might have turned out just fine, without any special attention from his mother. On the other hand, when you combine prematurity with a non-talkative mother, the chances of a child showing significant speech and language problems goes up. Ultimately, Jeffrey is almost certainly going to learn to talk. But the longer he stays delayed, the more likely he is to have behavior problems and long-term problems learning to read. So, I'll see Jeffrey back soon to make sure that his language really is picking up, and to build up his picture book library.