When does a child say the first word, and how to help him develop speech?

Stages of speech development in children

In the process of growth and development, the child actively masters speech, while his skills become significantly more complex and improved in the first year of life. Parents do not always notice transitional phases, since this process is individual for each child. The table presents the main stages of speech development according to the clinical recommendations of the Russian Association of Perinatal Medicine Specialists, which are approved by the Union of Pediatricians of Russia.

The indicators given in the table are averages, so in each specific case it is necessary to take into account the character and individuality of the child.

Not all deviations indicate a health problem, but still, if there is a delay in speech development, you need to contact a pediatrician to get a referral for examination and speech correction. According to WHO recommendations, if there is a difference of several months from the average indicators, it is worth contacting a specialist.

Speech delay in a child over three years of age can be a manifestation of a serious disorder, and can also affect not only the speech apparatus, but also communication skills, the ability to read and write. You should not delay a visit to a specialist if there are such violations - the sooner you start correcting the pathology, the faster the result will be.

Tip one: make speech the background of everyday life

Having just picked up your beautiful baby from the maternity hospital, you are unlikely to be asking the question “how to teach a child to speak.” And in vain! The formation of the baby’s future speech has already begun.

You need to start talking to your baby immediately from the moment of birth. Accompany any action with explanations: “Now we will eat”, “Now let’s change the diaper”, “My bunny is bathing - the baby is having fun.” When rocking your baby in your arms, don’t just purr, but sing songs and read rhythmic nursery rhymes.

Gradually, there will be more reasons to talk: “We are putting on a red blouse, what a beautiful blouse,” “The ball is round, bright, cheerful, catch the ball,” “Let’s go for a walk, it’s cold outside (warm, sunny, good, light, dark).” Use questioning intonations, glances, even if you understand that the child is not yet able to answer: “Do you like it?”, “Do you want milk?”, “Shall we go to bed?” The child understands that you need response communication, and therefore is motivated to master speech.

Gradually, such verbal behavior becomes habitual and ceases to require visible effort on your part. But at the same time it has an extremely important effect on the development of the baby. If the child is practically healthy, speech will develop harmoniously, according to age standards, and minimal help from a speech therapist will be needed - to produce one or two difficult sounds.

Girls and boys: gender characteristics of speech

It is no secret that girls are somewhat ahead of boys in development, including in the matter of oral speech. The famous teacher I. Podlasy in his textbook “Pedagogy” explains it this way:

• from birth, girls have an increased interest in people and faces more than boys;
• parents pay more attention to girls, including talking to them longer and cooing to them;
• girls acquire motor skills earlier and master fine motor skills;
• girls remember more words and build associative series more easily;
• Boys concentrate worse.

Girls speak their first conscious words at about ten months, while boys pronounce them at the age of 11-12 months.

Doctors consider not only the mental maturity of the baby, but also point to somatic factors. In particular, the level of development, according to doctors, is also influenced by hormonal status.

Speech problems

It is customary to talk about problems with speech in children over three years of age, if before this age pathologies that impede the development of speech have not been identified: deafness, congenital abnormalities of the speech apparatus, consequences of injuries.

The conclusion about delayed speech development is given by three specialists who diagnose the pathology:

• psychiatrist;
• neurologist;
• speech therapist.

Based on the data received, the pediatrician registers such a child, and in the future he will be cared for by a specialist.

What speech problems do parents most often encounter, and how should they respond? First of all, this is the failure to pronounce the first sounds in words, “swallowing” endings, replacing one sound with another, deliberate distortion of sounds, incorrect placement of syllables in words, misunderstanding of the meaning of words, poor vocabulary, lack of expressiveness, problems expressing one’s thoughts, impaired tempo speech.

Such disorders may be associated with diseases such as alalia, dysarthria, dyslalia, stuttering, autism or mutism - each disorder has its own characteristics, and here a specialist will help determine the diagnosis.

Tip five: toys are wonderful helpers!

More precisely, not by themselves, but by the possibility of manipulating toys. How to teach a child to speak using toys? By describing all kinds of manipulations with toys, we introduce the child to the parts of speech in a playful way. Let's look at the advice using cars as an example.

Nouns

This is a machine. The car has wheels and a body. The second car has wheels of a different size and color, the body is different, but it is also a CAR. A real car is driving outside the window. She has wheels. It's big, so it's already a CAR, not a CAR. The child’s concept expands, he learns to generalize objects by name, and better understands the speech of others.

Verbs

The car DRIVES, STANDS, ROLLING. It can be READY and REMOVED. It's fun to PLAY with the car, but you can't BREAK it. Any manipulation with a toy is a new verb that the child gradually masters - first, as a concept, then, as an independently pronounced word.

Adjectives

Cars can be BIG, SMALL, WOODEN, IRON, BLUE, RED, BEAUTIFUL, TRUCK, LIGHT, FAST... The list of adjectives familiar to the child expands with each game.

Adverbs

The car goes FAST, SLOW, RIGHT. The motor runs LOUD or QUIET. If cars are scattered on the floor, the house is DIRTY, but when you remove the toys, it becomes CLEAN

There is no more natural way to teach a child to speak than using toys, constantly voicing the game.

Why is the baby silent?

There are several circumstances why a child may remain silent. We will separately highlight such a reason as congenital deafness. Parents usually find out about this at an early stage, when the baby does not respond to sounds. If a child does not hear sounds, then it is difficult to reproduce them. Otolaryngologists work with such children. Deafness may appear soon after birth, even if the baby is healthy. Pathology occurs as a consequence of previous infectious diseases and injuries.

According to the World Health Organization, 60% of childhood deafness is preventable.

But there are also other groups of problems in which there is a delay in speech development. The child hears sounds, reacts to them, but is in no hurry to reproduce them himself. Doctors identify the following deviations:

1. Psychological disorders - lack of attention, weak emotional connection with parents, lack of need to talk. In this case, correction by a psychologist is needed, not only for the child, but also for adults - they are the ones who should pay more attention to the baby.
2. Neurological pathologies can be established in utero or acquired after birth. A specialist neurologist will make a diagnosis and prescribe medications for treating the child - nootropics that activate cerebral circulation.
3. Speech therapy problems - inability to use the speech apparatus due to structural features or other pathologies: short frenulum, malocclusion, palate features. Partially, the issue can be resolved surgically, but for correction, the baby will benefit from classes with a speech therapist.

Tip four: turn gestures into words

There are children who are in no hurry to move on to verbal communication, but instead masterfully express themselves in sign language. How to teach a child to speak if a stubborn person prefers to get what he wants by pointing a finger at an object or using some other gesture?

• The first thing you should do is analyze your own behavior. Perhaps you rush to fulfill the child’s desire before it has taken shape and can be expressed verbally - from an excessive desire to patronize, protect, or out of fear of tears and hysterics. In any case, you will have to learn to control your actions.

If a child always gets what he wants “with the wave of a finger,” then he can do just fine without words for a very long time. Do not follow his lead, although this may require you to summon all your courage and patience.

• The previous recommendation does not mean that you should ignore your child's gestural requests. To begin with, simply comment on them with words, verbalize them. "What do you want?" - pause - “Are you thirsty?” - pause - “Yes! Now I’ll give you something to drink.”

A phrase constructed in this way gives the child confidence that his mother understands him and is ready to help. Over time, the baby will begin to make attempts to speak independently.

• Provoke your child to demonstrate consent or refusal verbally. Repeat the baby's gesture, accompany the gesture with a word. Build the phrase in the same way as in the previous tip “Do you want to roll the car? – pause – Yes (nods head). On the". “Will you drink milk? – pause – No (shaking head). You will not".

Voice your child's gestures until he begins to make attempts to speak. Be sure to praise him for every attempt, even if it is unsuccessful.