As parents, its very hard not to compare your
child’s abilities with other children of similar ages. While children all
develop at different paces and in different ways, there are certain milestones
that help parents in deciding whether their child is more-or-less on track.
Talking Point, a service funded by The
Communication Trust, has some easy to read handouts which set out important
communication skills that you can expect to see at different ages (http://www.talkingpoint.org.uk/directory/free-resources-parents).
This is a useful starting point for considering your child’s development more
objectively.
The term ‘speech and language difficulty’ covers a
whole range of problems including:
- Difficulty listening
- Difficulty attending to spoken information
- Difficulty understanding what others say
- Difficulty learning and using new words
- Difficulty constructing sentences
- Unclear speech
- Difficulty getting words out
- Stammering
- A strained, hoarse or whispery voice
- Difficulty following conversations
- Difficulty with the social parts of conversation, like using or understanding body language or facial expressions
If you have any doubts about your child’s speech or
language you should speak with your GP or health visitor and request a referral
for a speech and language therapy assessment.
Speech and language therapists are professionals who
work with people of all ages on all aspects of communication. A referral to a
speech therapist would result in an initial assessment session. You can expect
the therapist to take a thorough case history to understand all of the
potential factors which might influence speech and language. In addition, he or
she would probably do a formal or informal assessment. Informal assessments
include observing the child’s communication during play and conversation. They
will look at how the child interacts with others. Formal assessment can include
a range of tasks, depending on the nature of the difficulty, but can include
tasks such as naming objects of describing pictures; or following longer
instructions.
If you are concerned about your child’s speech, here
are a number of websites to find help
http://www.rcslt.org/Finding_an_SLT
http://www.rcslt.org/Finding_an_SLT
