Speech and Language Therapy for Children

ANSWER: This depends on what you are noticing in the home. A young child (9 months) who is not responding to sounds, alerting to his/her name, showing comprehension of simple words, or pointing to call attention to interesting objects, may be showing early signs of a hearing loss or language disorder. Other general guidelines:
First Words by 12-15 months
Frequent Two-Word Combinations Heard by 21-24 months
Frequent Three-Word Combinations Heard by 36 months
Intelligible speech in conversation 90% of the time by age 4 years
Grammatically complete sentences most of the time by kindergarten age

ANSWER: Possibly. While there is no direct causal link between chronic ear infections and speech/language delay, children are generally thought to be more at risk for developing communication impairments with this medical history, and should be closely monitored.

ANSWER: Generally speaking, understanding your child’s current communication level (preverbal, single word communicator, phrase or sentence level communicator, etc.) is very important in terms of what to model at home. Try not to overuse questions to get your young child to talk, but rather model comments about events as they are unfolding. Try to avoid rapid and lengthy speaking turns, and encourage turn-taking. Praise your child’s efforts to communicate using all possible means: gestures, pointing, gaze, and verbal attempts.

ANSWER: This depends on many factors such as: severity of the disorder, student cooperation, motivation, and readiness to learn. Family involvement in implementing home practice is another significant factor. In general, children with receptive language problems (difficulty understanding language) tend to require longer courses of treatment, as do children with underlying neurocognitive impairments such as autism.