Rant About Speech Delay From Speech Therapist (Must Watch for Parents)

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Misconception about speech delay
Speech delay is an over-generalized term. What people mean is speech AND language delay. Most of the time, if a child cannot use words yet it’s considered a “language delay” because there’s a delay in learning to use language. Whereas, if your child cannot say certain sounds or has a lot of articulation errors - that should be considered a “Speech delay”.

Autism and red flags
Autism is scary. Many parents are incredibly afraid of the A-word. However, that should not be the thing that fuels your actions. Yes, there are a whole bunch of red flags and early signs of Autism. And when your child seems to be showing these signs, any parent would be fixated by that.

Eye contact and Responding to Name
Out of all the red flags, eye contact and whether the child responds to his/her name comes up all the time. Whilst these are obvious signs of Autism. Children who are NOT on the spectrum also can show these kinds of signs. Whether or not the child has Autism or not, we will only know after doing an assessment. And whether there is a diagnosis or not, we should always focus on teaching children to communicate with us. Teaching and clearing up the signs of Autism will not result in a different diagnosis.


Why hinting and repeating doesn’t work
What usually happens at home is that parents try their best to cue and prompt the child to speak. No matter how much the parent hints or repeats, the child just doesn’t want to speak. Usually, this would work for children who are not typically developing children, it would not work for delayed children. Why? Because if your child doesn’t know how to do something, it doesn’t matter how many times you repeat it. You haven’t provided an easier way for the child to communicate with you. So step back and learn how to accept communication efforts that are not related to speaking. Such as using gestures and sign language.

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