If your child is a late talker, struggles to make friends, or has difficulty understanding what people say, they may need pediatric speech therapy. This can include difficulty producing speech sounds, unintelligible speech, or speaking too quickly. Speech Therapy for kids can provide intervention and support to help reach age appropriate speech and language milestones. This can also be a great way to improve their language and communication skills. Here are 5 signs your child may need speech therapy.
1. Child Isn’t Babbling
Most babies babble before they start talking. Babies use babbling as a way to learn and experiment with sounds before using words. Babbling helps them vocalize their needs, build oral-motor skills, and is fun! But once a baby starts talking, they will be able to use their words more effectively and begin learning how to understand what people are saying. If your child isn’t babbling as expected, it’s a good idea to see a speech therapist. Children’s speech and occupational therapists nearby can help your child strengthen their speech and language skills.
2. Issues with verbal requests
People can get frustrated with kids for not wanting to do what they asked them to do. A toddler that doesn’t want to brush their teeth or a preschooler who doesn’t want to get dressed are examples of requests that can cause frustration and requires a child to call out for you. If your child is having trouble understanding verbal requests, it is important to look for a pediatric speech therapist near me. This can be a sign your child is having trouble processing language or expressing their own wants and needs effectively. Speech therapy for toddlers nearby can help a child improve their ability to follow directions and help them understand verbal language and express themselves more appropriately.
3. Child Isn’t Interacting with others
A child that isn’t talking and isn’t interacting with familiar people and their peers, can be concerning for parents and developmental professionals. If your child isn’t learning how to interact with others, it may be difficult for them to learn how to form friendships, learn how to play, and socialize appropriately. A Pediatric speech therapist is a great place to start when you notice delays in your child’s social development. A speech therapist can help your child learn to interact with others appropriately and build upon their social skills.
4. Language Development issues
If you feel that your child is not developing language at the appropriate pace, it can progress to difficulty with speaking, literacy and general communication skills. If you notice your child isn’t meeting appropriate language milestones, you may want to consider seeking out speech therapy if your child is making sounds, but is unable to produce words. Most pediatric speech pathologists are able to help your child with their speech and language development.
5. Child is having difficulty understanding others
If your child has difficulty understanding what someone is saying, they may have trouble processing language. Difficulty in processing language can cause deficits in other areas including social communication, following and understanding directions and communicating their wants and needs. A pediatric speech therapist can help your child to increase their ability to receive and process language and can provide strategies and support for the child and caregiver to use outside of therapy. In addition, speech therapy and occupational therapy for kids can help your child learn how to participate in group situations and interact with their peers.
Speech therapy services can help your child develop their speech and language skills. When looking or searching for a speech therapist near me that can help your child improve their speech and language skills, Milestone Therapy Group is ready to help.
Our speech therapists provide intervention to improve receptive and expressive language skills, to improve production of words and speech sounds, increase fluency in your child’s speech and develop appropriate means of social communication. Speech therapists also provide strategies for parents to incorporate into their daily routines.
