Archive for January, 2008
Communication Basics
As a pediatric speech-language pathologist, I often get referral information for a child with the primary concern listed as “speech delay” or “communication delay.” These are often “catch-all” terms that can mean anything from a child is not saying as many words as other babies his age, to a child who is talking but is [...]
Popularity: 18% [?]
What Doesn’t Work - Unproductive Strategies For Helping Toddlers Learn To Talk
(Edited with the addition of #9 on March 18. 2008.)
Here’s what I’ve learned, the hard way unfortunately, about behaviors that do not help babies and toddlers learn to talk. All of these are helpful for not only parents, but also professionals working with young children. Most of these are common sense, but worth repeating.
1. The adult interacting with the child is (yawn) boring.
As even two-year-olds know, interacting with a [...]
Popularity: 22% [?]
What Works - Strategies That Help Toddlers Learn to Talk
Here’s what I know after spending nearly 30 hours a week for the past 10 years in the homes of my little clients. Listed below are the 10 best ways to entice a child to interact, then communicate, then (FINALLY) talk!
1. Play, play, play, and when you’re tired of all that, play some more!
You absolutely, positively have to [...]
Popularity: 22% [?]
No TV
There it was on August 6, 2007 on my computer screen. An answer to a prayer. A confirmation of what I’d been telling parents who had asked my opinion. A virtual replay of what my friends, who also happen to be pediatric therapists, and I had discussed time and time again. What, you ask, was [...]
Popularity: 7% [?]
Attention-Deprived Babies
When you hear the phrase “attention deprived babies,” what do you think? If you are like most people, your imagination conjures up stark images of abandoned babies in a large, colorless room filled with row upon row of cribs in an overseas orphanage or the dirty, half-naked, dark-skinned babies from Third World countries depicted in the [...]
Popularity: 7% [?]
When To Worry… Signs of Speech & Language Delays
What’s the number one factor that unites good mothers across cultural, social, and economic boundaries? (I’ll give you my take on those “other” mothers in another blog!) It’s worry. Most of us obsess about our kids. In the first few months it’s all about their regulatory needs, basically if they are sleeping, eating, and even [...]
Popularity: 17% [?]
Ignore Him
Last week while I was at a party here in Louisville, a woman gave me probably the saddest commentary I’ve ever heard on teaching children to talk. As we were watching her adorable 24-month-old son repeatedly chase a ball an adult had thrown, take it back to her, grin from ear-to-ear, and then grunt “UUHHHHH” to ask her [...]
Popularity: 5% [?]
