Why Can’t My Child Talk? Common Types of Speech and Language Disorders
There are between 3 and 6 million children in the United States with speech or language disorders. As a pediatric speech-language pathologist specializing in early intervention , I work with children between birth and 3 years of age. When I evaluate a child, after confirming parents’ suspicions that there is a definitive problem, the next question is usually some version of, “Why?” Sometimes we don’t know exactly why a child isn’t talking yet at 2 or 3. Many professionals err on the side of caution and label all children they evaluate as “delayed” when in fact they aren’t yet sure what the exact problem is. It is often difficult to pinpoint an exact diagnosis during the first visit or two (or 10!) with a toddler, but there are many common communication difficulties in this age group.
Below is a list of the most common diagnoses associated with pediatric speech-language problems with a basic explanation for each one. Please remember that this is a listing of specific speech-language diagnoses and not necessarily a medical or educational label. For example, a child diagnosed with autism may exhibit characteristics of apraxia, a child with Down Syndrome may have dysarthria, a child with dyslexia may also have an auditory processing disorder, etc…
The speech-language diagnosis may be just a part of a condition that affects a child’s overall developmental picture, or it could be the only issue a child faces. I have often evaluated children whose parents referred them for what they thought was a speech or language delay, when in fact their children were exhibiting delays in other developmental domains as well. This also happens with other disciplines too. My colleagues who are physical and occupational therapists often end up referring children for communication assessments when parents initially sought their help for what they assumed was just “late walking” or “difficulty with feeding” not realizing that their child was behind in other areas too. Many children with developmental difficulties have issues that overlap the motor, social, cognitive, adaptive, and communication domains.
When in doubt, get an evaluation. Be sure to ask the professional if there are other developmental concerns as well. You’d rather know, and the sooner, the better. All of the current research tells us that early intervention gives a child the best chance of minimizing long-term difficulties. Waiting until your child is school age to see if he will “outgrow” a problem puts him at a serious disadvantage, especially when it comes to communication difficulties.
Apraxia
Apraxia is a neurological speech disorder that affects a child’s ability to plan, execute, and sequence the movements of the mouth necessary for intelligible speech. Apraxia can also be referred to as developmental verbal apraxia, childhood apraxia of speech, or verbal dyspraxia. Most SLPs use the terms interchangeably. Characteristics of apraxia include:
- Limited babbling is present in infancy. These are quiet babies.
- Few or no words when other babies are talking by age 2
- Poor ability to imitate sounds and words
- Child substitutes and/or omits vowel and consonant sounds in words. Errors with vowel sounds are not common with other speech disorders.
- His word attempts are “off-target” and may not be understood even by parents.
- He may use a sound such as “da” for everything.
- Often his errors are inconsistent, or he may be able to say a word once and then never again. The child understands much more than he can say.
- There is sometimes (but not always) a family history of communication difficulty. (i.e. “All the boys in our family talk late,” or “My husband’s grandfather still has trouble pronouncing some hard words.”)
There has been controversy in the field of speech-language pathology in giving this diagnosis to children under 3. However, the kinds of therapy useful for children with apraxia are often not introduced if the clinician does not suspect this as the root cause for a child’s communication difficulty. If you suspect this as your child’s problem, initiate a conversation with your child’s pediatrician and begin speech therapy with a clinician who has experience treating children with apraxia. If your therapist says that he/she does not believe that this can be diagnosed before age 3, look for a new therapist!
An excellent resource for parents and professionals working with children with apraxia is www.apraxia-kids.org. Another comprehensive resource for an explanation of apraxia is http://www.kidspeech.com/index.php?page=56.
Many children with apraxia also have difficulty with sensory integration, or how he processes information from all his senses including visual, auditory, tactile, and proprioceptive. (For more information about sensory issues, go to http://www.kid-power.org/sid.html .)
Feeding issues are sometimes present because of the sensory issues a child exhibits such as poor awareness in his mouth so that he overstuffs to “feel” the food, or to the other extreme, he is so sensitive that he gags when new textures are introduced.
For more answers to a parent’s questions about apraxia on this site look under Amy’s question in the comments section under Ask the SLP or go to this link http://teachmetotalk.com/2008/01/31/ask-the-slp/#comment-24.
Phonological Disorders
A phonological disorder is difficulty with the “rules” or “patterns” for combining sounds intelligibly in speech in English. For example, phonological process patterns include prevocalic consonant deletion (leaving off consonant sounds that precede a vowel such as “at” for hat), syllable reduction (producing only one syllable in a multisyllabic word such as “bay” for baby), or reduplication (simplifying a multisyllabic word to a duplicated pattern such as saying “bubu” for bubble or even “dog dog” for doggie).
There are many patterns for analyzing a child’s speech according to a phonological processes model. All of these processes are common in typically developing children as well. It becomes a problem when most children are maturing in their patterns of production, and a child is not. For example, final consonant deletion (leaving off ending consonant sounds in words) typically disappears between 2 1/2 to 3 years of age. If a child is not including final consonants by this age, it would be considered “disordered” or “atypical” since most of his same-age peers are now using a more mature pattern.
A child with only a phonological disorder exhibits typically developing language, meaning that his vocabulary and utterance length are the same as his peers, but he continues to exhibit patterns that are consistent with a younger child’s speech errors. A child with phonological disorder needs speech therapy to learn new patterns. The most popular approach for therapy for this disorder is the Hodson cycles approach. A pattern is targeted in therapy for a certain number of sessions, then a new pattern is initiated. Once all of the patterns are addressed, the cycle starts over. Your child’s speech sounds begin to improve, even if it’s not “perfect” through the first few cycles. This approach has lots of research to support it. It’s generally used for highly unintelligible kids over 3. For more information on this approach, ask your child’s SLP if it’s right for your child because even the veterans know and use this technique.
Articulation Disorders
An articulation disorder is difficulty with the production or pronunciation of speech sounds. This difficulty may be present with an isolated sound such as substituting /w/ for /r/, difficulty with blends such as “st,” or with distortion of sounds such as a lisp. Sometimes clinicians speak of phonological disorders and articulation disorders interchangeably. I use the term phonological disorder when there seems to be difficulty with attaining a “pattern” of sounds and the term articulation disorder when a child has difficulty with only a couple of sounds rather than an identifiable pattern. If a child is still exhibiting errors with even a few sounds after most of his peers can correctly use the sound, he needs therapy to help him. For a list of ages when children acquire certain sounds, try http://www.talkingchild.com/speechchart.aspx.
For a good discussion of articulation and phonological disorders go to http://www.psllcnj.com/articulation_disorders.htm .
Auditory Processing Disorder
An auditory processing disorder is difficulty with listening to, receiving, analyzing, organizing, storing, and retrieving information. It can also be called central auditory processing disorder (CAPD). In young children this often looks like the child cannot understand what’s been said to him, even when his hearing and language comprehension skills are within normal limits. A child may have difficulty paying attention to what someone is saying to him or difficulty following directions in the presence of background noise or when he’s more focused on something else. This might be the kid that won’t look away from his favorite TV program when a bomb goes off, much less when you’re calling his name.
This is commonly included as a receptive language disorder in children under 3, with an official diagnosis of auditory processing disorder coming later in the preschool or early school-age years since there’s no tests for this condition with younger children. Children with sensory integration differences also exhibit auditory processing disorders. It’s very common for children with autism and other learning disabilities such as dyslexia and attention deficit disorder to exhibit these characteristics as well. I could not find a site for information for very young children with auditory processing disorder, but this is receiving lots of attention in the field of early intervention right now, so maybe we should have a good resource soon.
Dysarthria
Dysarthria is a neurological speech disorder that affects a child’s muscle tone. Weakness is noted in the muscles used for speech including his lips, tongue, soft palate, and cheeks so that his speech sounds slurred. Dysarthria is present in kids with Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, or any other condition that causes “low tone.” Dysarthria may also affect a child’s vocal and respiratory quality so that he sounds hoarse or breathy.
A child may also have feeding problems due to muscle tone issues such as difficulty sucking from a bottle because his tongue isn’t strong enough, keeping foods or liquids in his mouth because his lips aren’t strong, or chewing because of overall weakness in his jaws and cheeks. A child may also drool because she can’t close her mouth consistently.
A child with muscle tone issues may also have difficulty with gross and fine motor skills. Physical and occupational therapy may be necessary to help meet milestones. Low muscle tone never truly “goes away,” and there’s a difference between strength and tone. All of us have varying degrees of muscle tone ranging from high to low, and kids with even very low muscle tone can learn to walk and talk.
For more information visit http://www.stronghealth.com/services/childrens/conditions/Dysarthria.cfm.
You might also try http://www.kidspeech.com/index.php?page=75.
Dysfluency
Dysfluency is the more professional term for stuttering. It is the repetition of individual speech sounds usually at the beginning of words or phrases. Many children with typically developing language “stutter” when they move from using single words and short phrases to longer sentences and/or when they are under pressure to speak and can’t encode their words quickly enough. Typical dysfluency can occur anywhere from age 2-4. If it lasts for more than 6 months, seek a professional evaluation.
Many times there’s a family history of stuttering if this is going to be a chronic challenge. Kids who repeat individual sounds at the beginnings of words with facial grimaces or tremors, tense their muscles, blink their eyes repeatedly, or tap their feet are at greater risk for true difficulty with fluency than those who repeat whole words and who don’t seem to be phased physically by this.
The best advice for parents when your child starts to stutter is to ignore it. Do not tell him to slow down, stop and think, or any other comment that you feel might be helpful. Relax his environment and do not put pressure on him to “perform” verbally including asking too many questions in a row, demanding that he answer silly questions such as, “Did you hit your sister?” when you know he did, or insist that he sing his new song from preschool for grandma, grandpa, and all of your long-lost relatives at Thanksgiving. Don’t interrupt him when he’s talking, even when he’s struggling. This is hard!
Our oldest son had a terrible several month bout with stuttering while I was in grad school taking the class on dysfluency. It was horrible for me!! My professor’s advice was simple - ”Ignore it and it will (probably) go away.” Another piece of advice is to make sure his teachers at preschool, sitters, or even family members are on board with the “ignore it” method so that no one calls attention to this issue. The unnecessary pressure will make it worse, not better, so tell all of your well-meaning friends and family that you are doing this one your way.
Expressive Language Disorder
Expressive language disorder is present when a child is not meeting milestones in the area of language usually involving vocabulary, combining words into phrases, and beginning to use the early markings of grammar. A child with only an expressive language disorder doesn’t have difficulty pronouncing the words per se, but he has difficulty learning or retrieving new words and putting sentences together. A child may rely on non-specific words such as “that” and “there” rather than learning specific names for objects. She may have difficulty learning verb tenses (such as the “ing” for walking and “ed” for jumped) or have difficulty learning word classes such as prepositions or pronouns.
An expressive language disorder can and often co-exists with a speech disorder such as apraxia. I have treated kids like this with only expressive language delays/disorders, but more often than not, late talkers exhibit a speech AND a language disorder. Sometimes children exhibit receptive language disorders as well, so it’s not uncommon to have several speech-language diagnoses at the same time.
An expressive language delay would be a child who is acquiring vocabulary, combing words, and learning early grammar with the same sequence as his peers, but at a slower rate. If there are atypical characteristics present such as your child has some skills at a higher age level but is still missing many lower age-range skills, it’s called a disorder. Delays are typically easier to overcome, and most kids with delays eventually catch up. A disorder is generally something a child will struggle with for a while, perhaps his entire life.
Receptive Language Disorder
A receptive language disorder is difficulty understanding language. This is also called an auditory comprehension disorder. Kids who have receptive language disorders don’t follow directions and not because they’re being disobedient, but because they don’t understand what’s being said. They seem to ignore language because words don’t mean anything to them yet. They often hate reading books unless mommy lets them flip through the pictures because it’s all about listening to words which may not make very much sense.
When a kid gets a little better and understands a little more, signs of a receptive language disorder may be that he repeats a question rather than answering it or gives an incorrect response. For example, if you ask a child with a receptive language disorder who has been learning his colors, “What are you drinking,” he’s likely to respond “red” because that’s the color of his cup. Or if you ask a question such as, “Do you want milk,” she might answer ”no,” but then she still gets upset when you don’t give her the cup because she doesn’t understand that answering “no” means she doesn’t want it.
I have seen many kids whose parents or daycare teachers label as “difficult” or a behavior problem when really there’s a major receptive language delay that no one recognizes. Parents often overestimate what their language delayed/disordered child truly understands. This is so sad to me because when everyone decides to work on teaching and helping him understand language BEFORE we expect him to talk and BEFORE we expect him to “obey,” then everyone benefits; especially the kid who doesn’t understand why in the world he’s in trouble in the first place, even when his mother “told him not to do it!”
Make sure your child’s receptive language skills are addressed, or the other speech-language problems are not going to significantly improve. A child who doesn’t understand much really shouldn’t be saying much either. To expect more is simply wrong and well above what he’s able to realistically accomplish. Most SLPs think of working on receptive language hand-in-hand with expressive language, and this is absolutely the right way to go. When parents get on board with this approach, wonderful things happen.
For more information on improving receptive language, see the post titled, “Help Your Toddler Listen and Obey.”
Popularity: 43% [?]
Comment by Sarah on 5 August 2008:
My son is 26 months old. He has a limited word range. In total he will consistently use 10-15 words and sounds “hi, bye, ta, no, baa”. When should I start getting concerned about his lack of vocabulary or could he just be a late bloomer? Most websites say he should have over 50 words acquired and be starting to make two word combinations. What do you suggest?
Comment by Laura on 5 August 2008:
Sarah - NOW is the time to be concerned about your son. The 50 word milestone is a MINIMUM baseline for children to have by 24 months. By 26 months children with typically developing language have well over 100 words and are talking in short two and three-word phrases consistently.
I would have him evaluated by your state’s early intervention program since he very likely would qualify for speech therapy through them. The evaluation is free, and if he is eligible, therapy is free or low cost in most states compared to what you would pay privately. You could also check into insurance coverage, but I’d go through your state program first. You can find out information about your program by searching your state name + early intervention in a search engine like google.
In the meantime, keep working with him at home using the suggestions on this website and check out my new DVD so you can see the strategies in action.
I want to give you a big word of caution here - Please don’t count on him catching up on his own without help from you and/or professional assistance. If language delays are addressed early, they often are nothing but a memory. If not, it could be a potential long struggle for him. Please don’t dismiss your concern and “wait and see.” Even if he is just a “late bloomer” as you say, therapy is not going to hurt him and could give him the jump start he needs. If it did turn out to be a more complicated issue, you would have started getting him help early, and you’ll feel relieved knowing you did the right thing by not waiting. Many parents who wait often feel so guilty later that they didn’t trust their instincts. This can be prevented by going ahead and having him evaluated when you first begin to be concerned.
Good luck! Laura
Comment by Jennifer on 21 August 2008:
I have been working with a speech therapist for my 28 month old son for about a month now. He has articulation issues. We are also trying to get him to use his speech more frequently without prompting. We are currently stumped on o a couple of issues. One he has the “N” sound at the begging of words (no, noise). But when it is the middle or end he either replaces it with a d or t sound or leaves it out completely. (Bunny turns into buddy) He can do a middle N rarely just like nana (banana) or oh no. Any thoughts? The other this is with some words he replaces the first sound completely such a susic for music and shish for fish. Why would he do that. He can use both an m and f in other words.
Comment by Laura on 21 August 2008:
Jennifer - I can take a stab at these issues based on what info you provided, but again, you’re going to want to rely heavily on the SLP you’re seeing since she can actually SEE your son and consider other pieces of information that I couldn’t possibly know about without spending time with him.
The errors you’re describing aren’t really uncommon for 2 year olds with speech issues. Substituting /d/ or /t/ for /n/ isn’t that unusual since ALL of those sounds are alveolar sounds - or made by elevating the tongue to the alveolar ridge (In English - touching the bumps behind your top teeth with your tongue). Actually as far as “severity” with sound substitutions, it’s not that bad since using these sounds are substitutions with a sound made in the same place in your mouth. The /n/ is probably easier for him to do at the beginning than in the middle or end of a word. Lots of children struggle with medial/middle and final/ending consonant sounds until they get closer to age 3. It’s not even a true “error” to omit a final consonant sound until after 36 months - although many typically developing children master consonant sounds in all positions in words well before this age.
OR you could account or categorize his errors as a phonological process called “assimilation.” (For more info on this, search “phonological” on this site.) This means that he might produce a sound correctly in some words but not in others because of the other sounds in the words influencing how he pronounces the sound- not because he can’t produce the original sound. His errors with “susic” and “shish” are because in his little system, LATER consonants seem to influence his pronunciation of the first consonant. He is duplicating or repeating the later consonant sound.
I don’t want to be more technical than this, but you can do some more reading by searching Phonological Disorders. Barbara Hodson is the SLP who did the bulk of the original writing about this. Caroline Bowen is the another SLP from Australia who writes about treating children with these kinds of issues too. You can search this info by their names and the term “phonological.”
That being said - I would highly encourage you to prioritize SPONTANEOUS language over using correct sounds in words at this point. Many experts don’t recommend doing lots of work on specific articulation patterns/errors until after a child’s language is normal AND until he is close to/after age 3. Focus on vocabulary, phrase length, and USING his words appropriately in situations before you try lots of articulation therapy. You’ll be more successful with that when he gets closer to 3 AND once he’s a great talker, without over-relying on prompting and cues from you.
Hope this info helps! Laura
Comment by Wendy on 14 October 2008:
My son was born five weeks early under normal circumstances (i.e., my water broke). He will be 2 1/2 on Oct. 25th, and is talking–he has a vocabulary of about 62 words, and 11 two word phrases–but he doesn’t really communicate when asked a question. For instance, every day when I pick him up from day care, I ask him if he had a good day. He will either say “yeah” or “no” but if I ask him what he did, he either doesn’t answer or he babbles. Also, he throws fits when he wants something and can’t get his point across. I know he understands everything we say (and more, sometimes!!), but he cannot really articulate what he wants to say.
What is really strange, though, is there have been two separate occasions where I am certain he spoke in complete, perfectly enunciated sentences. Both times he was stating a desire. The first time (before he turned 2) he said “Mama I want to play” and the other time (just a month or so ago) he said “I want to go outside.” Just like that. He even emphasized the “t.” Both times I said “what did you just say, baby?” and he just looked at me. Also, there have been times when I have been talking to my husband and have been deliberately using words my son wouldn’t understand, and he will react to something I said. It is obvious he understood, but then he acts like he didn’t (he’ll turn away and pretend he is doing something else).
I really do not know what to think. On the one hand, I think I should have him evaluated, and on the other, I feel like I should give him more time–that he is just being stubborn. What do you think?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Comment by Maria on 14 October 2008:
Hi,
My child is 14 months old and he does not say a single word. As much as I try I cannot make him to say a single word. I am focusing on couple of words thinking that this will help him, but he cannot pronounce them. He is looking how my mouth is moving when i say the word and he tries but what comes out is a scream. He is screaming a lot - when happy or upset, and he is talking to us like Curious George - the monkey does. He like to read the books and he shows me objects on the book. If I say to him “bring that ball” he does, he is very good at sorting 3 kinds of shapes (circle, triangle and square) he is very good at imitating everything, if toys are made from different parts he tries to put them together (he cannot usually but he knows that they should be together), etc. he seems very smart and is very curious and energetic. But the biggest problem is that he cannot speak. My doctor suggested to try couple of things like read the same 2 o3 books all over again, repeat simple words and try to put him repeat after me and wait until 15 month check up. But I am so worried already, it seems to me that he is trying to say the word but he cannot. He will repeat tatatata, babababa, mamama or dadada. But that is it. What do you think? What do you suggest? I will appreciate your advise. Thank you, Maria
Comment by Laura on 14 October 2008:
Wendy - Based on what you’ve said, it sounds like your son could possibly have a mild expressive language delay. By 2 1/2 children with typically developing language skills are frequently using 3 and 4 word phrases and sentences to communicate and can answer simple questions. However, let me say that I cannot “see” him, so know that I am speaking in very general terms here based on the information you provided.
He can certainly understand “everything” (his receptive language skills) and still exhibit delays in how he is able to use words to communicate (his expressive langauge skills). Actually that’s very common.
That being said, he may not exhibit “enough” of a delay to qualify for services thru your state’s early intervention program since children have to meet eligibility requirements.
If you continue to be concerned, you could have him evaluated thru your local early intervention program OR have his speech-language skills evaluated by a speech-language pathologist at a clinic (like Easter Seals or someone in private practice) or a children’s hospital. Your pediatrician could probably point you in the right direction.
Now about your closing comment….I personally don’t believe that most children don’t talk because they’re being stubborn. You may want to check out the article called “Can’t vs. Won’t” for more on that. You can search for it from the home page using the search option.
I also want to recommend the articles on answering questions in the expressive and receptive language sections. You may find some ideas in there that you’re not currently doing. Giving choices is a great way to help him begin to answer questions - such as, “What did you do at school today - paint or play in the sand?” There are other hints in the article too that I hope you will find helpful.
Let me know how it goes! Laura
Comment by Laura on 14 October 2008:
Maria - It sounds like you are on the right track in teaching him to imitate you. Doing this during play making yourself as fun as possible is a way to entice him to want to imitate not only your actions, but your vocalizations as well.
Have you tried sign language with him? This opens the door to communicating for so many children. Check out the articles in the sign language section for help in learning how to do this.
Also check out the clips from the DVD since this may give you some additional ideas for how to prompt words and signs. If you find that your approach is much different than the clips, you may want to order the DVD to give you some additional suggestions.
I applaud how proactive you’re being with him! 14 months is very young, and I understand your concern, but you are so far ahead of when many moms first begin to be worried. Pat yourself on the back!
Laura
Comment by Carole on 14 October 2008:
First, I’d like to thank you for this website — it is such a help to those of us who aren’t sure what to think!
My daughter is almost 17 months old, and her only real words are “no” and “hi”. She doesn’t say mama; she does say “dadadadada,” but I’m not convinced she’s referring to daddy.
She also says please, but it sounds like “ssss.” When she first started saying it (it was her first correctly-used word) she would just blow a raspberry. I have this on video; we thought it was cute/funny at first, but now it worries me.
She sort of has three other words: for ice, she says “ssss”; for shoes, she says “ssss” or “shhh”; for bath, she says “da.” Today when I showed her a plant, she said “/t/.” This was her first attempt at a new word in at least two months.
She can make many of the more difficult sounds (t, d, zh, /s/, sh), but rarely tries to imitate words or sounds. When she does, it almost always sounds like “da.” We can’t get her to make a /b/ sound. We’ve thought twice that she did, but she wouldn’t repeat it. Sometimes when we try to get her to say “buh-buh-buh” she will say “duh-duh-duh,” and she has that sweet proud look on her face as if she were saying it right.
She does ‘talk’ a lot; she seems to think she’s really talking to us in long sentences with lots of inflection. Her receptive language is usually quite good, although it does sometimes seem like she doesn’t hear us. We’ve attributed this to not wanting to hear us, because we know she can hear and she does often follow directions. She also gestures quite a bit (pointing, waving hi, bye, and night-night, reaching, etc). I’ve just started using signs with her, but she hasn’t used any yet.
Until reading articles here, I’ve tried to agree with family who said she was just stubborn (which she is) and wouldn’t talk until she wanted to, and resisted talking because we ‘bugged’ her about it.
But my instinct has been to have her evaluated ASAP. Most people I talk to disagree, and our pediatrician suggested we wait until her 18-month checkup. Should I wait, or get it started now?
Comment by Laura on 14 October 2008:
Carole - I so applaud you for being concerned about her now, even if it’s against the tide of public opinion in your circle! The pediatrician may be having you wait until 18 months since this is such a benchmark age, and it may be a little easier for her to qualify for services if she’s not added anything new by then. She does have some red flags for speech-language delay, so I’d definitely have her assessed at 18 months if she’s not using at least 15 consistent words by then.
However, as her mom, I’d still do everything I could even BEFORE you get her evaluated to help her move along. Signing is a great way for many children to build their vocabularies AND for you to know what she’s trying to say since she’s using so many sound substitutions in word attempts and lots of jargon. Check out the articles in the signing section - especially the tips to get her started. Since she uses gestures already, this should be an easy next step. Watch the DVD clips (it’s the 2nd one I think) for a brief example of teaching signs to toddlers.
I’m glad you’re finding the site helpful, and let me know if there’s anything else you need! Laura
Please keep using the ideas on this site since they really do work!
Comment by Maria on 15 October 2008:
Laura,
thank you so much for your answer and for encouragement. I know it may be early to evaluate him, but I compare him with my first son who, at the same age, said many words. Thank you, Maria
Comment by leah on 1 November 2008:
hi there,
I am Leah from Malaysia, but currently live in Japan. My eldest son is now 34 months but still cannot make sentences and his vocabs are terrible, not fluent. I am so worried. At home we are talking in Malay language, sometimes I teach him some English vocabs. At his nursery , his teacher and the kids there all are speaking in Japanese. I wonder maybe he cannot talk because he confused with the 3 languages mixed up. Or maybe because he is watching TV too much. Can your DVD help me?
I also not sure whether meeting the therapist here is a good idea because they are Japanese,, so maybe they will teach my kids in Japanese. I want my son to especially can talk in English and Malay. Please advice.
Thanks in advance.
Comment by Laura on 1 November 2008:
Leah - The DVD can help any parent learn to teach their child language, any language. The DVD shows you how to use 6 different strategies to teach your child new vocabulary, in whatever language you are using.
Because he is having difficulty learning language, I would try to minimize the complexity and pick one primary language so that he can solidify his ability to assign meaning to words and then use those words functionally to communicate with you. However, he is going to need to learn how to communicate with his teachers and friends in school. If you are going to be in Japan long-term, he does need to speak and understand Japanese. If this is the case, then I’d definitely go ahead and see an SLP in Japan. They likely speak at least a little English too.
One more thing about the DVD - the DVD should work in your Japanese DVD player since Japanese players use the same operating system as USA players. BUT, if your DVD player is from Malaysia, it probably won’t play using it. In that case, you’d have to view it using your computer, provided that your computer has a DVD drive.
If you want to order the DVD, send me your e-mail address at laura@teachmetotalk.com so I can send you an invoice through Google checkout. Google checkout will not process international orders unless I send you the invoice first with the correct shipping amount precalculated.
Hope this info helps you! Laura