During Speech Pathology Week 2024, we held a webinar inviting people to submit questions to our Speechies regarding all things Speech and communication. We received wonderful questions from parents and carers around Australia covering language development, bilingual children, lisps, sounds of letters, stuttering, dummies, food pouches and more.
To discover the full answers, rewatch our webinar below. Presented live by our Certified Practising Speech Pathologists, Mikaela Papadimitriou and Sabrina Chung.
Find more Free Webinars here.
To make an appointment with our Speech Pathologists, click here.
How can I identify and differentiate between typical language development and potential speech or language disorders in young children?
Communication milestones provide information about the typical development of a child’s communication skills (this may relate to words they understand, gestures they may use to communicate, sounds they make and how they may play/interact with others).
Communication milestones are often used to provide individuals with a guide on how a child’s communication skills are developing as they age. The Speech Pathology Australia website has a great resource online that provides more detailed information about the communication milestones.
You can also talk to your GP/Paediatrician, child/maternal nurse, kinder/carer or schoolteachers about your child’s speech/language for a second opinion or possible referral to a speech pathologist.
Download the Communication milestone chart
Here's our Communication Milestone chart for children aged 12months to 5 years.
Are there any red flags or warning signs I should be aware of when it comes to speech and language development in young children? What are some signs that a child is speech delayed in early years age groups?
Some red flags are that they aren’t reaching their communication milestones.
Some more general developmental concerns may be:
Difficulties with pragmatics
Regression
Hearing issues
Also it is important to note that for those who are neurodiverse, their communication styles and development may differ to neurotypical developing children.
I am seeking advice regarding my 2-year and 8-month-old son's speech development. He speaks single words or short phrases like 'see you later,' recognizes letters and numbers, follows instructions, and communicates his needs with one or two words, but he does not form full sentences. Is his speech development within the normal range for his age?
It’s difficult for us to say whether they’re speech and language is typically developing without assessing, but these are some of the communication milestones for these age groups. It is also good to refer to the communication milestones.
If you suspect that he is not meeting these milestones by three years, then it’s best to get an assessment from a Speech Pathologist.
What are some ways to support children with their language development?
Early language development is typically learned through interaction with others and their environment. Parents and guardians play a critical role in the development of their little one’s language development in their early years. And of course, look into seeing a speech pathologist. They will work with your child’s strengths and provide you with in depth training tailored to you and your child.
Children who are from bilingual families do take some time to communicate, should we be worried if they use only one language? And sometimes they only use gestures instead of words, but they understand what you say.
Typically, bilingual children will favour one language and that’s okay. They may need more exposure to the language or perhaps they just find it easier to communicate in their chosen language. You can try repeating what the child has said in the minority language, but you don’t want to force the child to speak it as it may discourage them from communicating.
As for the gestures instead of words, it’s difficult to comment on without seeing the child and seeing the extent of it and having an understanding of their other milestones. Continue exposing them to both languages because we know that language exposure is how children learn language.
I’d like my son to learn how to roll his r’s as we have an Italian background. So far I’ve had no luck. He just turned 5 at the end of June.
The English /r/ is usually the last letter children learn to make. It’s usually perfected by the age of six or seven. When rolling the ‘r’ sound, it involved the tip of the tongue to vibrate against the roof of the mouth, near the front of the teeth. Coordinating airflow is another aspect of producing a rolled ‘r’ sound.
As rolled ‘r’ sounds are not a characteristic of mainstream Australian English, your son may require more exposure and direct instruction on how to roll his ‘r’ sounds. At 5, children are usually still learning master all their sounds, so the rolling of the ‘r’ sound may require more time and practice.
What if a child has picked up an accent or lisp from relatives/friends. What techniques are useful to correct the incorrect pronunciation other than constant reminders?
You may need to see a speech pathologist to correct the sound pronunciation. It’s difficult to provide strategies for this when we are not sure of the sounds that are not being correctly produced. Each sound has a different strategy.
It also really depends on the age of the child. When children are quite young, around 3-4 years, this can happen quite a lot and the accent comes and goes. If the child is above 8 or 9 then they may require Speech Pathology to correct the sound productions.
The first step in correcting an incorrect sound production is to hear the difference between the right production and the wrong one. Perhaps you can try to say the same word in each accent and aim for the child to pick the correct one. Train the ears.
If the accent is affecting your child’s ability to be understood by others, their self-esteem, confidence to communicate, affecting education development then it is something that may require intervention from a Speech Pathologist.
As for lisps, this indicates difficulties with producing a specific speech sound (eg. s, z, r, l and th). Lisps indicate difficulties with correct tongue positioning particularly when producing ‘s’ and ‘z’ sounds.
It is typical for children to experience a phase where they have difficulties with the ‘s’ and ‘z’ sounds (where they put their tongue between their teeth or touch the front of their teeth while trying to produce when making these sounds). These types of lisps may occur until about 4 ½ years of age. If these speech sound difficulties persist, seeking assistance from a Speech Pathologist may be required to work on correctly producing the sounds.
Other types of lisps are usually not considered to be typical for speech development and may require further assessment and intervention from a Speech Pathologist.
How to assist a child who still has some difficulty in articulation and some of the sounds of letters such as 'L' and 'N' can be difficult to understand.
This is a difficult question to answer, as a speech pathologist really needs to assess the speech errors of the child. Are they unable to say the sound? Are the substituting it with another sound? Does it sound distorted? We have different methods of treating each of these, so it’s important to consult a speech pathologist to assist with these.
Do note that /l/ is a tricky sound and it’s usually acquired by age 5 years.
When is the best time for intervention? Our daughter has a large vocabulary but has some clarity of speech issues. It’s progressively getting better but we want to know if she would benefit from intervention. Or what we can do at home to assist her. She is 4 years old.
By 4 years of age, a child should be able to produce (m, n, h, w, p, b, t, d, k, g, ng, f, y, s, z, ch, j, sh). If your daughter is having trouble with any of these sounds, it’s a good idea to get some speech pathology intervention.
A speech pathologist will be able to do assessment on not only speech sounds but also expressive and receptive language and assess for any other concerns.
Note that, it is important for children to develop their speech sounds as there is a strong connection between speech sound awareness and literacy skills, based on current research. Assuming your child is going to school perhaps next year or the year after, if you are concerned about your child’s speech it may be best to talk to a speech pathologist.
Is stuttering normal in 3-year-olds, only just started 3 weeks ago but it is happening with most words in the sentence. Should I be worried or this is a phase?
There are many things to consider with this, and I always recommend getting a speech pathologist to assess the child to determine whether they need speech therapy.
It is common at this age and called developmental stuttering, where there is so more new language and the child’s brain is working quicker than their mouth and it can result in stuttering. It is also possible that the stuttering is here to stay.
Some warning signs that the stuttering will stay are a family history of stuttering, the stuttering has been occurring for 6 months or more, the stuttering is quite severe, and the child is struggling to get words out and feel blocked at times, if the child is getting frustrated with the stuttering, if there is facial grimacing while stuttering, or sound prolongations.
If it is affecting the child’s ability to communicate and be understood, causing the child frustration and affecting their self-confidence when communicating/speaking, it is recommended they see a speech pathologist
Should we frown upon dummies as a deterrent to good speech and language development
The research around this is quite conflicting. Some studies suggest that there’s no link between speech problems and dummy use, whereas others suggest that the prolonged use of a dummy can affect certain speech sounds.
Too much of anything is never a good thing. If there is prolonged use of it, there’s potential for sounds to not be developed properly due to teeth and palate changes, and less desire for the child to communicate.
At the moment there is no strong evidence to suggest that it can lead to problems so it’s difficult to comment on. More research is required.
Is there an impact on babies/toddler speech development from using food pouches? Sucking instead of opening their mouths for a spoon?
They can be convenient for busy times but using only food pouches can limit learning and developmental opportunities for babies. Touching, chewing and eating food plays a big role in their oral and motor skill development. Although it can be more messy, it’ s important for babies to learn to self-feed using fingers and spoons.
It is important to provide as much opportunity to try foods that vary in shape, size, colour and taste (where appropriate) and allow children to experiment with how they eat these foods (eg. with their hands, cutlery, to bite it etc).
As babies and toddlers develop, their oral structures change (eg. less fat in their cheeks, growing teeth) to support them to transition from sucking movements when they feed to chewing. Continual use of food pouches may limit these opportunities to develop their feeding skills and promote ‘sucking’ movements when they eat.
Being able to coordinate the movements of the mouth, coordinate and move food within the mouth, chewing and swallowing is an important skill for eating all textures of food.
Developing skills in eating and drinking and transitioning to a variety of food textures is important for your child’s development.
If you are concerned about your child’s feeding skills it may be necessary to consult you GP, paediatrician, child or maternal nurse, or speech pathologist who specialises in paediatric feeding.
How early is too early to start working with a Speech pathologist?
It’s never too early to start early intervention. If your child isn’t meeting their communication milestones, you can start working with a speech pathologist.
We use a play-based approach in early intervention and work with the adults involved to educate them on the strategies you can use to assist your child at home.
Play-based therapy involves play where speech pathologists model language, teach vocabulary, support children to engage in conversation and coach parents to model and provide opportunities for children to develop their speech and language skills at home.
It’s best to get an assessment from a speech pathologist if you have any concerns, as the earlier a speech or language disorder is detected, the easier it is to assist your child.
If you are looking to see a speech pathologist, we have a wonderful clinic in Mount Waverley where Sabrina and IMikaela are available to help one-on-one for a range of reasons including:
Stroke, Dementia, brain injuries, speech, language, swallowing and social-communication skills. Our team is here to help everyone of all ages and can even conduct a telehealth appointment if you are unable to come to our clinic.
We do have a waitlist but you’re welcome join the waiting list and we can be in contact with you once an appointment becomes available.
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