Speech Therapy for the Child of Busy Parents

By: Leah Moryosef
Submitted: 2009-10-30 16:16:46
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You're busy. You're strapped for time. You expect high quality in all that you buy, and you expect effective and efficient results. You don't have time for the "run-around," and you don't have patience for things that don't get the job done in a streamlined way. When you have a concern about your child's health or well-being, you seek out professionals and you expect prompt guidance.

Many parents and grandparents who voice a concern about their child's speech or language development, often hear "Don't worry, he'll grow out of it." For example, if you tell your pediatrician that you're concerned about your five-year-old son doesn't say the 'TH' sound correctly, and she says "Don't worry, it's developmental." This can be a source of frustration for many, because you know it doesn't seem right and you're not so sure that he will outgrow it. If you do take your doctor's advice and wait a year or two, and the sound doesn't correct itself, it will be much harder to correct because the incorrect sound is a solidified bad habit.

Speech therapists say that most children can learn to make many of the speech sounds at an earlier age than the developmental charts say is typical. The charts tell you the latest possible age that the sound can come naturally. The fact is many children develop the correct speech sounds much earlier than the guidelines indicate.
 
Many children can learn most of the speech sounds as young as three and a half to four years of age. Children's brains are wired for speech and language development -- they are great listeners and imitators of speech and language. Children around the age of four are also very interested in making their parents happy, so they respond quite well to praise. These two inherent traits in young children make them especially receptive to learning correct speech sounds from their parents.
 
Children can also use their correct sounds in conversation much earlier than parents realize. The sooner a child begins to use his/her "new" correct speech sound in conversation, even if he/she still need reminders from the parents to make the sound correctly, the sooner and better he/she will start saying the sound correctly all the time, without any help.
 
Help should be given to children as soon as possible if they show signs of having a speech issue. If they do not receive help, the child may come to dislike school and refuse to participate in social activities as they become older. While it can be helpful receive professional guidance from a licensed and certified speech pathologist to assist in diagnosing and treating the speech problem, especially in severe cases, parents and other caregivers are ultimately responsible for the ongoing correction and repetitive training of the child to improve their speech and language development. Your child will thank you for it.

Leah Moryosef has been a certified and licensed speech-language pathologist for more than 16 years. Her program SpeechWays is a do-it-yourself speech therapy program designed to teach parents and caregivers how to do speech therapy with their own child. For more information, including a Speech Quiz, visit www.MySpeechWays.com or call 858-449-5628.

Article source: Expert Articles

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