Understanding the Importance of Early Speech Therapy: When to Seek Help for Your Child
Speech and language development milestones can be a useful guide for helping you to know when your child should be acquire certain speech and language skills. Sometimes, children experience delays, and that’s when speech therapy can be beneficial! If you're wondering whether your child may benefit from speech therapy, this post will help you understand when it's the right time to seek support.
Key Signs That Your Child May Benefit from Speech Therapy
Late Talkers: If your child is using less than 20 words by 18 months, has fewer than 50 words by age two, or is two years old and not yet combining words, they may be considered a late talker. Speech therapy can help boost their language skills, set them up for longterm communication success, and help reduce frustration as they communicate with their caregivers.
Speech Intelligibility and Articulation Issues: Struggling with pronunciation or producing certain speech sounds can affect a child’s confidence and communication skills. A qualified speech-language pathologist or communicative disorders assistant can help your child use their tongue, lips, and jaw to correctly produce challenging speech sounds, improving their clarity, supporting early literacy, and boosting overall confidence.
Gestalt Language Processing: Some children may seem to learn language in chunks rather than individual words. If your child uses long phrases but struggles to break them down into smaller parts, or communicates in lines or scripts from videos, they may benefit from a unique approach to speech therapy that is play-based, child-lead, and involves making language accessible so that they learn in a way that makes sense to them!
Social communication: Children with autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, or other developmental differences, may benefit from direct support to develop their social communication skills. Individual or group therapy with a skilled speech-language pathologist or communicative disorders can help children learn to use their language intentionally and effectively to connect with peers and caregivers.
Why Early Intervention Matters
Research shows that early speech therapy can have a significant impact on a child's overall development, especially when it comes to literacy, language, speech clarity, and social skills. If you have concerns about your child’s communication skills, rather than waiting to see if your child will “grow out of it,” reach out to a qualified speech-language pathologist. We will provide you with guidance, evidence-based answers, and actionable strategies so that you can have peace of mind when it comes to your child’s communication.
