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Observe: what your child is interested in Wait: to see what your child will do Listen: to your child and hear what he is trying to tell you. Adapt to share the moment: Imitate what your child did Interpret what he wants to say, and say it Take turns Add new experiences and words: Give your child the words for things, object that he looks at. If he has one word you add another one, i.e. ‘dog’, you say ‘big dog’, ‘small dog’, ‘brown dog’. If your child is at the level that he is using two words in a sentence, add another word, i.e. ‘big brown dog’, ‘brown dog barks’ etc. Repeat, repeat, Repeat: As your child is learning language, you will have to repeat words over and over in order for your child to learn and use them. So don’t feel like you are being repetitive – it is helping your child. TALLAGHT HOSPITAL, DUBLIN, INCORPORATING THE NATIONAL CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL Speech and Language Therapy YOUR CHILD’S LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT Developing language is probably the hardest thing that anyone has to do in their lifetime. Not surprisingly, most children have some difficulties along the way – they often don’t say sounds properly, don’t say words in proper sentences or don’t talk at all. These difficulties are frequently a source of worry for parents. Following are some answers to questions asked by many parents that are concerned about their child's speech and language development. Before reading any further it is important to realise that: All children are different and develop at different rates. One child may walk as early as eight months while another may not even try until sixteen months. Both children are quite “normal” and will eventually walk just as well as each other. The same can be said for talking. All children (and adults) have their strengths and weaknesses. Your child is likely to perform well in some areas and not in others. Children can only do a certain number of things at one time. If your child s developing in one area e.g. learning to walk, don’t expect him to be making great progress in language development at the same time. Children, as a rule, understand much more than they say. It is thus important to stimulate them even when they do not talk back. The best and natural way for a young child to learn to speak is through listening and taking part in conversation. Try to make talking a pleasurable activity. HOW DOES A CHILD DEVELOP LANAUGE? The child’s first sounds come from his swallowing, crying, cooing and gurgling. Pleasure associated with the warm and comforting tones of his mother’s voice help it increase the sound he makes. Even in the first year, adult approval and repetition help the child increase his language learning. The age at which the child says his first words varies greatly but average at around one year. These single words develop from one word phrases to 3-4 word phases and eventually sentences. It is believed that speech becomes important to the child because it is used by those who look after him and make him happy. His desire and need to respond in a similar manner to people around him is the main reason for his language development. The following are some pointers to remember when interacting with your child, which will facilitate language development: Get down to your child’s level i.e. on the ground, sitting facing you, as this will allow many forms of input ie auditory, visual etc. Allow your child to lead: if your child has an interest in a particular toy, book, page in a book, use this to talk about, because what your child shows interest in will maintain his attention for longer. So try the following: