There has been a noticeable increase in the number of children who have fewer words than would be expected for their age, or who are showing obvious signs of speech delay. This is likely to be in part due to the pandemic, with the lack of socialisation from lockdowns, and the difficulties doing the health reviews which are usually carried out.
If there is a lack of opportunities for socialisation, and/or a lack of contact with services, parents are more likely to be unaware when things are not progressing as expected. One mother I know of was unaware that her three-year-old twin boys were autistic, describing them as ‘playing well together and creating their own language’. Their condition was detected by a health visitor and the remainder of the appointment was concerned with gathering evidence for the referral.
What is ‘normal’?
The primary sounds which underlie the formation of speech are the sounds OO, HA, DA and MA. These are sounds which parents tend to make instinctively to their babies, punctuated with lots of repetition.
From 18 months to two, children use a limited number of sounds in their words – often these are p, b, t, d, m and w – and it’s also common for them to miss the ends off words. They can usually be understood by people who aren’t their parents about 50 per cent of the time.
Two to threes use a wider range of speech sounds and may shorten multisyllabic words, for example, ‘nana’ instead of ‘banana’. Trickier sounds like ‘sh’, ‘ch’, ‘th’ and ‘r.’ will be difficult for them, as they will for many three-to-fours, though the number of sounds they struggle with diminishes. For example, most children will typically start to develop their L-sound skills around the age of three, but it’s not unusual for children to struggle with this sound as their tongue strength develops (e.g., say ‘wemon’ instead of ‘lemon’).
If a three-year-old is struggling to turn ideas into sentences, the language they use is jumbled and difficult to understand, or they are unresponsive or slow to follow instructions, seek help from a speech and language therapist.
Things that may impede speech development:
- Having a special educational need, a speech-related disability, or English as an additional language.
- Hearing issues. From glue ear to profound deafness, there are key signs a child has hearing loss, from abnormal speech to not paying attention to conversations.
- If a parent has a mental health condition, such as depression, which limits the positive interactions experienced by the child, this will impact the child’s communication.
- Screen time: Young children’s screen time should be limited to an hour or less per day (none for the under-ones, according to the World Health Organization).
