12.17.2011

Handling of Late Talking Toddlers

QUESTION:
Doc, my child was aged 2 years and 4 months but language skills not yet clear. My child loved to sing with tarzan language, like to running and shouting. We have consult to 2 doctors of developmental specialist, but only recommended to be trained to speak on a regular basis, and we have been doing. We even had speech therapy, but the result is not good.
 
To note, we work from 8 am-5 pm. During that time, children with servants (maids are change up to 4 times). Please help to explain what should we do to develop the child's speech.

ANSWER:
It seems that your child has been delayed speech, a condition that can be caused by various factors, such as abnormal / impaired auditory function, mental retardation, disorders of neurological / certain central nervous system, developmental disorders such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD ), autism, a lack of stimulation, parenting is wrong and so on.

Of course, should be ascertained first whether hearing function is normal or not, namely to check that function in several ways such as BERA (Brainstem Evoked Response Audiometry), which can assess whether any impairment / deafness in his ears so that he can not hear the sound stimulation in the vicinity.

If proven to normal it is necessary to proceed against him in a comprehensive evaluation. Wrong parenting, as often watching TV can also cause the condition, because TV is a stimulation that is only one direction, does not stimulate an active practice to communicate actively.

We recommend that these assessments should be comprehensive, because speech therapy conducted during this certainly is not the only solution before the exact cause of the delay in the speech is determined in advance.