Stimulating home environment boosts child’s speech development

However, experts say that they have of late, begun seeing more cases of speech delay due to lack of stimulation.

Three-year-old Manish is a bright child and energetic. However, there is one gnawing issue for his mother, he never strikes a conversation with anyone at home. She says, “He talks to himself or repeats rhymes he learnt at school. But when we try to talk to him, he is never into it.” 

His mother also admits that she ignored his speech development in the early stage (one year). She says, “He gave us a tough time when it came to eating. Therefore, we turned to rhymes and cartoons on the TV or system for long hours. Later, we realised, while he had picked up a few words like akka or amma , his speech was not in accordance to his age. We took him to a speech therapist, who told us there was nothing to worry and that he would gradually pick up.” Dr Ravi Ramalingam, Chairman, KKR ENT Hospital & Research Institute, says the problem though very common in the Middle East and the US, is becoming common even in India where the family support system is strong. “That is why we insist that parents should send the child to a play school. If one stays in an apartment, they must let allow them to mingle with other children. Parents must make a conscious effort to talk to the child. With both husband and wife working, this is a common problem now in India,” he says. 

Dr Prakash Boominathan, Professor, Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Sri Ramachandra University, says that specific language impairment (SLI) can be treated with constant guidance and stimulation. “We also have some play activities that supplement the stimulation to help the child cope,” he says. 

He adds that in some cases, there is lack of internal drive. “Though it is extremely natural for human beings to be social, some lack the internal drive to speak or communicate,” he says. 

Apart from stimulation, there are several other factors like hearing loss that leads to speech delays, says Dr Ramalingam. “Therefore, we conduct camps in schools to identify the problem. Hearing loss also results in speech delay. They may not be able to express the difficulty and parents may not figure it out on time. A collection of mucus in the ears stops the ear drum from vibrating,” he adds. 

He says that correcting the problem would include cochlear implants or hearing aid. 

Dr Boominathan says that studies have shown that babies born with low birth weight also show development delays. Apart from these, the other factors include acquired hearing loss and mental retardation. However, early intervention is the key here, points out Dr Boominathan. 

“A child has reflexive speech till about six months. For instance it cries when it is hungry or when it wets the bed. However, it turns wilful in the form of intonations after that period. If a child doesn’t express as per the age, then the parents must look for evaluation and assessment to find the reason,” he says.

Reasons for delay 

Hearing loss 

Lack of stimulation or internal drive 

Development delay, conditions like autism 

At one: Upto 1 year, as many as 10 words—predominantly unclear 

At 1.5 years: Clear words  

At 2 years: A mix of clear and unclear words 

At 2.5 years: Rapid growth in the number and improved clarity