“Speech delay can affect a child’s ability to speak and communicate verbally. Some of the causes are mouth disorders and short frenulum.”
Speech delay or delay in speech development in children will affect their ability to communicate. This includes verbal expressions or the way they speak. Like other skills and developments, each child’s verbal development will be different. However, mothers also need to know to what extent their growth phase is in accordance with their age. A child with a speech delay is only able to say 2 to 3 combined words. This problem is caused by several conditions, such as mouth disorders and short frenulum shapes.
Causes of Speech Delay in Children
There are several conditions that cause speech delays in children, namely:
- Oral disorders.
For example, a cleft lip or problems with the shape of the tongue or palate. - Short frenulum.
The size of the lower tongue fold that is too short can limit the movement of the tongue when speaking. - Autism.
This condition causes neurodevelopmental disorders that affect a child’s behavior and communication. - Ear problems.
For example, chronic ear infections, which are inflammation of the mucous membrane of the middle ear that lasts more than 2 months. - Lack of stimulus.
For example, apraxia that attacks the nervous system and damages the child’s motor skills. - Neurological problems.
These disorders can affect the muscles used for speech. Examples include cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, and traumatic brain injury. - Mental retardation.
Children with this condition are unable to speak, understand words and use body movements properly.
Another cause is oral-motor problems in children. This disorder is triggered by problems in the area of the brain that functions to speak. As a result, coordination of the lips, tongue and jaw to speak becomes more difficult. Another disorder is hearing problems. This condition affects the ability to speak because the child has difficulty hearing. Other impacts include difficulty speaking, understanding, imitating and speaking.
Signs of Speech Delay to Watch Out For
This problem is treated by a speech-language pathologist, audiologist or developmental pediatrician. The doctor will consider possible causes of speech delay, ranging from hearing loss to developmental delays.
Immediately check your child if they experience these symptoms:
- Age 12 months. Unable to point or wave.
- Age 18 months. Prefers to use gestures rather than speech and has difficulty imitating sounds.
- Age 2 years. Can only imitate speech or actions, unable to speak spontaneously, unable to express requests and unable to follow simple instructions.
There are other symptoms to watch out for, namely:
- Rarely speaks or imitates what others say.
- Does not react when called.
- Avoids eye contact when spoken to.
- Difficulty naming objects around him.
- Not fluent in putting two or three words together.
- Inability to follow simple instructions.
To overcome the symptoms that appear, the steps that can be taken by parents are to often invite them to communicate. First, invite them to talk, do it in short sentences. Then, increase the number of words slowly. Mothers can also give them supplements to improve their physical and brain health.
