Why doesn't my child speak?
If a child's speech is slower or slower than expected for his age, it can be said that he has a delayed speech problem. In terms of normal development, a child is expected to say his or her first words between 12-18 months and start making sentences when his or her repertoire of single words reaches approximately 50 words (around the 24th month). If a child is not able to form sentences even though he is 3 years old, he should be evaluated by a speech and language disorders specialist as soon as possible.
Children with delayed language and speech problems acquire the language system later than their peers, so they cannot read during the school period. They may experience writing and learning difficulties. The main determinant at this point is what type of linguistic difficulty the child has in speaking more backward than his peers. A mild retardation, which is seen equally in all areas of the language, can be overcome over time. However, development that is specific to certain areas of the language and is more than 1 year behind its peers requires close monitoring and intervention. Which language problems require therapist intervention should be evaluated by a speech and language disorders specialist.
Language is a complex system consisting of many subcomponents. Developmental language disorders may affect one or more of these subcomponents of language. Language characteristics of the child also vary depending on which subcomponents are affected. While some children have difficulty using only the suffixes in the language, others may have no verbal output or may communicate at a single word level without making sentences with a limited vocabulary.
Developmental language disorders include mental retardation, pervasive developmental disorders (autism, asperger's, etc.), hearing loss etc. These or similar cases of delayed speech that cannot be attributed to any other reason are called 'Specific Language Disorders'.
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