Speech and language development are the most important elements of communication and social life. A person expresses himself and continues his life through communication tools. In a life where speech and communication are lacking, the groundwork is prepared for the development of many problems. The child has been in a continuous process of psychosocial and psychomotor development since the day he was first born. Language development also begins to develop to a certain extent from birth. The most ideal thing is for the child to acquire speaking skills appropriate to his age and there are no developmental problems in this regard. It is necessary for the child to speak on time, for the stages of psychosocial development to be regular, for the child's social relations and development to be normal, for the child's intelligence and learning capacity to reach normal levels, and for the child to reach the developmental periods he/she needs to reach. Since speaking is so important, let's review the timing of speaking and the factors that affect it positively and negatively.
In general, in order for all children to speak and develop language, structurally the nervous system, the pathways between the nervous system and the tongue muscles, The structure of the mouth, palate, lips and teeth must be normal from birth. Any congenital problems or deficiencies in these or any subsequent disorders will negatively affect the child's speech. There are many diseases that can negatively affect this normal anatomical structure. This normal anatomical structure may be disrupted when these diseases develop in the mother and the child during pregnancy or in the child after birth. Since it is quite long and comprehensive to list these diseases one by one, I would like to cover the basics without going into too much detail right now.
Children generally start to produce syllables slowly in the first six months (ma ma, ba ba, da da, etc.). ), words begin to emerge from 12 months (mother, father, mama, grandfather, etc.), and from 18 months they begin to form sentences (come mother, father, give them, etc.). Children who are far behind these developmental periods need to be examined in terms of speech in general. Because a situation that is overlooked will negatively affect the child's normal intelligence and social development secondary to the communication problem. By the way, some children have late symptoms even though they have no problems (anatomical or psychiatric). He starts talking and the conversation becomes late. But our advice to parents is that they should provide the necessary examinations for children who still do not speak after a certain period of time. It would be appropriate to point out situations that have a negative impact on speech, that is, cause late speech or prevent the desired level of speech. It would be appropriate to count intelligence problems among the most common reasons for this. Children who are intellectually behind their peers will begin to speak later than their peers. Children with hearing problems have speech problems because they do not hear any sounds from the outside world and do not receive any stimuli. They will also be intense. In order for the child to develop his speech mechanism and ability, it is necessary to receive sound stimuli from the outside world, perceive them, interpret them, distinguish them, and as a result produce similar sounds. Therefore, it would be appropriate to examine the hearing aspect of children who do not speak; care should be taken in this regard, especially for children who frequently suffer from otitis media (middle ear infection).
Another situation that will negatively affect speech is the child's vision problem. Although this situation does not cause as much of a problem as a hearing problem, it may cause problems in terms of the child seeing what is going on around him, recognizing objects, learning their names, adapting to other children, having a visual impairment, and speaking.
Another reason is frequent seizures. We can give examples of children with epilepsy. Although some children begin to speak normally and even form some sentences, the seizures and epileptic seizures they experience can cause damage to the hearing center or related parts of the child's brain, causing serious problems in terms of speech. Therefore, it is important for parents to prevent their children from having seizures. In children with this condition, problems related to seizures can be easily detected by taking an EEG (electroencephalography).
Another reason is that children who are quiet and do not receive much stimulation may have delayed speech and communication problems. From the moment the child is born, being among people, talking to him, loving him, playing with him, helps him to speak by receiving the necessary environmental stimulation. It will make it faster. On the other hand, this development may be retarded in children who cannot find many people around them and remain by themselves.
In parallel with the above-mentioned problem, children are detached from the outside world due to the TV they watch (hours of music, watching advertisements), especially at the age of 0-3. A psychiatric picture may develop, such as a tendency to keep to oneself, moving away from people and interpersonal relationships, being more interested in objects, giving up emotional exchanges, not talking, not paying attention to peers, and not looking when called. Accordingly, children's speech may not develop or may regress after development. When this situation is noticed late, autistic features accompanied by many problems, as well as speech problems, may develop. It would be appropriate for parents to avoid letting them watch too much TV in this critical life stage (0-4 years old). Speech problems are experienced in diseases affecting the child's system.
What can be done to accelerate the child's development in terms of speech and communication. (after the diseases and physical problems mentioned above are excluded)
1- Treat the child with love and peace. Prepare a family environment work
5- Playing games with the child in an age-appropriate way
6- Spending time with the child
7- Ensuring that the child has a balanced and varied diet
8- Not letting the child remain on his own
9- Ensuring that he plays games with his peers as much as possible
10- Having him around people as often as possible
11- Telling him stories and singing lullabies
12- The speech and sound he sends to you Responding to his messages
13- Telling him something about an object when he picks it up (even if the child is a 3-4 month old baby)
14- Preventing him from staying in front of the TV for too long (0-4 years old)
15- Adjust the tone of voice well when talking to him/her.
16- Direct the requests he/she indicates with signs by talking to him/her. to learn, to make him/her explain (appropriate to his/her age)
17- Valuing his/her ideas and frequently having troubles with him/her (appropriate to his/her age)
18- Increasing his/her self-confidence (see ways to increase self-confidence)
19 - Ensuring that he is frequently in social environments
20- Encouraging him to speak in crowds
21- Encouraging and encouraging him when he speaks
22- Ensuring that he receives an education appropriate to his age
23- Spare a certain amount of time daily and talk a lot about pictures with him/her
24- Ask him/her to tell stories or fairy tales appropriate to his/her age
25- When you see speech difficulties, do not draw his/her attention to the speech difficulties
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