Supporting children with expressive language difficulties
- If a child's speech and language production appears to be delayed or disordered in any way when compared to other children their age, this is called an expressive language difficulty.
- You may find that a child speaks normally, but sounds like a much younger child. Perhaps they are only using one or two words together or perhaps they are speaking in short telegrams, rather than fluent sentences when compared to the others.
- You may notice that some children speak unclearly, cannot co-ordinate their speech sounds correctly, consistently swap sounds or seem unable to 'get their tongues around' certain sounds.
- Some children appear to speak nonsense and may even have developed their own bank of words for certain things - we call this 'jargon'.
- Others may stammer or stutter.
What you can do
- If you are concerned, keep a note of the speech sounds a child can make. It is useful to tape record these, taking a sample both in the setting and at home where the child will be more relaxed.
- If a child says a word that is not clear, do not ask them to say it correctly. Instead, repeat the word clearly to them so that they can hear the correct version.
- Use puppet play and telephone play to encourage vocalisations.
- Play together in small groups so that the child has a better chance to listen carefully and reply to you.
- Practise making clear mouth and tongue movements and speech sounds in front of a mirror together.
- Make sure that hearing checks are up-to-date. Speak with a health visitor if you are concerned.
When to seek help
- At first, toddlers may repeat the first syllable of a word, perhaps saying 'bobo' for 'boat'. They may also repeat a consonant in different positions by saying 'gog' for 'dog'. Seek help if this does not disappear by the time a child is nearly three.
- Two-year-olds still tend to miss off final consonants, such as 'ca' for cat, or shorten words, such as 'boo' for 'blue'. Seek help if a four-year-old does this a lot.
- All children start with single words, move on to double words and then try short phrases followed by longer sentences. It is normal for them to sound like little telegrams at first, but seek help if this persists to age four.
- Typically, 'm', 'p', 'b' and 'w' sounds develop first, soon followed by 'n', 't' and 'd' when the child is one-to-two-years-old. The two-year-old begins to use 'k', 'g', 'h' and 'f' sounds, followed by 'y' and 'I' when they are about three. It is very common for three-year-olds to say 'lellow' for 'yellow' or to find it hard to say 'th' or 'sh' - these are simply immaturities that generally clear up by school age.
- If you are concerned that help may be needed, enquire about a referral to speech and language therapy.
An extract from "Supporting speech and language difficulties", Dr Hannah Mortimer, Nursery Education, October 2003, p. 8.
