For some reason, there is an opinion that speech begins to develop in a child at the very moment when he utters his first word. But this opinion is far from the truth. The speech development of a child by psychologists and speech therapists is usually divided into several stages.
At the first stage, the respiratory system is prepared for voice reactions. This is a kind of warm-up before the first, clearly pronounced sounds: the child "walks"; reproduces vocal undifferentiated laryngeal, pharyngeal, oral, labial noises and some indefinite, similar to speech, sounds. Then there is a sound "babble" of voice undifferentiated sounds, explained by an attempt to imitate. This period lasts up to six months.
At the second stage, clearer speech sounds are formed, syllable synthesis is observed. By 9-12 months - syllabic binomial chains. A child speaks a few simple words (usually about ten). In the second year, the stock of simple words gradually increases, the simplest speech patterns appear.
In the third stage, when the child is three years old, the vocabulary is already 500 words (and possibly more). Much more speech patterns, more perfect pronunciation.
The fourth stage coincides with the fourth year of life. The vocabulary already has many more words (about a thousand); speech chains are complicated and lengthened; a lot more speech patterns. It is interesting that the child speaks intensely loudly during this period (speech stereotypes are strengthened). Subordinate clauses appear.
At the fifth stage of the ontogenetic development of the function of speech , the vocabulary is further enriched; pronunciation volume is adjusted; proposals become more complex, well-built and perfect. The fifth period coincides with the fifth year of life.
Of course, the child’s speech development continues further. But the foundations are laid precisely in these periods - up to five years. It happens that the development of the child's speech deviates from the norm. And then the parents start to panic, frightened by the strange abbreviation "ZRR". You need to understand that the diagnosis of "delayed speech development" is not a sentence. The key word here is "delay." Of course, this is a problem. The problem is serious. Indeed, in a person all processes are interconnected, incl. and mental. The child's speech development is closely intertwined with cognitive processes: thinking, memory, attention, imagination. It affects the overall psychological development, and interpersonal interaction. And if the child’s speech development is behind the norm, one cannot do without the help of specialists. This is the case when you can not wait. The sooner this problem is identified, the faster and easier it is fixed.
The delay in the development of speech in children is often caused by:
- lack of demand for speech: you need to talk with the child, allowing him to "wedge" into the conversation; no need to guess his every desire - provoke the expression of this desire with sounds, words (verbal expressions of desires and emotions);
- slow, genetically determined growth rate of nerve cells that are responsible for speech;
- injuries and illnesses;
- hearing problems (a child who is unable to hear will not be able to imitate the speech of an adult, i.e. will not be able to speak).
What to do? It is better to give it to a specialized garden (or group) where speech therapists work. To some extent, this will really do good. But the efforts of specialists without your direct participation will come to naught, since the main influence on the child’s speech development is still rendered by the family. The speech therapist will tell you further actions, recommend special educational games, exercises. Follow the recommendations. Speak correctly yourself, because you are a model that the baby imitates. Do not lisp, pronounce sounds clearly. Hearing a question from your child, do not wave the words “I have no time” or “leave me alone, I'm busy, go play”, as it sometimes happens. When talking with the baby, listen carefully, do not interrupt. Read books, listen to audio recordings of fairy tales and poems, encourage communication with peers. And be sure to complete the tasks of a speech therapist. Your joint efforts will surely yield results.