(WYTV) – Good communication is a great quality of a positive parent. But what if your childing is struggling with their verbal skills?
Nicki Dohar has been a speech therapist for 22 years, working with young children with speech and language delays. She says there are some general guidelines to you can use to identify if your child has speech and language delay.
Dohar says when your child is 18 months to two years old, their vocabulary should range between 35 to 50 words.
“You really want to see them starting to combine words together by the time they hit that second birthday. Not only the expression, the language expression, but how they’re comprehending. Are they following simple directions. If you tell them to go in the other room to get their cup, can they do that? Or can they only do it if you’re guiding them and pointing and giving them maximum amount of cues and gestures,” said Dohar.
Dohar says it’s important to note that kids do develop at different rates. If you are worried about your child’s development, you should take them to their pediatrician.
“You would need to get a script from your doctor to receive a speech and language evlauation. And then from there, the therapy would take place if they quality for more services,” said Dohar.
It’s never to early to get your child evaluated.
“We say the earlier the better. You know, I’ve never spoken with a parent that regretted getting early intervention for their child. And maybe they go for that initial evaluation and they find out that whatever sound their daughter or their son didn’t have, well that’s developmentally appropriate. I’ve never seen someone that’s upset about saying you know what, your child doesn’t need speech therapy,” said Dohar.
Dohar says in regard to speech delays, it is always best to start therapy earlier than later.
