Teaching Late-Talkers to Talk
Meet them where they are! Easy plus one.
So how do you teach a late-talker to talk? The easiest place to start is to meet them where they are at. If your child has no words yet, then sound play is a very effective way to engage them. If a child speaks in single words, we teach them new words to build their vocabulary through play and everyday activities. We also can use the easy plus one concept. For instance, if Johnny uses the word “ball” with ease, we may add one more word to his. We might say, “throw + ball” or “roll + ball” or playfully make the ball bounce on his lap and say “bouncy ball”. Research shows that children need to be using at least 50 words consistently before they are ready to combine them into two-word phrases. They will also need to be learning verbs in order to make two-word phrases. So many verbs can be taught during play routines when children will likely learn more quickly since these times are important to kids. For example, Dad can model the word “go” before he and baby go down the slide or Mom can model “eat cookie” while feeding cookie monster during play-time.
Teach late-talkers sign langauge
Sign Language can be invaluable at this stage. Sign language makes the abstract concrete. For example, when a child sees the same gesture every time he is fed, he starts to connect the word milk with the sign. Since children’s gross motor skills develop before finer motor skills, sign language gives them away to communicate much earlier than speaking orally. In fact, babies who grow up in deaf households start signing as early as 8 months of age. As baby’s musculature for speech improves and they are able to speak words, they abandan their signs preferring the easeist method of communicating. Children still need to see their parents modeling signs over and over again in order to make those connections, but when they do, they really can take off! I’ll never forget taking our oldest to the zoo as a baby. He was sitting on his daddy’s shoulders watching the Elephants when one decided to relieve himself. Andrew stared signing potty from his daddy’s shoulders and was able to communicate clearly with us. It was such a joy to be able to see him expressing his thoughts before he was able to speak verbally.
Read books to your late-talker!
Reading books is a great way to build in repetition. Research shows that toddlers need to hear words repeated several times in many contexts before they are able to understand them. Some favorites of mine are Dr. Suess’s “The Sound Book”, all of Sandra Boynton’s board books, Goodnight Zoo, Brown Bear, Brown Bear and The Hungary Caterpillar by Eric Carl. Any book that interests a child is useful. Pointing to what you are talking about as you read, rocking in a comfortable chair or using other forms of movement to make the story come alive, and using voice inflection (wispers are especially attention getting for little ones as are animal sounds) help keep small children engaged during storytimes.
Make it fun for both of you!
Children learn through play and engagement with the people that mean the most to them. When they are young, parents are thier world. When we are concerned about our children, it is easy to place unecessary burdens on ourselves and our littles. Teaching junior can easily feel more like drilling. Instead, we want to give junior just the right amount of stimulation without overwhelming his system. We want to create back and forth interactions that are rewarding in and of themselves. One the same line, the more senses we include when teaching new words, the more quickly littles are able to store what they have learned into memory. Including sensory experiences, songs, smiles, giggles, and wiggles help children learn to request more of the same and even initate thier favorite play routines. The more silly you can be, the better! A special note on sensory input. Occupational therapists will attest that deep pressure input, such as climbing, crawling, and bouncing as well as vestibular input such as swinging on a swing are helpful in maturing a child’s sensory system. I find these activities can also be used to help regulate a child’s system to help him engage more in learning. Physical activities that activate both sides of the body such as crawling and swimming also activate both sides of the brain and strengthen communication between the two hemispheres. Daily movement is as important for a toddler’s learning potential as it is for his physical development. Thankfully, it is natural for our little ones to want to wiggle, so lets join them in the fun!
