Difficulties in the development of children's language

If we have any suspicion that the child has difficulties in the development of children's language, the first thing we should do is take him to the pediatrician to rule out any organic disease that may be affecting his language. It is proven that children who hear less than their peers, may have difficulties in their language, both in their expression and in their responses.

When there is a malformation in the bucco-organs, children can also have some difficulty in the development of language. In these cases, the pediatrician would indicate if there is any alteration such as dental malocclusion, ogival palate or sublingual frenum, etc.

Causes of difficulties in language development

1. Organic. Hereditary, congenital, perinatal or postnatal.
2. Functional Malfunctioning of organs that intervene in the transmission of the Language
3. Endocrine. They affect psychomotor development and sometimes affective development, language and personality.
4. Environmental. They make reference to the family and social environment in which the child moves.
5. Psychosomatics. They affect thinking by creating a disorder in compression and expression.


The normal development of language up to 3 years

In order to realize if our child has difficulties in language development, parameters have been established by stages of what is considered habitual in the normal development of language up to three years:

1. Up to 3 months, the child is often silent when spoken or smiled and can also emit sounds of pleasure, such as gurgling or cooing.
2. From 4 to 6 months, can respond to changes in the tone of voice and pay attention to the sounds, moving the eyes towards the source of the stimulus. Around this age, babbling is more like speech and contains more different sounds than in the previous stage. No longer just gurgles or cooing to express their pleasure but also to interact with the adult.
3. Between 7 months and 1 year, the child enjoys games that contain rhymes and gestures, already manages to turn towards the source of sounds, pay attention when spoken to and recognize names of objects such as "cup", "shoe", etc. Start answering questions and commands. The use of language begins to have a functional value, attracting the attention of the adult with what, decreases the use of crying to maintain the attention of the adult. He also imitates speech sounds and uses one or two words, although not very clear. It is capable of expressing groups of short and long sounds (for example: papapa, baby).
4. With 1-2 years, The child understands simple words and identifies some images by pointing them out when they are named by the adult. He has more vocabulary and speaks sometimes using two words together. You can also even use the questions.
5. The child with 2-3 years obey more complex instructions referring to an object or person "give the book to Paloma", etc. and begin to understand the differences between meanings (for example, up and down).


It is convenient to go to a speech therapist to perform an evaluation and treatment for the delay in language development when the child does not meet the necessary requirements for the normal development of the language in relation to their age.

Sofia of the Source Peñin. Speech therapist.
María Luisa Juárez Méndez. Psychologist

Video: Examples of different levels of severity in Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)


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