Your child is a Late Talker - it may be too Much Technology...

By Shari Harpaz, CCC-SLP, Speech-Language Pathologist, Ebeanstalk.comI’ve seen it more now than ever...children are talking much later than they used to. And I have a pretty good idea of why they are talking late. Go up to the mirror, and take a look...it’s our fault.Be carefull...the kids see what we do and often imitate it. And whether parents like it or not, early language development is chiefly influenced by interaction with their children. Infants develop early language skills through engaging in vocal play. They learn the satisfaction of communicating by going back-and-forth with a parent making sounds. Interacting with baby toys in a mutual way also contributes to language development. As toddlers they develop vocabulary and learn grammar through language stimulation from their environment and interaction with their family and peers.Here is the problem; in our busy world our dependence on technology and the need for instant gratification has constrained these important interactions with our children.Does this sound familiar? Well, this is the problem... We text message our friends ‘quickly’ when in a car. We check email on our phones and PDA’s during ‘family dinner’. Children play portable video games or watch DVD more frequently. All of these changes have changed the way families and friends communicate and this has negatively impacted early language development for many young children. As a result, there has been a significant increase in children who are ‘late-talkers.’ Think back to when you were young. you probably played games and sang songs in the car to help pass the time. BUT...today technology is filling our spare time. Cars have DVD’s. Our kids have portable video games that they play with for hours. And don’t get me started on the young-ones having cell phones. Great inventsions – absolutely - but their presence means there is less time for parents to take part in language stimulation with their young children. This doesn’t have to be the case. The good news is that in many cases all these children need to catch up is more one-to-one language stimulation with their family. Here are my thoughts about making sure technology doesn’t get in the way of family time.1. Make up a story together – Your child will have to really listen and be creative to help create a cohesive story. Decide as a family what the title of the story will be first. Then each person takes a turn telling the next sentence. 2. Play “I Spy” –. Increase the difficulty of the game by describing the object rather than saying the label (i.e. I spy something you ride with 2 wheels and handlebars). Hint: Make a rule that you can’t repeat the same object that someone has previously said so that your child really has to pay close attention3. What did you do today? – at the end of an active day, everyone can tell what their favorite and least favorite things they did were. By sharing the good and bad moments it teaches children to vocalize their emotions. You, as parents, share your feelings too which provides your children with a great model.THIS REALLY WORKS: Take advantage of car rides when distractions can be kept out and you can gain your child’s undivided attention. Be creative and create an open environment for your children to communicate with you and for them to learn. JUST HAVE FUN! Plain and simple fun.