Many parents leap with joy when their baby utters his first word in a slow and progressive manner. One of the most amazing things in parenthood is seeing speech development in toddlers. Parents need to know that they have more influence on the child’s speech development because humans are basically adaptable. That means training a child certain things such as uttering a few words helps them to learn effectively. However, it is quite rare to find new parents who have taken speech development classes to help their children develop speech. In that case, here are a number of things that you can do as a new parent to create a positive environment for speech development in your child.
Listening and response
As a parent, you need to be cognizant of your child’s development. This means understanding all his strengths and weaknesses. By listening to your child carefully, you can glean all the information that they are trying to relay. You can tell his likes and dislikes and his general perception of the world around him. Thus, the essence of listening can hardly be understated. Children appreciate the attention given to them by their parents and develop their speech due to listening and response.
Positive feedback
It is also important to give your child positive feedback as they learn to utter a few words. Both positive verbal and visual feedback go a long way to motivate your child to learn how to communicate effectively. When your child tries to utter a difficult word, you can always smile or make a remark that encourages him to try more.
Speech therapy
It is not always guaranteed that your child will learn to speak effectively like other children. In some cases, there could be speech delay. While this is usually frustrating to parents, you can still find an effective solution to help your child with speech development. Speech therapy is an effective treatment offered by professional therapists to help your child with development of speech. It creates a positive environment where your child learns to speak and interact with other children who may have had delayed speech as well. It is vital to be cognizant of your child’s growth and development so you can take the appropriate action at the right time.
Imitation and repetition
A child also learns better through repetition and imitation. Therefore, you need to ensure that certain words that have been recently learnt by your child are repeatedly used. This will enable your child to gain a better grasp of the word and use it in the right way next time. Repetition also helps him to understand the right context for different words.
These are all ways that can help you to create a positive environment to allow your child to learn how to speak clearly. Speech development in children is important. At the age of 2 years and above, a child should be able to speak with his parents using a number of words. If you notice signs of speech impairment, you can always resort to speech therapy in CT, which is an effective solution for speech disorder.
