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Pipsqueak
12-01-2010, 11:47 PM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8436236.stm

helenlc
13-01-2010, 09:15 AM
Gosh, thats quite worrying isnt it?

I had a LO start with me the year before last - he was 2 1/2. His lack of language wasnt apparent at first but soon became so. He used a lot of baby talk rather than actually trying to form words. I asked Mum if she had noticed his lack of speech and she said she had noticed it was less than his brother had been at the time. She said she would make an appt for speech therapy but I never heard any more. He was my really disruptive one and I do think that a fair bit of his behaviour was frustration at not being able to make himself understood.

My 19 mth old mindee has excellent language skills - a few words ie woof woof (this is last weeks new one), wind (as in wind the bobbin up), mama, gone, bye bye, hello, sit down (on the step to put shoes on!!), cue (when she copies me saying thank you - I did a CLL course recently done by Penny Tassoni and she said its just as easy for children to learn to say Thank you as it is to say Ta so I am doing that now). She copies every sound and noise though so is articulate even if not in proper words iyswim. She will call my children and you can hear its almost their names - she tried the name of my new mindee yesterday and again, it was a good try.:thumbsup:

My new almost 2 yr old mindee has Wiliiams Syndrome and has speech delays. Most children with Williams Syndrome dont acquire language til the age of 3. But yesterday was her first day and she was very vocal with her noises and baby talk. So thats very encouraging cos at least she is wanting to and is able to make noise.

Thats why I am interested in getting a buggy that faces me so we can interact all the time we are out. I always had a forward and rear facing pushchair with my own children - I kept it facing me til they were about 2 I guess. When they started getting more nosey I turned them around to face forward.

My friend used to walk along pushing her DD in her buggy but she (mum) would be plugged into her phone with earphones listening to her music. It used to make me sad for her daughter who had no chance of interacting or having a "conversation" with Mum as they walked along. How was she going to learn any language if no-one was talking to her? A walk is the ideal time to chat about everything around you and colours and big and small etc.

Anyway, have gone on a bit - am now stepping off my soap box!!:blush:

Annie_T
13-01-2010, 10:03 AM
oh dear shocking tbh x

Chatterbox Childcare
13-01-2010, 10:08 AM
I am pushing one of my little 3 year olds to go to the hv and possibley speech therapy. He is so lazy and with more encouragement can speak properly but everyone answers his ga ga with sense and he nods.

I think parents need training too!

moogster1a
13-01-2010, 10:36 AM
I think people are too quick to refer to speech therapists. My lo hardly said a word till he was almost 3 then suddenly came out with whole sentences! a lot of children, especially boys will not bother as they can get their need across to their carers. ( in fact, a lack of speech could be seen as having a very attuned parent!).
Most people who are worried enough to refer to a ST are the more caring parents who are more likely too be interacting with and speaking to their children more than parents who don't notice their child is a little "behind" its peers; so I'm a little dubious about claims that later talkers could come from families with little interaction speech wise.
I've heard of a lot of lo's being referred from about 16 months on. far too early for any concern imo. Still, speech therapusts are getting a lot of custom!

Pipsqueak
13-01-2010, 11:17 AM
I think people are too quick to refer to speech therapists. My lo hardly said a word till he was almost 3 then suddenly came out with whole sentences! a lot of children, especially boys will not bother as they can get their need across to their carers. ( in fact, a lack of speech could be seen as having a very attuned parent!).
Most people who are worried enough to refer to a ST are the more caring parents who are more likely too be interacting with and speaking to their children more than parents who don't notice their child is a little "behind" its peers; so I'm a little dubious about claims that later talkers could come from families with little interaction speech wise.
I've heard of a lot of lo's being referred from about 16 months on. far too early for any concern imo. Still, speech therapusts are getting a lot of custom!


I think its about following gut instincts and acting upon something you know isn't right. There are so many factors to take into account as well, such as the childs understanding, receptive and expressive skills etc.
My middle child had a specific delay and referred to a ST by the age of 2 - I just KNEW there was something not right and it stood me in good stead for my youngest who's speech didn't develop right at all due to a combination of things.

Your comment about about later talkers and familes with no interaction of speech I think is perhaps not particuarly accurate imo.
Working with the families I do and the experience I have gained through the projects and research shows and proves time and again that there is a massive jump in children in recent generations who are not gaining correct/accepted speech and communication. (I have just done research project on this). Good verbal skills at certain critical points can be early indicators of literacy skills, and it goes without saying that good CL skills are a pre-cursor to literacy.

The familes i work with do not understand or even comprehend the need for talking to their children let alone reading or singing with them. They believe that the tv or internet will edcuate their child sufficiently. When the child is talked at - its a very loud volume, negative instructional language constantly and there is definately no value placed on the child speaking.
these children are due to go to nursery September and not long after that school - where the teachers will have their work cut out for them if they are having to teach children to speak.

Of course children develop at different rates and every child is individual and I appreciate that some children don't utter their first words till later on, like I say though there are many factors in determining if a child needs professional help.

mama2three
13-01-2010, 11:32 AM
I think people are too quick to refer to speech therapists. My lo hardly said a word till he was almost 3 then suddenly came out with whole sentences! a lot of children, especially boys will not bother as they can get their need across to their carers. ( in fact, a lack of speech could be seen as having a very attuned parent!).
Most people who are worried enough to refer to a ST are the more caring parents who are more likely too be interacting with and speaking to their children more than parents who don't notice their child is a little "behind" its peers; so I'm a little dubious about claims that later talkers could come from families with little interaction speech wise.
I've heard of a lot of lo's being referred from about 16 months on. far too early for any concern imo. Still, speech therapusts are getting a lot of custom!

sorry moogster i cant agree with you. of course all children are different , but language is about so much more than whether they are saying the correct no of words etc. the signs are there and relate to interaction and understanding as much as to the words themselves.speech therapy is not always the way to go , i do agree there ... maybe settings where a higher 'level' of communication is happening between children , peers and adults - or more focus placed on educating parents in the first place regarding the importance of singing , reading , playing etc.... i find it so worrying , especially when you see the percentage of young offenders who have these communication problems , and could perhaps have been helped from being very very young.

FussyElmo
13-01-2010, 11:47 AM
It doesnt suprise me as we are in a part of the country where it is actually 1 in 3 children. Speech therapists are like gold dust if you can get to see one. The waiting list where I was was 2 years to get and see an actual therapist. We do have more programs coming through to help which I wish were around when I needed help.

Some of the children who are in serious need of help are waiting a very long time. My eldest ds waited 18 months to get to see his speech therapist and that was when it was agreed that he needed help (he suffered from oral dyspraxia). When my youngest ds showed no interest in speaking i over ruled the hv and asked him to be referred luckily his speech did get better and I was worried over nothing.

I talk to alot of parents who think it is the schools job or anyone other than them to get their child talk:eek:

My friend's son saw 6 different therapists in 2 years due to the shortage we have and that is a major problem in itsself.

Pipsqueak
13-01-2010, 11:57 AM
here you go - more stats:


‘a child from a deprived home has heard on average just 13 million words by the age of four, compared to 45 million in a more affluent home’.

that 89% are worried that the occurrence of speech, language and communication difficulties amongst pre-school children is growing. The lack of adult and child time spent talking together was highlighted as the key reason by 92% of them” I CAN (2004).

Jean Gross the Communications Champion has said “good communication skills are vital. Without them children have little chance of getting good GCSEs or getting a decent job. These skills are what employers want, and they are what we need to make good lifelong relationships and resolve conflicts. But one in ten children don’t have these skills, and in disadvantaged areas research has shown that this rises to as much as one in two

Gherkin
13-01-2010, 12:22 PM
It is really sad. I have recently volunteered to be involved with the Every Child a Talker (ECAT) initiative in our area. It has been rolled out to pre/school settings but our Early Years team have offered it to accredited childminders as well so that will be interesting to see how that progresses.

Alibali
13-01-2010, 07:12 PM
My own 3 and all my minded kids have all talked early and all have a large vocabulary from a young age, perhaps it's cos it's never quiet in this house and you have to lean to talk to join in:laughing: :laughing:

Trouble
13-01-2010, 07:28 PM
They should help these kids in Nursery not when its too late

I knew in nursery my dd had something wrong with her language and speech

it took til year 3 for then to get it:angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:

CAZMCA
13-01-2010, 09:29 PM
They should help these kids in Nursery not when its too late

I knew in nursery my dd had something wrong with her language and speech

it took til year 3 for then to get it:angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:

our nursery has the opposite problem, my dd has a slight lisp, caused by the gaps in her front teeth, they have sent her to speach therapy, along with about 20 other kids in her nursery. over 70% of them were told that it was speach immaturity and that they will have to be reassessed at a later date :eek: complete waste of time! i understand that they need to get these things looked at but sometimes they take it too far, making statistics like these a joke! :laughing:

Pipsqueak
13-01-2010, 09:33 PM
They should help these kids in Nursery not when its too late

I knew in nursery my dd had something wrong with her language and speech

it took til year 3 for then to get it:angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:

Thats bad of them but sadly not many people know you can self-refer to speech therapy, you don't have to go via the docs, hv or other.
Thats what i done with harry and then james.

There are programmes in place to help children now - the 2yr old pilot project and ECaT