How to Know if Your Child Needs Speech Therapy Adelaide for Kids

It must have been a thrilling and memorable moment to hear your child say “mama” or “dada” for the very first time. Watching your child develop more vocabulary while attempting to speak in adorable baby talk is priceless. But what if your little one is still saying “noo-noos” (instead of “noodles”) or “eow” (instead of “hello) at age five? Should you be concerned? Is it time to get speech therapy Adelaide for kids? Not necessarily. However, it’s also okay to have your child evaluated. The earlier the diagnosis, the less impact it may have on your child’s development and progress. With that mentioned earlier, here are some tips that we can recommend:

 

Check Your Child’s Verbal Development

By the age of three, you kid should be able to pronounce the letters ‘t,’ ‘n,’ ‘d,’ and a few other consonants in the alphabet. At the same time, you or your child’s caregiver should be able to comprehend and understand 75 percent of what the child is saying. At age five, your child should be able to reply and understand most speech sounds. If your child doesn’t speak much at all, he or she may be experiencing a language delay. One clear indication of language delay is if your two-year-old cannot say around 50 words nor combine them to communicate something. If this happens, they may need speech therapy.

 

Consult with Your Pediatrician

Before you even think about bringing your child in for speech therapy Adelaide for kids, you must consult your pediatrician first. If your little one’s verbal development isn’t on target, see your pediatrician right away for initial testing. The first course of action may be a hearing test. Children who have ear infections are especially prone to temporary, intermittent hearing loss. This condition can make it difficult to verbalize sounds since they can’t hear it correctly. Your child will then go through more tests before the pediatrician recommends that you need to see a speech therapist. If the diagnosis does require you to see one, your pediatrician can refer you to one of his or her colleagues.

 

Practice at Home

Speech therapy will help your child create certain sounds. These therapy sessions usually once every week or two. So, practising with you in between sessions is an absolute must. Through constant practice, your child will learn how to speak different words and emit different sounds. As a result, he or she may be able to improve his ability to talk.

 

Always keep these tips in mind when you’re having issues with your child’s ability to communicate effectively. Speech therapy Adelaide for kids is always available for you and your little one. Call our hotline today to get to know more about speech therapy.