Blog three. I’m going to write about something that I think I’m pretty good at. Not like Oprah good, but pretty good. Curious what it is? Dun dun dunnnnnnnn… playing! I’m pretty good at playing with kids. Thankfully, because that’s what I do for a living! One of my greatest skills as a pediatric speech and language pathologist is playing. Seems simple right? It certainly can be but if you are making an effort to be intentional in targeting certain skills, then it can be more complicated than meets the eye. Play is EXTREMELY important for a child’s development. You caught that emphasis, right? Children begin to play at a very young age. It starts by exploring and putting things in their mouths (oh the germs!), throwing toys off the table (just so you have to pick them up 100-different times), and then it slowly changes and evolves to what you traditionally think as "playing." This is when it gets really good. It is during this time where children are learning how to en...
Blog two. Like I mentioned before, I hope that with every entry, you are able to learn a little bit more about me. With that said, let’s jump in. I’m a speech and language pathologist (as you should know by now) and my sweet and sassy daughter didn’t talk till she was nearly 2 ½ years old! A reaaaaaal late talker. As every day passed, I questioned if I needed to bring her in to get evaluated. Her pediatrician even said I needed to get her evaluated and frankly, I was slightly offended. I mean, I was the expertise in that area. Right? My own husband would gently ask if it was time to get her evaluated. <gulp> The lines between caring mother and confident therapist quickly blurred. I began doubting myself.
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| (Look at that sweet girl, who hardly talked!) |
I decided that I was going to devote 2 hours a week to specifically target Teigan’s expressive language skills. We would drop Declan off at preschool, head back home, and bring out all the babies, pretend food, and the teapot. I decided the laundry could wait and the dishes in the sink would still be there when I was done, and then we played. We played for hours and I was finally starting to see progress after some time. Single words became more frequent and consistent, then she started to combine those words into short phrases, and then all of a sudden, she was all caught up. And wouldn’t stop. talking. ever. I was so proud of my sweet girl. She was proud of herself!
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| (Teigan's word list at 2 years of age) |
You’re probably wondering why I bring this up. Why, you ask? Well, parenting is hard! And we all just do the best we can. Making decision, after decision, after decision. It’s exhausting! I knew Teigan’s social skills, as well as her receptive language skills, were developing as expected. Deep down, I knew she was just going to be a late talker but even I began to question myself. What if there was something else going on? And remember, I’m supposed to be the expertise in this area (ha!). So with some seriously strong conviction, I urge you to reach out to your local speech therapist if you even think twice about your child’s speech and language development. If even I was questioning, just do it. I don’t know any parent who has regretted bringing their child in. Worst case, you will leave the session with some extra tools in your tool belt to help your child’s development (ba-zing-a!).
After my own experience with my daughter, I was inspired to make a parent friendly handout that gives you specific strategies to easily implement with your late talker at home. Drum roll please. You can have it for free.
If you like this one, I have made several others that you can check out here... Parent Handouts
So, in closing, if your child isn’t babbling with varying intonation by 12 months, using gestures like waving, pointing, and nodding their head for “yes” by 12 months, or doesn’t have any words by 16 months, contact that speech professional. Remember, you won’t ever regret it.
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