How to identify language delay early

Language is a common communication tool used in human society, which contains different commonly accepted symbolic codes.

Children's language development is affected by factors such as brain development, genetics, upbringing environment and disease. If parents find that their children have difficulties in language development, they should pay attention and take measures in time.

What is language delay in children?

Delayed language development in children refers to the fact that during the language acquisition process, children's language comprehension and expression abilities have not reached the level that they should have at their age. When the comprehensive comprehension or production defects of language exist for a long time and continuously, and the language ability is significantly and quantitatively lower than the age expectation, resulting in impairment of social participation and learning, it is a language disorder.

What are the clinical manifestations of language delay?

01Interpersonal relationship barriers

1. Lack of attachment behavior

They ignore people and like to be alone; they don't like adults to hold them, tease them, or play with them; they ignore their parents' feelings and treat them as tools to satisfy their needs. They will only approach them actively when they need them to satisfy themselves, and are indifferent to them at other times.

2. There is not much difference in the reaction to relatives and strangers

When seeing relatives, they are not particularly happy and often have no reaction; when seeing strangers, they are not afraid and do not shy away from strangers.

3. Not interested in interpersonal relationships

They are not interested in group games or activities, rarely take the initiative to find others to play with, rarely take the initiative to participate in group conversations, and rarely maintain real and lasting friendships with others.

02Communication barriers

1. Language communication barriers

They cannot articulate clearly, speak too fast, or speak in a voice that is too high or too low; they only say individual words or repeat other people's questions; they ask questions repeatedly and the content of the conversation is monotonous; they use personal pronouns incorrectly or not at all, and confuse "I" and "you".

2. Non-verbal communication barriers

Lacking the ability of non-verbal communication, they are unable to communicate with others through eye contact, gestures, expressions, and body movements, making it difficult to establish good social relationships.

03Attention Deficit

Children with delayed language development often have problems with distraction and can only focus on things or learn for a short time, which can easily lead to learning difficulties.

04Psychological and behavioral problems

Some children may exhibit psychological problems such as inferiority, withdrawal, over-dependence, lack of self-confidence, fear, hostility, and may also exhibit destructive, self-harming, or aggressive behaviors.

What are the common causes of language delay?

01 ╱Mental retardation╱

Children with intellectual disabilities lag significantly behind normal children in language comprehension, language acquisition, and language expression, which is mainly manifested in underdeveloped adaptive behavior and language comprehension and expression.

02 ╱ Hearing Impairment ╱

Listening ability is essential for language learning and cognitive development. Only with normal hearing can effective language learning be carried out. Hearing-impaired children cannot learn language normally during the critical stage of language development, 2-3 years old, because they are not exposed to enough speech stimulation, which eventually leads to speech disorders. Children who are slow to speak should pay attention to hearing testing again during childhood.

03 ╱ Specific Language Impairment ╱

Childhood language disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by normal non-verbal intelligence and hearing, but difficulties in language acquisition, comprehension and expression, and is not directly related to factors such as physical disability, intellectual disability or lack of language environment. Main features:

①Learning to pronounce the first word is late, mostly after the age of 2 (normally appears between 10 and 15 months);

② The child can produce single words or two-word sentences when he is nearly 3 years old (normal appearance is 12 to 18 months);

③ They start using pronouns when they are close to 4 years old, especially "I" (normally appears around 3 years old);

④ Small vocabulary, for example, less than 30 words at the age of 2, and unable to speak phrases at the age of 3;

⑤ Unable to speak complex sentences, does not follow normal word order, and uses the third person instead of "I".

04 ╱Autism Spectrum Disorders╱

Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disease with poor social interaction and communication skills, delayed language development, narrow interests, and stereotyped behaviors as core symptoms. Most children with autism spectrum disorder have difficulty in interpersonal relationships and find it difficult to communicate with others. Early diagnosis and treatment can help children with autism spectrum disorder improve their condition. Among children with autism spectrum disorder, the intelligence level is very inconsistent. A few children are within the normal range, and most children show varying degrees of intellectual disability.

05 ╱ Poor language environment ╱

Humans are not born with the ability to speak. The formation of language requires a good language environment and sufficient language stimulation, which is one of the important conditions for children's language development. If children do not receive sufficient language environment and stimulation in the early stages of language learning, their language ability may be impaired, and they may lack language communication and the joy of speaking, which may eventually lead to backward language development.

What can parents do?

Understanding your child’s recovery plan

Each child's language delay is unique, so parents need to have a deep understanding of their child's condition. Communicate with professionals such as doctors and speech therapists to learn about the child's assessment results, treatment recommendations, and rehabilitation goals. On this basis, parents can work with professionals to develop a personalized rehabilitation plan to ensure that the treatment plan meets the child's actual needs and characteristics.

When designing a rehabilitation program, parents need to consider their children’s interests and learning styles to help them stay motivated during treatment. Parents need to understand the time period and expected results of rehabilitation treatment so that they can plan their time appropriately and set expected goals.

Active participation in recovery

It is very important for parents to actively participate in their children's rehabilitation. Parents should play an active role in their children's rehabilitation process and become their children's best partners. When interacting with their children, parents need to be patient and confident, and encourage them to try and express themselves positively.

In life, parents can use various ways to promote their children's language development, such as increasing interaction with their children, teaching singing, telling stories, etc.

In addition, parents can also help children develop attention, memory and expression skills through activities such as games and painting. The interaction between parents and children is very important for promoting children's language development and enhancing parent-child relationships, and can make children feel the love and support of their parents.

Pay attention to children's mental health

Speech delay may bring psychological burden to children, so parents should pay attention to their children's mental health and create a positive recovery environment. When communicating with children, parents should maintain a friendly and positive attitude to avoid making children feel too nervous and negative.

In addition, it is very important to involve children in social activities and events to enhance their social skills and self-confidence. During the child's recovery process, parents need to pay attention to the maintenance of their own inner state, maintain an optimistic and positive attitude, and become a strong support for their children.

Seek professional support

Parents should actively seek professional help during their children's rehabilitation treatment and continue to learn rehabilitation knowledge. Parents can keep in close contact with doctors, speech therapists and other professionals to obtain timely information on their children's rehabilitation progress and problems so as to adjust the treatment plan.

Author: Yu Kanhan (supervising nurse), Nie Mingcui (supervising nurse)

Unit: Xishuangbanna Maternal and Child Health Hospital

Reviewer: Hu Jihong (Chief Physician, Director of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine of Hunan Children's Hospital, Standing Committee Member of the Children's Rehabilitation Professional Committee of the Chinese Rehabilitation Medicine Association)