Children 3 years old language delay is abnormal, it is necessary to have early intervention measures in the right way, right cause. A child’s vocabulary and language are cultivated and developed through daily interactions with people around them, so families need to strengthen communication with their children daily to improve this situation.
What is a 3-year-old child with language delay?
According to the natural development milestone, 3-year-old children can pronounce single words quite clearly, begin to combine words to say a sentence of at least 4-5 consecutive words, their vocabulary is also good. have at least 300 words. Children can completely understand the words they say, know how to use language and words to express their personal needs, constantly ask parents “why”, “what” to find out. surrounding world.
3-year-old children with delayed language development can be related to a lot of abnormal factors that need to be quickly intervened to improve.
A 3-year-old child with language delay is a condition in which a child can speak and even pronounce some words correctly, but does not understand all the words they have just said. Children’s vocabulary is very limited, maybe less than 50 words and they can’t put words together to say complete sentences. Or the sentence that the child says is also very messy, lacks logic, or uses strange words that make it difficult for others to understand what he is saying.
Due to the delay in language development, even though a 3-year-old child can speak, it is difficult to comply with the requests of others because he does not understand the content. Children also tend to be less active in talking or they may suddenly say or pronounce meaningless sentences, incorrect content, imitate the words of others, but they actually do not understand anything.
On the other hand, a 3-year-old child with a language delay can only pronounce a few words correctly, but not all. The rate of speech and language development of this group of children is usually at least 1 year behind the developmental milestone of normal children. This also directly interferes with the ability to perceive, remember, and interact with people and the world around them.
In general, the manifestations of 3-year-old children with delayed language development are also very diverse, which can be through both in terms of personality, cognitive ability, communication or interaction with the surroundings. This also depends on the cause of the child’s delay in language development and needs to be examined and determined accurately at the hospital.
Why is a 3-year-old child delayed in language development?
Language delay in children can be caused by many factors, which are related to the prognosis of this condition. This may be just a temporary condition, which can improve over time through enhanced communication, additional language for children if environmental factors are related; However, if due to pathological factors, developmental disorders in the nervous system, it will affect the whole life.
Some causes of 3-year-old children’s delay in language development include
Lack of interaction from childhood
In order for a child to develop speech and language, it will definitely need education and training right from childhood through simple behaviors such as talking and communicating with children every day. Therefore, a 3-year-old child with delayed language development may be because at this stage he or she is not able to interact, talk, or supplement in terms of language, so the vocabulary is slower than other people.
Children always have to play alone, without direct verbal interaction, vocabulary cannot be developed
Lack of interaction, children often have to play alone a lot, which is also the cause of children’s delay in speech and language development, which tends to increase today. Many people nowadays because they are so busy making money that they forget to talk to their children or often let them play alone, not being around to talk or interact with them.
On the other hand, some groups of 3-year-old children have delayed language development due to excessive use of phones and computers. Parents, instead of interacting with children, let them become “best friends” with the phone, just need to cry and pull out the phone for them to see. Gradually, children become addicted to phones, do not want to interact with their parents but only need the phone, even speaking the languages they see on the phone.
Abuse of excessive viewing of electronic devices makes 3-year-old children not only slow in language development but also have language disorders. For example, when children watch foreign programs, they can imitate and imitate foreign sentences and words, but cannot talk to their parents in their own language. This can even lead a parent to think their child is a genius for speaking a foreign language.
Another case is that a normal child does not have the opportunity to express the need to communicate, which also easily leads to the failure to develop vocabulary. Children are cared for by too many people, always meeting their needs before they even show it, leading to children not having the opportunity to communicate. Gradually, children are lazy to speak, do not want to speak, leading to delays in speech and language development.
Physical diseases
Damage to hearing, problems with the mouth muscles or some brain problems can also put a 3-year-old child at risk of language delay. Such as
- Hearing problems: children who are deaf, children with ear infections that lead to hearing loss. When children cannot hear, it will inevitably lead to not understanding what others say and not being able to develop their inherent vocabulary. This condition, if not properly intervened in time, can also lead to long-term damage, making 3-year-old children with delayed language development face many limitations in the future.
- Oral muscle problems: Some problems in the child’s speech organs can also affect the child’s speech and language development. This makes the child unable to smoothly coordinate the organs of the lips, tongue and jaw, making speech unclear.
- Problems in the brain: the area of the brain responsible for language ability, if damaged, can also cause a 3-year-old child to have delayed language development. For example, underdeveloped frontal lobes also make children’s language abilities poor. Or the inability of the brain to work with the facial muscles, causing apraxia, will also disrupt the child’s speech and language development. Depending on the nature of brain problems, the prognosis varies, with damage that can be repaired, and problems that will cause permanent effects.
Types of brain development disorders
3-year-old children with delayed language development will be able to last forever, affecting cognitive development and self-development later if it is related to congenital brain disorders. If these factors are related, even if the family interacts and communicates with the child during normal childhood, the child’s ability to develop language or communication will not improve.
Children with autism are encouraged to have language disabilities, so by the age of 3, their vocabulary is limited.
Specifically, some brain development disorders that cause 3-year-old children to have delayed brain development include:
- Autism: Autism spectrum disorder is characterized by language, communication, and strange repetitive behaviors. The child’s language is very limited, may repeat words with no intention or say nothing. There are even autistic children in the first years of life who hardly say anything, which makes their parents very worried. Some other signs of autistic children are not liking communication, not making eye contact when interacting, not understanding expressions, having difficulty communicating, having strange repetitive behaviors such as constantly clapping or clapping. spinning, being overly sensitive to sounds, colors, smells, and many other unusual problems.
- Children with mental retardation: this group of children only has an IQ of less than 70, which is below average, so their development problems, including cognition and language, are very slow. The child’s memory ability is often quite slow, so the child’s learning and use of language is often very poor. Children 3 years old with language delay, if mild, can still go to school, but their learning ability is often very poor. Most children are not able to complete the school program because they are too slow and are not interested in this.
- Some other brain problems: Hydrocephalus, William’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome… is also one of the brain damage problems that lead to children’s limited language development. This is also one of the serious problems that make 3-year-old children retarded in language development and many other consequences that directly affect the development process.
What are the effects of 3-year-old children with delayed language development?
Language retardation in 3-year-old children is an unusual problem that affects a child’s comprehensive development in many aspects. 3 years old is the period when children can say a lot of things, children begin to learn about the world around them, so the delay in speech and insufficient vocabulary can affect the cognitive development of children about the world. surrounding world.
Children 3 years old with delayed language development will be limited in communicating and expressing their personal needs on a daily basis
For example, a 3-year-old child who has poor language skills often leads to poor communication, he can hardly make friends because he does not have enough vocabulary to play and talk daily. Children’s psychology is easily negative, agitated, impulsive because they cannot use words to express their personal needs or if they speak, others do not understand them. Children often tend to scream for attention instead of expression.
On the other hand, if it is related to autism, 3-year-old children have been considered a late stage for language and cognitive development. The later the treatment intervention, the slower the child’s ability to learn, the child may find it difficult to participate in cognitive development activities as usual, hinder a lot of problems in both present and future. both mentally and physically.
Children 3 years old with delayed language development, if not quickly intervened, enhanced language and ability to communicate properly, for any reason, it will easily hinder the child’s ability to integrate into society. Children may have to go to school later than their peers or cannot keep up with their peers because they do not have enough vocabulary.
Direction of intervention for 3-year-old children with delayed language development
In order to properly intervene for a 3-year-old child with a language delay, it is necessary to determine exactly what is causing the condition. Families as soon as they see 2-3 years old, the child still cannot speak clearly every word, does not actively communicate, does not show signs of speaking, needs to quickly take the child to the hospital for the most accurate examination and identification. reason.
The doctor can order specialized tests through tests, brain tests, observing the child’s gestures when communicating, expressions, interactions or behaviors. After the final results are available, the doctor can offer a route or intervention direction suitable for each child based on each cause and stage.
Specialized medical intervention
If it is related to autism or mental retardation, there is hardly any medicine or medical or surgical measures that can improve. Some cases of brain damage are almost impossible to treat, so children will have to carry these damages, cognitive and communication deficits for the rest of their lives.
Children need professional examination and medical treatment according to each cause
Medical treatment will be effective if the cause of a 3-year-old child’s language delay is related to abnormalities in the oral muscles or hearing. Surgery is the treatment that can improve most of these causes. For example, children with tongue-tie, cleft palate, hearing processing disorders can all improve significantly through surgery.
Even with children who are deaf, if performed properly before the age of 5, the prognosis is quite good. In the worst case, the child is deaf and cannot be operated on to treat it, which can be solved through the design of children wearing hearing aids. As long as children can hear, they can begin to learn and memorize language to develop communication skills.
Personal speech therapy
In order for children to quickly catch up with the staged language development process like other normal children, individual speech therapy is a measure recommended by doctors and experts. The general purpose of these therapies is to supplement language and enhance communication so that the child can develop the full range of skills like other children.
3-year-old children with delayed language development, if due to autism and mental retardation, will extremely need individual speech therapy to be able to acquire language effectively. This special group of children often have significant limitations in terms of perception, interaction, understanding, so if they only communicate and teach language in a normal way, they will almost not be able to understand.
Currently, there are quite a number of individual speech therapy methods for children with speech delay, language delay, and are guided by experts. These measures are usually taken 1 on 1 with visual learning tools to ensure the best effect.
Some measures for 3-year-old children with delayed language development are being highly appreciated by experts today such as ABA method, TEACH method, phonetic therapy… Children can also enhance their vocabulary through Measures from music, fine arts … depending on the situation of each child.
Special Education
Almost now, children in the period 3-4 years old and above have started to go to kindergarten and bud class to learn. This also becomes the foundation for children to develop vocabulary and communication skills to prepare for school. However, with 3-year-old children with delayed language development, they can hardly go to class, even at older stages they can’t go to school because they can’t integrate with friends.
Special education helps children develop language, communication and other skills deficits
On the other hand, the fact that children 3 have slow language development and can’t communicate easily lead to isolation, even bullying because they can’t get along. Children who study in normal environments also easily spend a lot of time on teachers because they cannot interact and educate children according to normal ways. Therefore, families should refer their children to study in specialized educational environments to be more appropriate.
Special education for 3-year-old children with language delay is not only to increase vocabulary, improve communication skills, and enhance basic awareness, but also to contribute to helping children gradually integrate into the community. friend. When these skills of children are stable, they can easily integrate into the school environment or at least can receive a normal education.
Language development for children with speech delay at home
Children 3 years old with delayed language development, regardless of the cause, to intervene to increase vocabulary, the most effective communication ability for children is still through the process of daily interaction with parents. According to experts, parents often talk to their children, persistently talk to supplement language and cognitive skills with their children every day.
Many children with autism and children with mental retardation are completely entrusted by their families to doctors or specialized education centers, but this is absolutely not recommended. In order to improve children’s skills, especially children, they definitely need support from families, especially parents, to serve as a foundation for children to develop better.
Families can fully participate in the intervention process for 3-year-old children with language delay through the following measures:
- Discuss in detail with the doctor about the child’s condition, thereby understanding the right support to apply most effectively
- Enhance conversation and interaction with your child in all circumstances. In daily activities or stories, it is necessary to strengthen the integration of lessons to help supplement language and cognition for children so that they can be more receptive. For example, when children see a chicken, they need to point to the chicken and teach them to pronounce the word “chicken”.
- With measures to educate and strengthen vocabulary for 3-year-old children with language delays from home, parents need to pay attention to always let children sit at eye level so that children can focus on their parents and enhance interaction. eyes, create attention and focus for children.
- When talking or teaching children, parents need to pay attention to using simple, short, concise words that hit the heart of the problem so that their children can understand.
- Combining vivid, intuitive and expressive learning tools about language lessons that children can understand, especially with special groups of children.
- Educating children with speech delay needs to ensure the principle of frequent repetition to be effective. Especially for special children, if changing the school schedule for 1 day, stopping learning for 1 day is enough for the child to forget all that has been taught.
- In addition to focusing on developing vocabulary or communication, 3-year-olds with language delays need to develop other skills, such as basic personal care skills such as self-defense. birth, self-dressing. This is very important for special children.
- Supplementing with the right nutrition to support brain activity, so children can remember, learn about language as well as increase awareness of the world around them.
- Be patient, gentle and strict properly in the process of educating children with language delay at home. Angry or scolding parents can make children feel scared and not want to continue learning
- Enhance additional language, improve behavior and increase awareness for children by allowing children to participate in group activities and play more outside instead of just controlling them at home. When the child is out mentally, he can be more comfortable, meeting his peers will stimulate the child to want to talk more.
- Have your child go for regular check-ups as directed by the doctor to understand the child’s improvement process, thereby providing more appropriate support at each stage.
Children 3 years old with delayed language development, if not early intervention can affect cognition, communication, children difficult to integrate into society when they come of age. The early stages of life are very important for the comprehensive cognitive development of children, so families need to spend a lot of time observing and detecting abnormalities early, so that they can properly support the child.
