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The child does not speak at 4 years old: reasons, what to do, how to teach
Speech is a necessary condition for the successful socialization of a small person, and later an adult, in society. However, according to statistics, there are more and more children who do not speak at 4 years old. Why this happens, how and who can help in this case.
What should be alarming if a child does not speak at 4 years old
The baby’s first babbling gradually turns into conscious sounds and syllables. He tries his vocal apparatus, mastering human speech. By the age of one and a half, there are already about 60 words in his active vocabulary. Speech mastering is progressing at a fantastic pace. Three-year-olds already use almost 1000 words.
If a child does not speak at 4 years of age, or speaks very poorly, this is a reason to see a doctor.
A healthy child has indicative indicators of speech development. If the deviations are significant, then this is a reason for correction by a specialist. Here are the points to focus on:
- 1 year – the first few words: “on”, “give”, “mom”;
- 2 years – first phrases of 3-4 words;
- 3 years old – the baby speaks in common phrases, recites poems by heart;
- 4 years – phrases are built taking into account the grammar of the language;
- 4-5 years old – the child logically connects sentences into a story;
- 5 years – the formation of the correct pronunciation ends, the speech is literate, close to the speech of an adult;
- 6 years old – coherent literate speech.
The earlier the problem is identified and treatment is started, the faster and more successful the progress will be.
If the child understands everything, speaks well, but distorts some sounds, replacing them with similar ones, at 3-4 years old – this is not scary By the age of 5 this can be corrected by working with the baby. But if the vocabulary of a four-year-old is too poor, the child understands, but cannot express his thought logically and grammatically, it is worth worrying.
For what reasons do four-year-olds not speak
The delay in speech development can be caused by physiological and psychological abnormalities:
- Severe shock – stress, after which the baby refuses to speak.
- Heavy family atmosphere.
- Head trauma, complications during and after pregnancy and other neurological disorders. More than 50% of cases are associated with minimal brain dysfunction (MMD), which causes behavioral and speech disorders;
- Delayed mental and psychomotor development.
Having noticed the lag, one cannot wait. At 2,6 years old, it is already easy to understand that the baby’s speech does not correspond to the norm and to seek help. At 4 years of age, the lag in the formation of speech habits is already significant. Therefore, you will have to work hard to catch up with your peers.
What to do and how to teach a silent person to speak
If you suspect that not all is well with speech, contact your pediatrician. The pediatrician will examine the baby and refer him to specialists: psychologist, speech therapist, neurologist, otolaryngologist. The level of OHP – general speech underdevelopment, is determined during the examination. Depending on the condition, corrective treatment is prescribed. The specialist will tell you how to get the silent person to talk. He will help you understand why speech development is inhibited, select effective methods and medicines.
Play and talk with your children, and if you notice that your baby is “silent”, think about it. Speech refers to the highest psychological functions and is associated with thinking, memory and perception.