PREVENTION OF SPEECH DISTURBANCES WITHIN THE FAMILY

Have you noticed that your two-year-old does not speak or speaks little or when he speaks, you cannot understand him? The statement "... he/she is young, he/she will talk later on", is not correct in any given situation. Are you, father or mother, trying to get your child to speak through direct imitation, i,e. by getting him to repeat words correctly? This will get you nowhere. The child will not speak correctly. Worse still, it is detrimental to his/her progress. The child is 12 months old. He/she is still being bottle-fed. He/she uses his/her pacifier constantly. His food is automatically grounding to a puree or formula. All these are bad habits, which can negatively influence the physical and intellectual development of your child. Have you a two-tree-year-old child who still uses baby talk, i,e, diminutives and onomatopoeic sounds? You initially thought this was cute, you laughed gratifying the error. Then, when the child becomes three-four years, the situation is not so cute anymore, and you penalise the child, as a result. He/she will conclude his/her parents are not consistent and with reason. If more information is wished on these subjects, please e-mail to the address on main page.

Luisa Cabré

Logopeda