Over the past two blogs, I’ve been describing to you the differences between an expressive language disorder, and a speech delay. If you missed those, and have questions about what either of these terms may mean, and if your child falls under one of these two categories, go back and read through those explanations.
But in this blog, I wanted to outline some of the reasons why a child may experience a speech delay since I am noticing an up tick in children being diagnosed with expressive language disorders, who really have a speech delay. Research is ongoing and evolving, but it is rare that we can pinpoint exactly why a child might have a delay in their speech production. So below are just some ideas of things that might be contributing factors.
I have seen some children develop slower when it comes to expressing themselves or verbalizing, because they are quite intelligent. Some kids understand that their speech production skills are not at the same level as a parents, and thus they may be reluctant to try different words and new sound combinations without being 100% sure that they can produce it accurately. Many of these parents report their child tends towards more, perfectionist tendencies, and type A characteristics, that typically one parent confesses to having themselves. You know what they say… The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Another reason why a child may have a little bit more of a delay in their speech production could be due to challenges with hearing. Always consult your physician or seek out an ENT referral if you have concerns about your child’s ability to hear. Speech sound development relies heavily on a kiddos ability to hear the sounds around them.
One last contributing factor to a speech delay is due to a motor planning component. This is where a child may have difficulty coordinating the signals from their brain to coordinate the movement of their mouth to produce speech sounds. This means that the signals in their brain, telling their mouth what to do is a bit more challenging and they may need some more intentional practice, increased repetitions, as well as the assistance of a speech language pathologist.
I hope you have enjoyed our three part blog series on the difference between expressive delay and speech delay. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have a specific questions regarding your child’s development, or you would like to receive any evaluation. We are always here to help!
Kasey