The first thing you should do if your child is a late talker

If your little one is struggling with their talking or listening there are a number of things you can do to support them right away, and one of those things is getting their hearing checked, here’s why…

If children have an episode of hearing loss it can affect their speech and language skills. If they don't realise we are talking to them (because they can't hear us) they aren't able to attach language  to meaning. For example if we are walking down the street and a bus goes past and we point this out and say "look a bus!" but they don't hear this they won't attach the word 'bus' to the object. In this way it can affect both children’s understanding of language as well as their ability to use words.

Hearing loss can also affect children’s speech sounds. In English we use a number of 'high frequency' sounds (e.g. 'f', 't', 's') when speaking. If a child is experiencing hearing loss they may not perceive these sounds. Which can result in them omitting these sounds in words or replacing them with another sound altogether.

If you are at all concerned about your child’s attention, understanding, talking or sounds it is absolutely worth getting their hearing checked. You can do this through your GP. It may mean that they need a course of antibiotics to clear up and ear infection, a period of time off swimming or monitoring to see how their hearing changes. Whatever the outcome it is worth knowing if this could be impacting your little one’s communication skills.

Toys to help your preschooler talk

What to look for when choosing toys for your 2 or 3 year old to develop their communication skills?

When pre-schoolers are struggling to communicate, we are desperate for that magic bullet which will make things easier for them and bring on their talking.

The reality is no, one, toy is going to develop your toddler's speech and language skills alone, (and you should be wary of any toy that claims it can!).

It is much more about what you do with the toy, how you play with the toy than the toy itself.

That being said, here are my 4 golden rules that I follow when choosing toys for little ones who find communication a little tricky.

1. Toys that need you to operate.

2. Toys that can be played with in multiple ways.

3. Toys that have lots of parts, so can be shared bit-by-bit.

4. Whatever your little one loves!

Don’t worry if the toys you just bought on the weekend don’t follow all these rules. I recommend that rule number 4 is a must when picking toys for little ones! But besides that just be mindful of some of the others.

Here’s why…

Toys that need you to operate them are great as they create a shared moment.

If little ones can play totally independently it can be difficult for us to become a part of their world, but if we are needed it gives us an easy in!

I’m talking wind-up toys, balloon powered cars, toys that need bigger, stronger hands to operate.

The toys that can be played with in lots of ways are great for keeping play interesting and to allow you to model a variety of words.

When children find speaking hard, we want to model language for them based on what they are doing.

If we are playing in a variety of different ways then we can model lots of different language.

For this rule, things like carboard boxes, open-ended sensory bins and Duplo are brilliant!.

Toys that can be shared bit-by-bit, keep the play exciting and provide opportunities to work on requesting and turn taking. I’m talking about puzzles, train tracks, marble runs – most ‘construction’ type toys follow this rule.

Finally, children learn best when they're having fun - so choose a toy your child loves!

If you are looking for more toy inspiration follow me on Instagram @sw_speechtherapy where I share the toys I have in my therapy kit, strategies, and milestones to help you understand where your pre-schooler is at, and how to help them become a confident communicator. 

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