Children’s Speech Problems — Does My Child Have Speech Difficulties?

Parents are frequently concerned about the development of their children and about their speech problems. They compare notes. “Jimmy took his first step today!” “Patricia said ‘mama’ just as plain as could be.” “Bobby’s not talking yet? Why, when my Sally was only ten months old she…” “Maybe my child needs speech therapy.”

Sometimes these comparisons cause parents needless anxiety. On the other hand, some parents show an amazing lack of concern even when the neighbors are saying, “I feel sorry for the Browns. There’s something wrong with their baby. He’s not talking yet, you know.”

When should mothers and fathers become concerned about the lack of speech in their children? When should they be concerned about the “baby talk,” or the lack of fluency, or the failure to pronounce words correctly?
Before answering these questions, let us briefly review the way in which a child normally acquires speech.

The acquisition of speech may be traced through some rather definite stages. Of course, they are not mutually exclusive. That is, there will be considerable overlapping, but your enjoyment of your child will be increased if you watch for them.

Upon his arrival in what for him is a foreign land with a foreign language, the newborn infant adds his voice to the babble of unknown tongues. But he has more than a language to learn, for he doesn’t even know himself. He must discover his hands and feet and how they may be used.

Unacquainted with himself or his environment, the baby responds to any stimulus with all of the resources at his command. This type of response has been called “total and undifferentiated.” A pain in his tummy, a pin prick, a loud noise—all cause him to cry and wiggle and thrash about with arms and legs.

Crying at this stage is simply the result of air being reflexively expelled by the lungs and passing over the vocal folds that are tense enough to vibrate and produce sound. But even though these sounds are produced without conscious purpose and have no specific meaning, they are the baby’s response to stimuli.

Before the second or third week has passed, a careful observer begins to notice differences in the baby’s responses. His cry doesn’t always sound the same. He is already beginning to differentiate between various kinds of discomfort and other stimuli, and the variety in his crying indicates that he is beginning to recognize these differences. For example, he cries when he is hungry, as he did earlier, but there is a distinct or characteristic sound. Mothers soon learn to recognize the “hunger cry” of an infant.

During these first weeks the non-crying sounds that he makes will be relatively few. In them you’ll hear the consonant sounds of k, l, and g, and most of the vowel sounds that are made at the front of the mouth—including e (as in keep), i (as in it) and a (as in that).

Although he is still not aware of his growing repertoire of vocali-zations, he soon learns that crying makes a difference! If he cries long enough and loudly enough, something is done about the disagreeable situation. Perhaps this is the beginning of his awareness of the importance of vocal communication!

At any rate, he is acquiring one of the skills needed for speech, for in crying he practices the short, quick inhalation and the prolonged exhalation which he will later use in a more meaningful— and more socially acceptable—mode of communication.

Tagged as: baby talk, crying, fluency, reflexive vocalization