Delayed psycho-speech development in a child: causes, prognosis and treatment methods

It is worth practicing with children for any speech problems!

Speech disorders are said to occur if a child's speech skills do not correspond to his age. Many disadvantages are difficult to overcome on your own. Pedagogical science - speech therapy - helps to cope with them.

It’s worth remembering: no matter what childhood speech disorders are, they definitely need to be dealt with and not left to chance. Mild speech problems may disappear completely. With reasonable effort and practice, this will happen faster. Moderate and severe violations are subject to partial correction.

Hopeless cases occur only with complex defects of the articulatory apparatus, psyche or brain structures, but there are options here too.

The child will have to adapt to life in society, and our task is to help him do this as painlessly as possible. Intelligible, clear speech and the ability to formulate thoughts influence socialization. Although we try to fight it, children with speech disorders are often teased, we must try to avoid this. It is important that the child is understood by his peers and others, this affects his self-esteem and desire to adapt to society.

Total PNR

With total speech impairment (TSI), there are deficiencies in all areas of the language: phonology, sound pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. The child's mastery of all language means is generally impaired.

The disorders presented in the classification are classified as severe:

1. Alalic variant (motor and sensory alalia). With motor alalia, a child under 4-7 years of age does not use speech, except for a set of babbling words (for example, woof-woof, co-co, bi-bi). The child cannot fully communicate, which entails serious impairments in communication capabilities. It is relatively rare - 0.5%.

Sensory alalia is an even more severe condition in which the child does not understand spoken speech and does not connect words with meaning. The disease has been little studied and is difficult to diagnose. Correction not started in time (from 2-3 years of age) can cause serious maladaptation and lead to disability.

2. Paraalalic version of THP. The symptoms and signs are similar to motor alalia, but it proceeds much easier and is overcome more quickly (in 2-3 years).

3. Clinical forms with a complex type of disorder (“mixed”).

If by the end of preschool age it is not possible to cope with dysontogenesis, the child is sent to study at a speech school. To achieve noticeable results, correction work must continue for at least 5-6 years. A regular school can only aggravate the child’s condition: serious difficulties will arise in learning, and a lack of oral speech causes deficiencies in written language.

Comorbidity

Total PND is characterized by a high comorbidity rate. 60-70% of children with sound pronunciation disorders have problems with attention, memory and the emotional sphere. 50% of children with dyslexia and 60-80% of children with mental retardation or mental retardation have oral speech disorders.

Speech impairment is quite often accompanied by many disorders:

1. Cognitive deficit:

1. random access memory;
2. verbal-logical functions (the ability to think categorically using generalizing concepts);
3. successive operations;
4. finger and articulatory praxis;
5. attention (auditory, rarely visual);
6. immaturity of gaming competence.

2. Personal sphere:

1. surface of social connections;
2. immaturity of the emotional-volitional sphere.

3. Communicative competence:

1. poor command of dialogue (especially monologue);
2. difficulties in establishing partnerships.

The lack of language means limits the possibility of mastering verbal and logical skills in thinking. This can affect the personal sphere, because difficulties arise in communicating with peers and adults. If the child received timely and comprehensive help, the outcome will be more favorable. Comprehensive care means both the participation of a speech therapist and the participation of doctors.

Dysontogenesis is dangerous with negative consequences. The child has difficulties in learning in basic subjects, there is an inferiority of socio-cultural discourse and behavioral disturbances. It is worth talking separately about dyslexia and dysgraphia, since these are the most serious disorders that follow speech impairment.

Where do speech disorders come from?

Speech disorders are problems with verbal communication, speech motor skills, and related areas. They are very diverse: some are associated with the inability to speak, others with speech incontinence. They arise due to physiological, neurological or mental problems, due to pedagogical neglect. Any speech disorder is not a reason to stigmatize a child, much less shame him.

Difficulties with speech can be organic, that is, caused by damage to the speech organs. They are like this:

• Hereditary, when the problem was passed on from parents. It happens that one of the parents at one time began to speak later, has peculiarities in the bite or setting of the teeth, and this is passed on to the children.
• Congenital (intrauterine) pathologies. Caused by the difficult course of pregnancy or taking medications, hypoxia, infectious disease of the pregnant woman, blood incompatibility, prematurity or postmaturity, maternal stress or intoxication.
• Perinatal (caused by complications during childbirth). Priority attention should be given to children who suffered asphyxia or head trauma due to a narrow birth canal, were born weighing less than 1.5 kg and were resuscitated.
• Postnatal (caused by diseases in the first months or years of life). Speech disturbances can cause infections (meningitis, otitis media), head injuries and palatal injuries.
• Social and everyday, when the child lacks emotional and verbal communication with loved ones. These are not necessarily families with drinking parents - it happens that quite successful mothers and fathers simply do not have enough time for their children.

Also, speech disorders can be of an endocrine nature (due to the characteristics of the child’s psychomotor development), functional (defects or characteristics of the speech organs), psychosomatic or caused by the environment.

Causes of ZPRR

ZPRD occurs due to organic damage to brain structures and various disorders of the nervous system. Factors provoking delayed psycho-speech development:

• genetic diseases associated with disorders of the subcortex of the brain;
• infectious diseases and lack of oxygen during pregnancy;
• problematic birth (trauma, umbilical cord entanglement, rapid or premature birth, hypoxia);
• metabolic disorders in the central nervous system;
• organic brain damage (fluid accumulation, high intracranial pressure, tumors);
• pathologies of the psychiatric spectrum, including epilepsy;
• severe infectious diseases at an early age.

In addition to organic reasons, psychological factors also play an important role. Mental trauma and improper upbringing (overprotection, abuse, insufficient care and attention) can lead to developmental delays or complete loss of speech (mutism, speech negativism).

What should parents be wary of in their child’s speech?

Symptoms of speech disorders can be different: a poor vocabulary (the baby does not remember words well, confuses endings, speaks little, uses generalizations), poor understanding of words or phrases, and inability to reproduce certain sounds. The most famous defect is stuttering, which disrupts the rhythm and fluency of speech.

According to experts, the problem can be identified very early. You need to communicate with your baby from the first moments of his life, even when he is not able to consciously react. If a child does not show similar communicative activity as other children of his age, you should pay attention. But this in itself is not a diagnosis; you don’t need to beat yourself up right away.

The features listed in the table may indicate problems with speech in children.

The last indicator - the end of the 29th month - is close to the time when it is time for the child to go to kindergarten. Violations, if any, are already noticeable by this point. If these problems occur, you should visit a consultation:

• otolaryngologist (perhaps the baby speaks poorly because he cannot hear);
• neurologist (check for organic damage to the central nervous system, speech centers of the cerebral cortex);
• child psychologist, psychiatrist, defectologist (find out the state of the child’s non-verbal intelligence);
• speech therapist (will conduct a final diagnosis).

Grammatical structure of speech and sound pronunciation

After one and a half years, the ability to change words in the simplest ways appears, linking them into one phrase (give me a doll - “give me a ku”). Monosyllabic sentences are most often used. In such primitive sentences, one word can be used in different meanings. By pronouncing the word “mu,” in one case the child wants to be given a toy, and in another, with the same word, he draws the adult’s attention to the eyes or horns of the toy cow that he is holding in his hands.

By the end of the second year of life, sentences may contain three or four words. Sentences can be both interrogative and exclamatory. The question words themselves are not yet available to the child; he expresses the question by the intonation with which he pronounces such a sentence. There are no prepositions in the words yet either (“Seva bi-bi” - Seva has a typewriter).

All vowel sounds are already pronounced by the baby in the second year of life. Its articulations and some consonant sounds are available: m, p, k, t, d, n, f, x, b, g, v, y. The clarity of their pronunciation depends on the place of the sound in the word and the number of syllables in it. In simple words of one or two syllables, all sounds are pronounced correctly (Katya, dad, Tanya, Vova). These same sounds are “swallowed” and distorted in more complex words (pisina - machine). Combinations of two consonant sounds next to each other (heb - bread) are also difficult for the baby, especially if these are sounds that are difficult to pronounce, for example: s, sh, r, l.

Different rates of speech acquisition by children of the same age become noticeable. This depends on the individual characteristics of the baby, heredity, and diseases suffered in early childhood. Of great importance is the intensity of communication between adults and the child, how the child’s speech development is stimulated at 1 year of age.

Types of speech disorders (classification from a medical point of view)

Speech problems in preschool children can be classified according to clinical-pedagogical and psychological-pedagogical indicators. The two classifications should be considered together: together they help to understand the cause of the violation and determine ways to eliminate it.

The clinical and pedagogical classification is closer to the medical one, and we’ll talk about it now. She divides speech deviations into oral and written. The first can be phonational or systemic.

With phonation, the source of the problem can be improper voice formation, sound pronunciation, tempo, and intonation. That is, the child understands speech directed to him 100%, but cannot reproduce it. The following phonation disorders are classified (in alphabetical order):

• Bradylalia is a slow rate of speech.
• Dysarthria is a disorder due to insufficient innervation of the articulatory apparatus.
• Dysglosia - difficulties with pronunciation due to palatal, jaw, and other clefts.
• Dyslalia is a deviation with full hearing and intact speech apparatus.
• Dysphonia is a complete or fragmented disorder of phonation due to an abnormality of the vocal apparatus.
• Stuttering is a disruption in tempo due to spasms of the jaw muscles.
• Rhinolalia is a specificity of voice timbre and sound pronunciation due to articulatory features.
• Tahilalia - the child is frequent with words.

Systemic deviations are more severe. They are formed due to lesions in the cerebral cortex. The child partially loses the ability to correctly repeat words and phrases and understand their meaning. There are two types of violations:

• Alalia is the inability to speak or underdevelopment due to damage to the speech areas of the cerebral cortex formed during fetal development or after birth.
• Aphasia is a complete or partial loss of speech due to brain damage (stroke, etc.). More often, the diagnosis is made explicitly after the 3rd birthday.

Among the above, severe speech disorders can be identified - persistent deviations of the speech system with preserved hearing and intelligence. These include sensory and motor alalia, severe variants of dysarthria, rhinolalia, stuttering, aphasia and other deviations. Such problems can influence the formation of the psyche.

Impairments in written speech can be noticed in older kindergarten or in the first grades of school. This is dyslexia (the child incorrectly identifies letters and forms words from them, difficulties arise with reading), dysgraphia (when writing, letter signs are mixed, rearranged or omitted).

Causes of speech impairment in children

The deviation can be congenital or acquired, physiological or purely psychological. The choice of correction method directly depends on this. Once upon a time, ideas about the sources of speech anomalies were quite chaotic. Professor Mikhail Khvattsev, one of the pioneers in speech therapy among our compatriots, made a major contribution to the systematization of the causes. He divided them into internal and external and introduced the following classification:

• organic (anatomical-physiological, morphological): organic central (brain lesions);
• organic peripheral (defects of hearing or articulation, cleft palate, dental defects);
• functional (psychogenic - problems with excitation and inhibition in the central nervous system);

Trouble does not come alone; problems on any front will inevitably grow into a whole bunch of accompanying complications. Khvattsev emphasized the close connection between organic and functional causes. If the sensory organs do not work properly, natural reflexes are poorly established. And vice versa, if there are already problems of a functional nature, then the development of organs will also slow down. Like the affected central nervous system, it does not contribute to the development of the periphery.

Depending on the stage at which the basis for speech dysfunctions arose, they are divided into:

• hereditary. Unfortunately, we do not always inherit a strong body from our parents. Children get many troubles “as a gift”, sometimes it is stuttering, various disorders of the speech zones in the cerebral cortex, problems with bite or the wrong number of teeth, defects in the palate, anomalies in the structure of the organs of articulation.
• congenital (intrauterine). Caused by complications during pregnancy. If a woman works in a hazardous industry, delays maternity leave until the last minute or unsuccessfully tries to terminate a pregnancy, if the embryo is forced to drink alcohol, tobacco and strong drugs with the mother, then all this will never benefit the baby. The first trimester is especially important, when the central nervous system is formed in the fetus.
• perinatal (birth) and postnatal (appear soon after birth). They arise due to complications during the very birth of the baby, due to premature birth, as a result of birth injuries, etc.
• others (manifest in the first years of a child’s life and later). Here the root of evil is either psychological, social and everyday factors, or serious illnesses (meningitis and other dangerous infections, diseases of the hearing organs, injuries to the brain and speech organs).

Please note: the risks to which a fetus is exposed at different stages of its development before birth, and an independent person after birth, are not the same. Obvious tips that mothers sometimes neglect:

• during pregnancy, take care of yourself more than usual, avoid injuries, shocks and the use of harmful substances;
• carefully choose a maternity hospital with modern equipment and skilled midwives;
• after birth, do not develop sores, even small ones, remember how vulnerable the fragile organism of a little man who has just come into this world is.

Speech disorders (psychological classification)

To determine how much the defect can be influenced and corrected, a psychological and pedagogical classification was invented. Correction occurs during speech therapy sessions.

Deviations from the point of view of psychology and pedagogy are:

• Phonetic-phonemic - the child pronounces phonemes incorrectly because he also perceives them incorrectly.
• General speech underdevelopment - there are problems with all components of the articular system. The child develops speech late, it is poor, and it is difficult for him to pronounce some sounds.
• Stuttering – communication means are developed correctly, the problem is only in their use.

According to this classification, children can be divided into 3 conditional groups:

1. They don’t pronounce individual sounds, there are no other problems.
2. There are problems in the perception of sounds and their reproduction. Children do not distinguish some sounds, do not see articulatory and acoustic differences. They rearrange syllables when speaking, write and read poorly, and “swallow” the endings of words.
3. They have general speech underdevelopment. They do not put sounds into syllables, have a small vocabulary, and do not speak coherently. If a speech therapist does not begin to treat such children on time, they may have huge communication problems.

Speech disorders affect the mental functions of a preschooler. The attention of such children is often characterized by instability. They have difficulty generalizing, comparing and analyzing, and perceiving verbal instructions. Such children are characterized by poor coordination, they are slow and awkward, and have underdeveloped fine motor skills. A child with severe disabilities lacks self-confidence, is touchy, and has difficulty establishing contacts.

Dyslexia through the eyes of a doctor

Dyslexia as an independent disorder was first described at the end of the 19th century by English ophthalmologists. The pathology was defined as word blindness - the child is intellectually developed, but cannot recognize words. In Russia, such cases were first described by R.A. Tkachev and S.S. Mnukhin.

Dyslexia is a specific reading disorder. About 10% of children experience difficulties mastering reading during their school years. Compared to other children, they are not able to learn to read in the proper time. After finishing school, many of them remain semi-literate.

Dyslexia is a condition whose main manifestation is a persistent, selective inability to master the skill of reading, despite a sufficient level of intellectual and speech/language development, the absence of hearing and visual impairments, and optimal learning conditions.

Diagnostic criteria according to ICD-10 – F81.0. Specific reading disorder.

Signs of dyslexia:

• Reading technique and/or reading comprehension is below what is expected for given intellectual development. First, there is a slow development of syllabic reading, and then slow reading in words, which greatly complicates the understanding of texts. Both in the lower grades and in the older grades, the child automatically reads most of the words syllable by syllable.
• The disorder is not a direct consequence of a visual or hearing defect, or a neurotic disorder.

Symptoms of dyslexia vary by language. In the English language, dyslexia can be recognized by incorrect reading and a huge number of errors, in the Russian language - by extreme slowness and automation.

Epidemiology of dyslexia

This pathology has been poorly studied in Russia, while in English-speaking countries millions of books and articles have been written on the topic of dyslexia, and in the USA the problem was discussed at the Congress level. The results of a survey conducted by the Association of Parents of Dyslexics showed that the vast majority of parents and more than half of teachers in Russia do not have the slightest idea about dyslexia. In fact, dyslexic children are left to their own devices and do not receive the necessary help. There are a lot of such children:

1. in the Russian population of school-age children 5-6%;
2. L/m ratio: severe forms – 1:4.5, medium form. heavy – 1:1.5;
3. among children with mental retardation – 50%
4. among children with speech underdevelopment – ​​40-50%.

5-6% on a Russian scale is approximately 700-800 thousand children. After finishing school, they feel like foreigners in their native country, since they cannot work with texts. These are huge numbers and from this side dyslexia becomes a socially significant problem.

Dyslexia is characterized by sexual dimorphism in favor of boys. Dyslexic boys are many times more common than girls.

Cerebral mechanisms of dyslexia

Reading is a rather labor-intensive process that develops certain brain structures. Dyslexics have difficulty reading because their brains have serious developmental features - malformations or ectopia, when neurons are located in the wrong place where they are supposed to be. This study was conducted by Galaburda in 1985. Look at fig. 1 - everything that is indicated in red are numerous zones of ectopia.

Rice. 1.

The dyslexic brain shows signs of dysembryogenesis. MRI can identify typical, recurring abnormalities in certain areas of the brain. In Fig. 2 yellow-red color shows a decrease in gray matter density in dyslexics, and blue color shows an increase. These are also signs of dysontogenesis, which are most often found in the left temporal lobe of the posterior part of the middle temporal gyrus.

Rice. 2.

Functional MRI can identify key areas of the brain involved in text processing. Look at fig. 3 – while reading, a normally reading child activates 3 key zones, highlighted in red: superior temporal, frontal and inferior temporo-occipital. In dyslexics, only one zone is allocated, and the temporal and temporo-occipital areas are not involved in information processing - this is a sure sign that the brain is not working imperfectly. Dyslexia can be improved with special exercises and rehabilitation.

Rice. 3.

In Fig. Figure 4 shows a graph of reading pace changes. In the 6th grade, children reach a plateau, that is, reading in pace and speed does not change and remains unproductive until graduation.

Rice. 4.

Psychopathological symptoms in dyslexia

This pathology occurs in conjunction with various psychopathological syndromes. Among them:

1. cerebrovascular disease;
2. attention deficit disorder;
3. mental infantilism syndromes;
4. ADHD;
5. intellectual-mnestic deficiency;
6. neurosis-like and neurotic syndromes;
7. reading phobia;
8. school phobia;
9. delinquency.

All these problems arise due to psychological maladjustment. Persistent problems can deform the personality in the process of its formation and lead to sad results. Dyslexia interferes with the learning process, and children experience such difficulties painfully. Features of the social situation of a dyslexic child:

1. chronic failure;
2. chronic frustration (reading phobia, school phobia);
3. disharmony of parent-child relationships (secondary);
4. low social status among peers;
5. restrictions in choosing a profession;
6. inaccessibility of higher education.

Unfortunately, the school often does not notice that the child has problems and does not meet them halfway. Even parents do not realize the full danger of the situation and add problems to the child by getting annoyed and scolding him for poor performance. As a result, the child’s maladaptation only intensifies.

According to statistics, the social status of adults with dyslexia is much lower than that of other people. This is quite natural, because mastering a profession and competition in the labor market for dyslexics is a tough environment where they lose. Features of the social situation of an adult dyslexic:

1. cultural development of the individual - as in the pre-literate era;
2. cultural deprivation due to deprivation of cultural discourse through texts;
3. social discrimination, which is caused by illiteracy.

Prevention of speech disorders: what should be done?

Speech problems vary and can develop at any stage of a child’s development. In many cases they can be averted. For example, from the first days of life it is imperative to communicate with a newborn. And, to the best of your ability, give communication different emotional shades (rejoice, surprise, worry, etc.).

Speech is a complex mental process. The baby will begin to talk when the brain, hearing and articulatory apparatus have reached a suitable level of development. This depends largely on the environment and health status. The child must develop, communicate and receive vivid emotions, otherwise he may develop physical and mental delays.

Sometimes communication with loved ones for younger preschoolers is limited only to monotonous everyday situations. It is not surprising if speech disorders arise against this background.

The tips of human fingers contain nerve endings connected to different parts of the cerebral cortex, including speech. It is very important to perform finger exercises and massage the fingertips in the form of a game. This develops both speech and memory. During the development of the child, it is also necessary to pay attention to finger motor skills: organize games with construction sets, plasticine, give lacing and busy boards.

How to help the speech development of young children

What can we, parents, do from the very birth of a child to ensure that he speaks naturally?

Let us remind you that the sensory channel for perceiving information about the external environment (vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch) is the main one for children in the first years of life. Therefore, the answer lies on the surface: it is necessary to give the child as much information as possible about the world around him, as much as possible of any kind of sensory sensations and stimuli. Let's talk about it.

• Touch. Feeling #1 at first. Mother's warm hands, her gentle touches, stroking, massage, gymnastics, toys of different shapes and textures, finger games - the more of this, the better. Knowledge about oneself, one’s body and its sensations is formed through contact with the environment, so diversify the child’s tactile sensations as much as possible. Water of different temperatures (carefully!), soft fabric and rubber balls, a plastic rattle and a wooden cube, finger paints on a palette, sand in a children's sandbox, beans in a jar, etc. - the world is so rich for training your sense of touch!
• Hearing. Give your baby as much information as possible that he can perceive by ear: the sounds of music, nature, household appliances in the house, street noise from the window and, of course, the sounds of his native speech. Always talk to your baby about everything. Mom does this naturally, because speech accompanies any of her actions: she voices swaddling, feeding, bathing, and putting her to bed. She names objects surrounding the child, pointing at them. When the baby starts to walk, the mother “keeps up the conversation”: she responds to the sounds the baby makes, repeats them and introduces him to adult speech, which the baby will try to imitate as he grows up.
• Vision. We interest the baby in the objects around him so that he learns to focus his vision and maintain his attention on significant objects. To help your child concentrate, you can hang bright colored objects above the crib (for example, balloons, fluffy pom-poms - they are quite light and will certainly attract attention). Some mobile models come with removable toys to help adults provide a stimulating and varied space for their child. This is for the little ones. Later, the arsenal of objects from the surrounding reality can be replenished endlessly, both due to toys in the house, and due to the visual impressions that the baby will receive when he is outside the home: on a city street, on a river, in a forest, in a zoo.
• Taste. Mother's milk, water, teas, juices, pureed and solid food - what a variety of textures and tastes! Introduce your baby to them by gradually expanding the range of products that you introduce into baby food. The sooner a child becomes familiar with basic tastes, the less picky he will be in food later.

When the time comes for the first complementary foods, for example from the “Agusha First Spoon” line, it is important to name the products that the mother offers the baby. Cottage cheese, kefir, juice, fruit puree - this is an opportunity to introduce your child to the names of fruits, vegetables, and talk about animals. For example, about a cow that gives milk, he says “mu” and grazes in the meadow.

• Smell. Getting to know smells not only enriches the perception of the overall picture of the world, but also creates a certain mood, associations and subsequently pleasant memories in the baby. The smell of freshly baked bread and grandma’s jam, autumn leaves and spring melting snow, mushrooms and wildflowers - so many memories behind each of them! Don’t forget about this side of perception, learn smells together with your child, teach him to distinguish them and compare them - what if you have a future perfumer growing up?
• Gross motor skills (movements of large muscles: body, arms, legs). It is important to motivate your baby to move actively from the first weeks of life. If you think your baby needs to be swaddled, be sure to allow enough time for your baby to move his arms and legs freely. As your baby gets older, create a safe space for free movement in the house.
• Fine motor skills (fine movements of the hands and fingers). Only a newborn has never heard of the fact that fine motor skills and speech are connected. This connection is explained by the proximity of the speech motor and movement centers in the brain. Therefore, any activity aimed at stimulating fine motor skills has a positive effect on speech formation. And don’t forget about developing self-care skills from early childhood: a cup, a toothbrush, cutlery, buttons on clothes, zippers and shoelaces are great exercise equipment!

Speech is a product of the work of the muscles and organs of the speech apparatus, and, as in the case of training any other muscle, speech must be developed through consistent and regular exercise. Let's talk about these classes and about the exercises that need to be included in the child's daily “speech exercises”.

How to deal with “unruly” tongue?

Often a child does not pronounce all sounds due to the fact that his articulatory apparatus is simply not mature. You can do corrective games and exercises at home or with a speech therapist, gymnastics for the tongue and fingers, and breathing exercises. By the way, whistles and soap bubbles are not just fun, they also help develop articulation.

There are various exercises for pronouncing whistling, hissing sounds, and the letter “r”. You must first try them yourself and make sure that the child sees the articulation of an adult - how exactly this or that phoneme is pronounced.

If a child is unable to pronounce a sound, he often comes up with a simpler substitute. And the adults begin to lisp along with him. There is no way to do this. “Incorrect” words and sounds are remembered for a long time, and it is very difficult to eradicate them later. The most important stage in the development of speaking is preschool, namely 3-6 years. You should talk to your child at this time:

• no baby talk;
• clearly, in order and legibly;
• short simple sentences;
• periodically repeating new words so that the little person remembers them;
• with different intonation and tempo, emotionally.

How does a child develop?

The first stage of speech development is preparatory, including the time from birth to 10 months of age. This is followed by the period of first words from 10 to 14 months . After this, the period of first sentence production is from 18 to 22 months of age and the period of grammaticality is from 22 to 30 months.

It is believed that the most intensive speech development occurs during the period up to 3 years of children’s lives.

Numerous factors can lead to delays in speech production, as well as various

• neurological conditions
• risk
• and syndromes.

Often speech can be an indicator of the overall development of a child’s abnormalities.

Already in the fourth month, the baby begins to synchronize information received through hearing and vision. At six months, intonations differ in characteristics and different sounds that belong to the sound system of the native language. Until about the 8th month, initial signs of understanding the situation around them .

First he gains situational understanding, then he understands the situation in which he finds himself . In order to begin to speak, attention skills are required, the improvement of which occurs between 9 and 12 months of the baby’s life .
After the “cooing” stage passes, at ten months the baby becomes a bit of a “talker.”

Corrective work with a speech therapist

By the age of 6-7 years, a child should correctly pronounce sounds, operate with a rich vocabulary (consisting of different parts of speech), construct consistent sentences (gender, number, cases), conduct dialogues and monologues. If there are any persistent disorders at 4 years old, it is better to consult a speech therapist.

If your child has impaired pronunciation (motor alalia, dysarthria or dyslalia is observed), you need to teach him to control the organs of articulation. This is really a lot of work for a child, because the central nervous system, brain and peripheral nervous system are involved. Sound pronunciation is corrected in 4 stages:

• Preparatory – the ability to hear sound correctly.
• Sound production is the skills of correct pronunciation of a single sound through articulation exercises.
• Automation - honing pronunciation, introducing sound into syllables.
• Differentiation – consolidation of auditory and articulatory skills.

In the main groups of kindergartens classes are conducted with speech therapists. There are speech therapy kindergartens for children, where increased attention is paid to the development of the articulation apparatus. Speech therapy sessions are even more necessary if a serious pathology is detected. There is a special adapted preschool program for children with severe speech impairments.

First real speech

The time comes when the baby begins to speak his first intelligible words. The first words are usually related to his environment and these words usually appear between 10 and 15 months of age. After the appearance of the first words , he suddenly begins to expand his vocabulary. Initially, learning one word per week, your baby experiences a growth spurt where he seems to be learning several new words every day.

The average number of expressive words for children aged 18 to 24 months is about 50 words .

Between 24 and 36 months, the speech a child uses becomes increasingly similar to that of adults.

Child uses

• pronouns
• adjectives
• auxiliary
• and suggestions.

It is believed that in the period from 3 to 4 years of life, the grammatical basis of the language is established, sentences are already constructed without errors, but only with slight difficulty in pronunciation.

As speech improvement progresses, the length of the statements voiced by your child also increases. Pronunciation is developed with the expansion of vocabulary. It is important to know that a child under the age of 3 can pronounce words any way he likes . Between 4 and 5 years of age, more moderate impairments in pronunciation are allowed, and after the fifth year of life he should pronounce all sounds correctly .