By Roxane Bélanger
First Words Preschool Speech and Language Program of Ottawa
These last few years, services for early childhood have multiplied... and so much the better, wouldn’t you say? Given that we have been advocating for early intervention for so long! Infant communication remains central to a child’s overall development. Speech and language are the most important indicators of later social and educational success of a child. And communication starts at birth!
Let’s talk baby!
Infant communication is central to many community programs and an integral part of the stimulation and learning within educational centres. In 2003, First Words developed two training programs for different audiences called “Baby Talk” and “Before their First Words” to respond to a dire need. They enable both parents and educators, as well as community workers, to better understand how the development of communication unfolds in the child’s first year (from 0 to 12 months) and, above all, to acquire the means and tools to identify children at risk.
Upon evaluation after these trainings, many were surprised to realize that a fair number of recent research projects highlighted clear risk indicators that make it possible to better identify a communication delay in infants as early as at the age of 6 months. Yes, it is possible to detect a communication problem even before a child reaches the age of 12 months. One only needs to keep observing them closely!
Baby is now 6 months - start looking for risk indicators!
According to various research projects, there is a set of indicators that can help us all – day care educators or directors, community workers or parents – in detecting a problem with communication, speech, and language very early on! Here is a brief summary:
1. Visual contact, facial expressions and gestures – At about 6 months, infants communicate using eye gaze to ask for objects, to play with an adult. Moreover, children communicate with us through various facial expressions in order to socialize, protest, refuse an object, or share their feelings. All one needs to do is observe them carefully and interpret those facial expressions!
At around 9 months, children will spontaneously start using concrete gestures such as showing an object (i.e. ball) or, pushing an object away (i.e. done with the bottle). At 11 months, children will start using more symbolic gestures, such as “bye-bye” and pointing. Gestures are an integral part of a child’s communication development. You can help by using and imitating gestures when interacting with children. Let’s get those hands talking!
2. Using communication – Babies first learn to communicate to make contact with other people and to satisfy their needs. Babies learn communication long before they start speaking or using words. They develop language while hearing us speak. Children need to hear language to learn to use language. Therefore, pay attention to the various reasons for communication, e.g., babies use communication to protest, to cry, to make requests (i.e. to eat, to be cuddled), to socialize, to draw your attention, to get something, etc...
3. Producing sounds and babbling – At approximately 6 months of age, babies use various sounds: vowels, consonants, and they even start babbling. Around 10 months canonical babbling – i.e. the repetition of a syllable (e.g. babababa; badabada) – should appear. By 12 months, if a young baby does not babble this way, a discussion with the parent is warranted and the baby should be referred to a speech and language pathologist. The absence of a variety of sounds and/or canonical babbling at 12 months is a major risk indicator. According to some research, the late appearance of canonical babbling is in fact linked to later poor vocabulary (number of words) being developed at 18 months, 24 months, and even 36 months. Babbling is a must for word acquisition! You can also help babies and children babble along by :
- Imitating their sounds, vocalizations, babbling and words
- Giving frequent or better models of the sounds or words
- Naming objects, actions, people using their appropriate label
- Be face-to-face – the baby will benefit from your facial expressions and seeing make sounds and talk with them!
4. Understanding language – Learning to speak is a process that starts at birth. At home or in a childcare environment, infants (e.g. 6 weeks old) should be surrounded by language. Even if young babies do not understand the meaning of the words you use, they understand a lot through your way of touching and holding them, through the expression of your face, your tone of voice and your gestures. This is how they start to develop their understanding of language.
Between birth and the first birthday, the understanding of language rapidly expands. At as early as 12 months, babies often understand a range of words and can follow up on simple requests in context in the presence of an object, even if they are able to use only one or two words. You may help any young child to understand you better by using the following strategies:
- Simplify and use a smaller number of words
- Repeat, repeat and repeat!
- Add gestures, actions and point toward the objects or persons concerned
- Speak more slowly
- Vary your facial expressions, your the tone of your voice
5. Word production – Learning to speak is a gradual process. Babbling and the appearance of the first words are closely linked. Usually infants say their first words around the age of 12 months. In fact, the appearance of the first words may happen anywhere between 8 and 15 months of age; this is considered to be the normal range for the appearance of first words. But beyond 15 months, if the baby has not said his/her first words, one must consider referring him/her for speech and language screening. At all times, continue encouraging the child to take turns in imitating sounds, repeated sounds! Above all, keep on naming all the objects and the actions they perform! The beginning of their expression of language depends on it!
6. Playing abilities – For young children, socializing and communicating include a good measure of play. You can observe children’s abilities to take their turn in simple games. Observe if they show their interest in participating with you in social games such as “peek-a-boo”. Later, you can look for the child’s ability to imitate and participate to more symbolic games (e.g. 18 months – taking a spoon and feeding a doll).
Your turn!
The routine linked with daily activities provides many opportunities for educators and parents to observe, to closely monitor but above all, to promote the development of communication in infants and young children. So, go ahead! Speak, speak, speak! Repeat, repeat, repeat! And, above all, have fun!
First Words Preschool Speech and Language Program of Ottawa (613) 580-6744
Click here for other Ontario provincial speech and language programs.
