Parents are naturally concerned about their child being “labeled.” Some are even so afraid of having a label put on their child that they resist getting a professional evaluation of the child’s difficulties. Other parents are actually relieved when they get a label to put on their puzzling concerns. So what is in a label and when is it useful? How Not to Use Labels First of all, ...[Read More]
Don’t Label My Child! Are Labels Helpful or Harmful?
Does My Child Have Autism?
Autism is certainly one of the things parents worry about when their child’s speech is not developing as expected. And it is true that late speech and language development is one of the signs of autism. But only a small percentage of late talkers actually are on the autism spectrum. Autism is a communication disorder, a social disorder. Speech is a tool through which humans communicate with each ...[Read More]
Shouldn’t My Child Be Talking By Now?
If you are concerned about your child not yet talking, first ask yourself what your expectations are based on. Are you comparing with an older sibling, or perhaps your neighbor’s child across the street? Children do develop different skills at different rates. There is always the chance that your expectations are based on a child who was particularly precocious in talking. So when should your chil ...[Read More]
Is My Child’s Speech Regressing?
Parents often express concern that their child’s speech is becoming less clear. They wonder, “Is my child regressing?” There are factors that can cause speech regression, but what you are observing might not be regression at all. It could just be a normal stage in your child’s speech development. Let’s sort out the different possibilities. Normal Causes of Apparent Speech R ...[Read More]
Does My Child Have A Speech Problem?
If you are concerned that your child might have a speech problem, your child is probably talking some. But perhaps speech is not clear, even hard to understand. Most parents and teachers, think of a “speech problem” as not pronouncing words right, not using all the sounds. But speech problems can involve much more than speech sounds. Perhaps your child is just not learning words as fas ...[Read More]