It’s important for you to notice what and how well your child understands what is said to him versus how well he picks up clues from situations.?Why is it important??If your child does not understand language, he isn’t going to use language well for his age.

Many parents have told me during speech-language assessments, “Oh, he knows where to throw away the tissue after he wipes his nose.”?On closer examination, it becomes apparent that the child does not understand the spoken direction, “Go throw your tissue in the trash,” but rather that he has learned what he is supposed to do and always does-throw the tissue in the trash.

There are many things families do routinely in their homes.?Many children who don’t understand spoken language well are fairly good at learning some of these routines.?They know where things are, they know what to do with them, and they know what action follows another.

If you really want to know what your child understands and how well she understands, you have to check it out in an unfamiliar/non-routine situation without pointing to or looking at the thing you are talking about.?For example, a child might understand, “Get the spoon,” if it just fell on the floor, and she heard it fall, but she might not understand, “Get the spoon” if you say it “out of the blue” while standing in the middle of the kitchen away from the location of the spoons.?This is a test and not a teaching step, but it is important for you to find out.?

Here I will share with you some steps to follow to help your child learn to understand and follow directions that you give.?You need to go on to the next step only if your child did not follow the direction–either he didn’t understand, or he didn’t comply.?Praise him as soon as he does what you asked by saying the key words again in your praise, for example, “Good!?You put your shoes over by the door.”?

Here’s a hierarchy to follow:

State a direction without adding any gestures. Restate the direction using the same words so he has another chance to process the same words. Restate the direction using the same words and providing gestures or demonstration of what he is to do. Say the direction a different way, perhaps providing more information. Say it again and assist him to do it ["hand over hand"-your hands guiding him through the task.] As he is doing the task, comment, “That’s it!?Your are putting your jacket on the chair.” [or whatever it is you asked him to do] Remember to praise when done using the words from the first presentation of the direction:?”Good-you put your jacket on the chair.”

Give your child directions to follow throughout the day that are at his level of understanding, gradually making them more challenging either by making them longer or saying them in ways you haven’t tried before.?Get his attention and then state the direction without pointing or otherwise gesturing.?Use the hierarchy as needed to help him succeed.?

As your child learns to understand more of what you say, his expressive language skills are likely to increase, also.?

By: Mary Lou Johnson

I have two issues with speed when it comes to children. We adults may feel we have to go go go, but it is not helpful to rush or hurry a child constantly. Rushing goes against the child’s nature to calmly explore, examine, and think about things and experiences. Forcing a child to “hurry up” all of the time can interrupt his or her thought processes and learning.

Life is meant to be savored. Rushing and being rushed spoils the opportunity to savor life experiences.

Another developmental area that is harmed by rushing is speech-language development. When parents talk at a fast clip to their young children as they do to adults, the child who is struggling to “crack the code” of language and/or articulation can’t glean the bits and pieces needed to learn the language easily.

Have you ever listened to a native speaker of another language? As you listen to the rat-a-tat-tat of that speaker, you marvel that anyone can understand what is being said. You have no clue where one word ends and another begins.

Your child’s language detection system is attempting to learn “word boundaries” and grammar rules. He or she can learn a lot better if you slow the pace of your speech so you can emphasize key words. You can do this by stretching vowels in words, raising your loudness slightly on important or new words, and by using an appealing child-oriented cadence in your voice.

How much do you like to be interrupted at work or at home when you are focused on some thought, a project, or an activity? Now think how your child must feel when you make him or her leave things at a moment’s notice.

Give your child some advance warning, even if he or she doesn’t understand time concepts yet. You can say things like, “Pretty soon/in a few minutes/after you finish building that tower we need to go to school.” You can even set a timer for five or ten minutes and let your child get used to this amount of time. Give your child a chance to finish what he or she is doing, within reason, before moving on to the next thing.

You want your child to be able to concentrate on something and to want to complete things. People who flit about and are constantly thinking about what’s next rather than what they are currently doing may develop some difficulties with attention or staying power.

Life goes too fast as it is. Try hard not to hurry your young child. Let your child savor experiences to learn better.

By: Mary Lou Johnson

Often when parents bring their children in for a speech-language evaluation, they say they know they shouldn’t compare their child to other children, but …. They are concerned about their child’s apparent difficulties, but they feel guilty about making a comparison to siblings or other children.

Though each child is a unique person who will grow and develop slightly differently than any other child, it can be very helpful to a child who is struggling to develop skills if his parents do compare him with others. There is a difference between comparing people to be critical versus comparing people in order to help a person in need.

Let’s look at an example from standard medical care that we are all familiar with and comfortable with. Babies and young children are measured and weighed, and their heights and weights are plotted on height and weight growth charts. Such percentile charts reflect what is known about the broad average range of development and help doctors find out if a child is too far above or too far below normal. A child’s growth information, relative to what is known to be typical, can help doctors identify if a child has a metabolic disorder, food intolerance, or other conditions which affect a child’s growth and which should be treated.

Similarly, then, when comparing a child’s speech-language skills against the broad average range of what is typical for a same-age child, development that measures below the average range can be identified. An evaluation may discover an underlying condition that needs treatment, or, in the absence of a recognizable cause, the speech-language behavior can be described, and a treatment plan can be established to help the child.

Here are some general guidelines for speech-language milestones achieved by the age of 2 ? to 3 years: a child typically understands approximately 500 words, expresses approximately 200 words, combines 3 to 4 words in simple sentences, and is about 70% intelligible (understandable). The reader is referred to the web site of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (www.asha.org) to view the chart, “How Does Your Child Hear and Talk?”.

If parents are concerned that their child’s speech-language development is slower or different than expected based on what most children do at a certain age, they are encouraged to schedule a speech-language evaluation. The information received will either confirm their concerns or reassure that the child is on track in his development. It will also provide a baseline for measuring the child’s progress over time. This child study process will help parents figure out if their child needs some help in order to acquire speech-language skills like a child his or her age.

By: Mary Lou Johnson

Is it my imagination, or are parents emphasizing to their young children the preacademic concepts of color names, numbers, and letters of the alphabet much more often and much earlier than any previous generation of parents? Is our society causing us to believe that we are bad parents if our children don’t know these things as early as possible?

In my view there really are many more interesting things for parents to talk about with very young children, and no doubt our children would benefit if they did.

“Force feeding” academic related concepts before a child is developmentally ready can lead to frustration and may cause stress and avoidance or reluctance to learn such concepts. Young children need to learn and deserve to learn a variety of other important early concepts through their own exploratory play and observation.

I’m not an expert on the subject of the best times to teach preacademic concepts, but I think that learning in this area is probably not so different from the speech-language learning that children need to accomplish. If parents pay attention to their child’s interests, then they will create a better match between the child’s thoughts and her ability to acquire new skills.

Most baby toys have bright colors, but that is more for visual interest and contrast. It is not necessary for parents to tell and quiz toddlers constantly about colors.

Some children do become aware of numbers, colors, and letters of the alphabet at a young age. For these children we should follow their lead and reveal these concepts through fun activities such as singing the ABC song, counting steps as we walk up stairs or walk along the sidewalk, counting napkins as we place them on the table, saying the names of colors of their favorite things, and so on.

Otherwise, before children are interested in such things, resist the urge to stress this information. The toddler stacking blocks does not need to be questioned about or told the colors of the blocks he is using. What is more important is that he is stacking the blocks and making a tower or a house–or whatever it is–perhaps a garage for his cars? It might be fun to count the blocks before they fall–that might even contribute to his desire to do it again and try to add “one more.” But naming the letters on the blocks and staying too focused on the color names is probably not where the child’s focus is or should be at a young age.

There are more and more electronic toys on the market for younger and younger children that have voice output with letter names. Forget these! Your young child needs to be building things, using materials in different ways, and experiencing cause and effect actions. It will be cheaper for you and better for him if you buy more classic toys he can make things out of.

My advice? Forget about having your child “know” certain preacademic concepts before her cousins or before your neighbors. Play with your child, notice what interests her and talk about those things. If the color of something or the number involved is important to her activity, then comment on it. If your child notices you writing and wants a paper and pencil, provide them. Give only as much help as requested. Resist the temptation to make your child form or copy certain letters before she is ready.

Helping your child learn many names of things (nouns), how and why things work or happen, how things feel, how things change, how to solve problems that arise–these concepts give your child a strong foundation for language learning and for later academic learning.

By: Mary Lou Johnson