Episode 11. My Opinion about How to Identify whether Your Child needs Speech and Language Therapy

In today’s My Opinion About…Series, I will review 4 signs that your child may need speech and language therapy or at the very least, to be evaluated by a speech therapist. 

Now, if you consider that the scope of speech therapists is pretty wide, your child may require speech and language therapy if they’re having; 

– Speech difficulties

– Language difficulties

– Reading difficulties

– Fluency disorders

– Auditory processing difficulties

– Swallowing; or 

– Voice disorders

How to identify whether your child needs speech therapy

And these difficulties may appear at any time during their development- from birth, they could be developmental or acquired. 

Research advocates for early intervention, which is remediating any difficulties as soon as they appear and preferably when the child is 3 years and below. 

I would like to emphasise that again, preferrably when the child is 3 years and below. 

Or at the earliest discovery of an issue. 

The following 4 signs can be sure red flags that your child may need speech and language therapy or an evaluation by a speech therapist

1. Birth Trauma

Birth trauma is a general term describing any injury to a newborn that is as a result of the birth process. 

This may include eventualities of a prolonged, obstructed labour, premature birth, foetal distress in-utero or as a result of the birthing process. 

A child’s apgar score at 5 minutes is the first indication of the physical condition of your baby. 

The apgar score stands for appearance, pulse, grimace, activity and respiration. 

It is a score out of a possible 10, in which 5 things are measured with each being scored on a scale of 0 to 2 therefore giving a possible score of 10. 

The apgar score is given at 1 minute of life, then again at 5 minutes. 

A score of 7 and below at the 5th minute is usually considered low, but a low score at 1 minute and a score of 7 and above at minute 5 should be fine if the doctors are not concerned. 

The second sign that your child may need to see a speech therapist is…

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Birth trauma is a sign that your child may need speech therapy
https://www.kidspot.com.au

2. Delayed Motorical and Speech Milestones

May have medically diagnosed conditions or no apparent ones 

So what are the motorical milestones we’re referring to;

Anything to do with the big muscles- holding the neck, sitting, walking 

If these are not met at the expected times, then they may be red flags to other delays including communication. 

– So, if your baby has not held their neck by 6 weeks

– Hasn’t sat independently 

– Not babbling by 9 months

 -No first words by 15 months

– Less than 20 words by 18 months

– Less than 100 words by 2 years

– Not combining words by 3 years

 – Difficult to understand by 4 years 

If your child is difficult to engage, they need to undergo speech and language

3. Difficult to Engage

Difficulty to engage means;

– They don’t respond when they  are called

– They don’t seem to crave social interaction, they prefer their own company

Chances are that such a child has social communication difficulties and they need to see a speech therapist

4. Parental concern

If you as a parent feels concerned, if you have a gut feeling that not everything is right, there is no harm in seeking out an evaluation by a speech therapist.

The worst that would come out of seeking an evaluation is the financial cost which is a small cost compared to the time that you can’t recover by deciding to wait it out thus losing the advantage of early intervention. 

Taking a wait and see approach only delays the inevitable.


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Hi, I'm your teacher

Lorna Muthamia-Ochido

I run a family-centred speech-language therapy clinic, the largest in East and Central Africa. I’ve helped 15,000+ children optimise their communication outcomes (in other words, I make children smarter ☺).

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