Archive for the ‘kid speech’ tag
Your Child’s Speech and Hearing
Children normally start babbling by the age of six months and start uttering their first words when they are around one year of age. However, some children seem pretty slow with developing speech and this becomes a point of concern for parents. While hereditary reasons may be involved in such a case, many such instances are caused by a problem in hearing. Children who can’t hear well fail to develop speech easily.
If your baby hasn’t started babbling while he/she crosses six months, chat with moms in the neighborhood and see if their kids of the same age babble sounds. If your child seems to be failing to babble while other babies of his age do, your baby’s hearing may be impaired. Take him to a General Practitioner, preferably a pediatrician. In many cases, the kid’s hearing is blocked by glue ear, a painless condition in which a sticky fluid builds up behind the ear drum. In most cases, the fluid is removed naturally. But in some kids, a doctor is required to drain the fluid out of the ear.
Ear infections in 15 to 17 months old children may continue to make hearing difficult for them and they may not develop speech easily or respond to conversation even when they are as old as 5 years. In such cases, you need to have a doctor see your kid’s ears and provide adequate treatment. Remember, if your child is slow in developing speech, his hearing may be at risk and if the ear infections causing the problem are not treated in time, permanent damage to hearing may occur. So don’t be late in taking the next step for your kid’s hearing and speech.