A few ways that a parent could get involved with helping to improve a childs language and speech skills includes speaking to their child with enthusiasm, engaging in conversations revolving what the child is focusing on, and reading to their child frequently.Social and play skills appear to be more difficult for children with language delays due to their decreased experience in conversation. Speech Pathologists utilize methods such as prompting to improve a childs social skills through play intervention. While recent studies have consistently found play intervention to be helpful, further research is required in order to determine the effectiveness of this form of therapy.Unfortunately, there is still not a lot of methods and cures that help children with language delay. However, there have been some recent therapy methods that have caused improvement in children with language delay. Certain types of therapy have been seen to show more or better improvement for the children compared to regular speech therapy. One such example is in the form of therapeutic horseback riding. It is also mentioned in a study that animals are a good source of therapy for children with special needs in areas including communication skills.In regards to demographic factors causing language delay, specifically poverty, system-level changes improve access to treatment and therapy for children with language delay. Intervention
The parent and child relationship is bi-directional, which means that parents have an influence over their childs language development, while the child has an influence over the parents communication styles.
Language delays are often identified when a child strays from the expected developments in the timeline of typical speech and language developmental milestones that researchers agree on. Children can stray slightly from the confines of the expected timeline; however, if a child is observed to be largely straying from the expected timeline, the childs caretaker should consult with a medical specialist. Timeline of typical speech and language developmental milestones
This timeline only provides a very general and brief outline of expected developments from birth to age five, individual children can still exhibit varying development patterns as this timeline only serves as a general guideline. This timeline is only one model, other models regarding language development exist. The development of language remains a theoretical mystery. Around 2 months, babies can make "cooing" sounds.Around 4 months, babies can respond to voices.Around 6 months, babies begin to babble and respond to names.Around 9 months, babies begin to produce mama/dada - appropriate terms and are able to imitate one word at a time.Around 12 months, toddlers can typically speak one or more words. They can produce two words with meaning.Around 15 months, toddlers begin to produce jargon, which is defined as "pre-linguistic vocalizations in which infants use adult-like stress and intonation".Around 18 months, toddlers can produce 10 words and follow simple commands.Around 24 months, toddlers begin to produce 2-3 words and phases that use "I", "Me", and "you", indicating possession. They are about 25% intelligible.Around 3 years, toddlers are able to use language in numerical terms.