Signs Your Child May Benefit From Speech Therapy

Your Child May Need Help Developing Speech & Language Skills

Speech therapy, also known as speech-language therapy, is a form of treatment designed to address speech and language disorders that can affect people of all ages, but especially children. Using a combination of interactive activities, articulation therapy, and education, speech pathologists can help children to communicate more effectively.

Whether your little one has a speech impediment or delays in speech development, speech therapy can help them to develop well-rounded language and speech skills. Here’s what signs and behaviors parents should look out for.

Limited Word Use

As children continue to learn and grow, it’s natural for their vocabulary to continue to expand. While every child develops their communication skills at their own pace, there are certain milestones they should be reaching. If your little one is using less than 20 words by 18 months or less than 50 words by the age of 2, they may benefit from seeing a speech pathologist.

Trouble Making Certain Word Sounds

While it can be expected that babies and toddlers will have some trouble articulating their words, if issues with making certain sounds persist, they may have a speech disorder. If your little one speaks in a way that is generally unclear, they may benefit from speech therapy.

Children with speech disorders may also have problems pronouncing the following letter-sounds between the ages of 1 and 2:

• B
• H
• M
• P
• W

As well as trouble pronouncing these letter sounds between 2 and 3:

• D
• F
• G
• K
• T

Language Comprehension Issues

Another common sign that your child may have communication issues is that they have trouble understanding and following simple sentences. By the age of 2, children should be able to understand about 200 words. If they seem to be confused by common phrases, it may be time to make an appointment with a speech pathologist.

Rehabilitation Services in Bishop, CA

At Northern Inyo Healthcare District, our Rehabilitation Services team takes a very proactive approach to solving problems for our patients and our community at large. Our therapists have ‘a trained eye’ for how people move, work, and play in their environments. We can help to reduce possible injury and minimize future problems that can occur with poor or limited capacity due to patient conditions. Our team’s strength lies in our ability to be flexible and adaptable. We are constantly striving to improve and upgrade our services to provide specialized therapies that most small, rural communities such as ours do not usually have. We also know enough to know when it’s time to refer a patient to more specialized care.

For more information about the rehabilitation services at Northern Inyo Healthcare District or to schedule an appointment, call (760) 873-2155.