SpeakingUpdate
Abbie still isn’t talking. We’re working on it. I’ve learned to accept that she’s going to talk when she talks. Talking is an essential prerequisite to moving out of the house at 18, but as long as she learns to talk eventually, I’m not going to worry about her. No, I need to save my worrying energies for the boys’ speech abilities since they’re not talking either.
Even though every developmental chart I’ve seen says children should be talking by 12 months, it’s still too early to worry. There’s a huge range when children begin speaking. Some children start communicating around nine months or even earlier. Some children wait until their second birthday to talk. Some children are like Abbie. Plus, there are several mitigating factors to explain a child’s speech delay: Boys talk later than girls do. Subsequent children talk later than firstborns do. Children raised in a home where the caregiver is too busy cleaning the kitchen and changing diapers to expose them to language talk later than well-tended children do. I remember these factors after researching them for Abbie and panicking after realizing none of them applied to her.
That doesn’t mean people aren’t worried about them. My mother for one makes it a point to ask if they’re talking yet during every phone call, right after she asks if Abbie is talking yet. The developmental follow-up team from the NICU will also be concerned that they’re not talking yet, especially since they were terrified at how little they were babbling at 9 months. They may call child protective services if they’re not talking for the 15-month check-up.
It figures that late talking would run in our children. Of course, both Ellie and I were early talkers. My mother claims I spoke at 9 months, probably right after I learned to tie my shoes and days before I started reading. Ellie’s family says she was speaking in complete sentences by age 2. Our children can babble completely different syllables by age 2.
Which isn’t to say they’re mutes. Well, Ian is kind of a mute if you don’t count crying, but he’s learning. Abbie makes many sounds, some of them even sound like monosyllabic words, but they’re not words. She communicates mostly through signs, screams, and just getting the box of Goldfish off the top of the refrigerator herself because daddy obviously doesn’t understand her.
The boys babble occasionally, but not when someone would traditionally use words such as to label objects, grab another person’s attention, or utter expletives while in pain. They both throw out strands of “mamama” and “dadada,” but it’s not really to grab our attention. It’s more like a way to occupy the time as they wander the house in search of edible objects. Tory is the bigger eater and more likely to wander and babble. Ian is more content to sit silently and plot ways to steal Abbie’s food. Tory also has a sound that I’ve never heard Ian make. He’ll use strings of “sha-sha-sha,” kind of like Dale Gribble without the preceding paranoia.
No matter how delayed the kids seem in speaking, I’m not going to worry. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing to expose them to language: Take them out into public frequently, read to them often, and scold them when they misbehave. I have to work language in whenever my chores allow.
Even though every developmental chart I’ve seen says children should be talking by 12 months, it’s still too early to worry. There’s a huge range when children begin speaking. Some children start communicating around nine months or even earlier. Some children wait until their second birthday to talk. Some children are like Abbie. Plus, there are several mitigating factors to explain a child’s speech delay: Boys talk later than girls do. Subsequent children talk later than firstborns do. Children raised in a home where the caregiver is too busy cleaning the kitchen and changing diapers to expose them to language talk later than well-tended children do. I remember these factors after researching them for Abbie and panicking after realizing none of them applied to her.
That doesn’t mean people aren’t worried about them. My mother for one makes it a point to ask if they’re talking yet during every phone call, right after she asks if Abbie is talking yet. The developmental follow-up team from the NICU will also be concerned that they’re not talking yet, especially since they were terrified at how little they were babbling at 9 months. They may call child protective services if they’re not talking for the 15-month check-up.
It figures that late talking would run in our children. Of course, both Ellie and I were early talkers. My mother claims I spoke at 9 months, probably right after I learned to tie my shoes and days before I started reading. Ellie’s family says she was speaking in complete sentences by age 2. Our children can babble completely different syllables by age 2.
Which isn’t to say they’re mutes. Well, Ian is kind of a mute if you don’t count crying, but he’s learning. Abbie makes many sounds, some of them even sound like monosyllabic words, but they’re not words. She communicates mostly through signs, screams, and just getting the box of Goldfish off the top of the refrigerator herself because daddy obviously doesn’t understand her.
The boys babble occasionally, but not when someone would traditionally use words such as to label objects, grab another person’s attention, or utter expletives while in pain. They both throw out strands of “mamama” and “dadada,” but it’s not really to grab our attention. It’s more like a way to occupy the time as they wander the house in search of edible objects. Tory is the bigger eater and more likely to wander and babble. Ian is more content to sit silently and plot ways to steal Abbie’s food. Tory also has a sound that I’ve never heard Ian make. He’ll use strings of “sha-sha-sha,” kind of like Dale Gribble without the preceding paranoia.
No matter how delayed the kids seem in speaking, I’m not going to worry. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing to expose them to language: Take them out into public frequently, read to them often, and scold them when they misbehave. I have to work language in whenever my chores allow.
posted by Matt at
11:30 PM
1 Comments:
I sometimes wish my children wouldn't talk so much. I'm going loopy trying to have 4 conversations all at once. They just talk talk talk all the time.
It would be nice to have a remote with a mute and pause button!
By
The Cafe Six, at 7:25 PM
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