speech delay

Speech delay or alalia is a common childhood problem that consists of a delay in the normal development of articulate verbal expression. Although it is known to affect 3 out of 10 children, speech delay can also indicate the presence of a neurological or physiological dysfunction that needs immediate diagnosis and treatment. Given that alalia has been found to cause more emotional, social and cognitive problems, a child who cannot pronounce at least two words by the age of 18 months or does not seem to understand and respond to what the parent is saying will need to be taken to a doctor.

Below are some of the reasons why your child might have a speech delay.

Deformed frenulum, lips, or palate

Sometimes the speech delay has a simple explanation and is mainly the result of a physical disturbance in the mouth. For example, ankyloglossia, also known as tongue tie, is a congenital abnormality caused by an unusually short tongue tie. In short, the mobility of the tongue is drastically diminished, so your child may not be able to pronounce words, even though he has already developed language.

Oral-motor dysfunctions

A child with oral-motor dysfunction will not babble like a baby normally would, will have trouble combining words, and most importantly, will articulate words but no sounds. Primarily, this category of dysfunctions is created by a lack of coordination between the region of the brain in charge of speech production and the muscles of the mouth and tongue. One of the most common oral-motor disorders is developmental apraxia of speech (DAS). Children with dyspraxia of speech have trouble moving and coordinating different parts of the mouth for verbal expression.

autism spectrum disorders

There are many warning signs that your child may have autism or Asperger’s syndrome, but one of the most notorious symptoms is speech delay. In general, a lack of receptivity or interest in spoken language, doubled by the inability to reproduce syllables or words, is typical of autistic children. They may later develop the ability to articulate words and express short sentences, but only after they have gone through an intensive remedial program with a speech specialist.

auditory processing disorder

Also known as central auditory processing disorder, APD affects 5% of all preschool-age children and is related to the way the brain processes auditory information. Specifically, dysfunction of the central nervous system leads to difficulty in recognizing and interpreting sounds, even though the structure of the outer, middle, and inner ear is integral. APD can easily be confused with ADHD because they share a list of common symptoms: poor listening skills, poor academic performance, and behavior problems.