Hello – It’s Darcy!
I’m back with answers to your most recently asked questions! Feel free to keep the questions coming in the comments below and I’ll be happy to answer them in upcoming posts ?
Do speech delays effect children’s ability to ask questions? If so, what question skills should I work on with my 1 year old versus my 3 year old?
Yes. A language delay (language: the words and sentences we use to communicate ideas) can impact a child’s ability to both understand and ask questions. Questions are a more advanced form of language, and develop in correlation with the complexity of the information requested. Most young children (between 1-2.5) ask questions in some version of “who or what is that?” requesting the name of an object or person. Early language development is learning the labels for all things (actions, people, objects). It may not sound so clear (e.g it may just be pointing, “dat!”, or “wha dat?”), but as parents you know what information that child is asking for! As the child grows and their cognition develops (e.g. memory and attention) a child will begin asking what we would consider a “wh-“ question between 3 and 4 years of age. “Why? Where? and How?” are the earliest to emerge, with “why” typically preceding “where and how”. “When” is last – time is a very abstract concept for children to understand, much less request information about at a young age.
You can help your children develop an understanding for the content communicated in questions by asking and answering them yourself. Provide a model of the question and then provide the answer. “Who is at the door? Its Grandma!” or “What is it? It’s your shoe!” “Where is the dog? Under the table!”. Your child must understand the information obtained by asking a question before they will formulate the questions themselves. Introduce these wh- words early on, with lots of visual aids (e.g. books! Pictures) to help them understand the concepts so they will be primed to ask the questions themselves when they are ready.
My child has trouble with certain food textures. What can I do to increase his tolerance to them?
This is a common problem, and very tricky question to answer because there are so many reasons why a child may have an aversion to a certain texture! Before trying to increase your child’s tolerance, please rule out any physiological reason why he may be adverse. This includes undiagnosed reflux, hypersensitive gag reflex, weakness in the tongue/jaw/cheek muscles that may impact their ability to manipulate the food safely in the mouth, and overall postural tone (e.g. slumping in the chair, laying the head down, etc). Any of these issues can be an underlying cause for food aversions, and should be ruled out by a feeding therapist before initiating direct feeding intervention. Forcing a child to eat food they cannot physically handle will only increase the aversion and possibly make the problem worse, so its very important to rule any of that out.
Once those possible causes are ruled out, one approach is to complete a very systematic training where your child is introduced to new textures in a safe, non-threatening manner. First, presented on the plate – not to be eaten, but not to be discarded. Then perhaps touched with the finger, smelled, licked, and eventually put in the mouth. It can be spit out, but at least in the mouth. Once the child is desensitized to the look, touch, and smell of the undesired food, they may be more willing to accept it in their mouth and eventually swallow it. Any progression towards greater acceptance is verbally rewarded/praised, so this new food therefore becomes a positive experience versus a negative. This process can take months, or even years!
Feeding aversions can be a very tricky thing, and its always a good idea to have a feeding therapist to provide feedback and suggestions. The one thing I would caution against is force feeding, as that usually results in the child being ever more resistant than ever to eating a particular item, and can possible lead to struggles at mealtimes even in absence of the undesired food. Finally, be sure the child is seen regularly by the pediatrician to ensure continued growth and monitor for malnutrition. Depending on what the child is averse to, this can lead to vitamin and nutrient deficiencies so always a good idea to have their doctor monitoring as well!
We’ve just started speech therapy sessions for three weeks now. How do I know my child is benefiting from the service? What are some standard things that my child’s speech therapist should cover during these early stages?
Congrats on starting therapy! One of the most exciting, yet aggravating things, about speech therapy is that every therapist, every child, and every therapy session is different. At this stage of therapy, the therapist’s primary goal should be establishing a good relationship with your child. The therapist has to motivate your child to do that which is hardest for them to do: communicate. In order to do this, the therapist has to develop a strong relationship with your child, figuring out what they enjoy, how they think, and what helps them succeed. In addition, the therapist should be developing a relationship with you, determining your daily routines and figuring out the best way to incorporate practice opportunities into your day. At this early stage, it is unlikely you will see a dramatic change in your child’s communication yet – training the brain is hard work and takes time! Communication is a very complex system that we take for granted as adults, but there is much cognitive and linguistic work that goes on “behind the scenes” before any change will manifest on the outside. In addition, every child develops and responds to therapy differently – some demonstrate changes seemingly immediately while others may wait months for a “breakthrough” moment. I would suggest focusing on what you as a family can do at home to reinforce the work of the speech therapist. Receive as much information on the therapy goals and techniques as possible so that you can recognize your child’s progress. It will come. And the more you can focus on this “team” approach with the therapist the more satisfied everyone will be!
As always, I hope this information was helpful and I hope to hear from you soon! Leave your questions and comments below or feel free to email me at thebeansquad@mabohne.com
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