Speech and Language intervention in early years

Speech and Language Therapy in Early Years helps children who may need some extra support in communicating their needs or being understood.

Often, children will start Speech Therapy between the ages of one and three years old. The majority of speech issues develop when your child is between eighteen months and two years old, but it’s always a good idea to contact a speech therapist sooner than that if you have any concerns.

At the meantime, early years means – from pre-birth until starting school – where in terms of a child’s development, is a critical period as children form bonds with their parents, develop language skills and other cognitive functions, and establish behavioral patterns.

Some examples of Speech and Language intervention are the following:

• Children with language and communication difficulties including autism spectrum disorder and Developmental Language Disorder up to reception age (under 5 years).
• Children with deafness (moderate to severe) up to reception age (under 5 years).
• Children with stammering difficulties.
• Children with speech sound difficulties.
• Children with SLI (Speech Language Impairment).

Speech and Language therapy is more than important for the effective and best intervention and support for the child and their parents.

Speech and Language therapists are also responsible to coordinate with schools, other therapists and professionals and to guide the parents efficiently with specific routines, programs and special and personalized plans.

In case you think there´s any kind of preoccupation in the family of you’re suspect that your child presents a difficulty in their speech and language or a professional has mentioned and recommended that there´s a difficulty, then ask for help! The best results come always when you do it early!

Sofía Zelou