The importance of early intervention in supporting your child

By Aislinn Teixeira - Speech Pathologist 

One of the most common questions I’ve been asked whilst working in Speech Pathology is – how do I know when to be worried? When parents have started to notice that their child may be falling behind other children we frequently are asked about when the right time to come for speech therapy is and concerns are raised about the unknown! 

Will they grow out of this?

Is this normal development? 

Should I just wait and see if it fixes itself?

Am I overreacting?

Have I left this too long?

These are all normal concerns for parents to feel with their little one! My answer to all these concerns is always to contact a speech pathologist and have a chat because for us and your little one, early intervention, if they need it, is always beneficial!

Early intervention is shown to be one of the most effective ways to minimise impacts of speech and language difficulties your child might be experiencing. Early intervention is focussed on little ones up to about 5 years and looks to implement play-based therapies to support their development of their speech and language in the areas that they are having trouble with! This is because their brains are still developing and they’re still learning all the sounds and words and parts of communication we use in our world and learning how they can use them! What this means is that the pathways in their brain for these skills haven’t fully connected yet and are much more flexible to change through therapy when administered in the early years. 

Hmm… I’m not sure, should I just wait and see? 

 My advice to parents who have concerns and aren’t sure whether it’s a problem that will fix itself is always to give a speech pathologist a call! Have a chat with us and we can give you some advice on your concerns. From there we can have a look at what is happening through an assessment with your little one and advise you as to whether early intervention is appropriate or whether it’s something to continue to monitor for the future.  It’s better to know early and get them the help they might need, rather than not knowing!

But how do I know if they need to see a speech pathologist?

Thinking about when your child is communicating with you, and other people, it may be beneficial to contact a speech pathologist if: 

• You are having trouble understanding them when they’re trying to talk to you. It’s still normal for strangers to not understand everything your child says up to the age of 4, however usually close family are generally able to understand much more so if you are having trouble understanding them it may be beneficial to look at early intervention.

• You feel like they’re not speaking enough or communicating in ways similar to other children their age then it is also helpful to contact a speech pathologist. 

• You think your child is having trouble understanding simple sentences and instructions. 

• They aren’t using non-verbal communication like gestures and eye contact. 

• Or, if you’re not sure because your child’s communication doesn’t seem similar to other children their age.