Glue ear (or otitis media with effusion: OME) is a build-up of fluid in the middle ear that can often cause problems with hearing. According to NHS figures, it is estimated that 1 in 5 children around the age of two will be affected by glue ear at any given time and about 8 in 10 will have had it at least once by the age of 10 years.
Have you ever thought about the purpose of a baby’s babble? “…babbabaaaa…didididid…mama mama…gugugugugu…” This pattern of repetitive sound-making is actually a very significant and important stage in your child’s language development. A recent study found that the age at which your baby starts to babble predicts when he will say his first words!
Reading books to your child helps their minds grow and develop because you’re introducing them to new worlds outside of their immediate environment. With the use of book-reading, you can also lay the foundation for their future reading and writing skills.
When I first meet families of children with language delay, understandably, parents are extremely eager to hear their child use words and to start putting sentences together. But, for me, as a Speech & Language Therapist, there’s a lot more that needs to be in place before this can happen. In fact, the road to successful communication begins long before a child actually starts to use words.
These days, it’s pretty difficult to avoid the use of electronic devices, and actually, they can be very useful when used in the right way. As a parent, I have definitely been guilty of throwing an iPad under my son’s nose in an attempt to get the housework done or even get 5 minutes of peace and quiet! But, is this harmful? And what are the implications for our children’s development?
In my time as a Speech Therapist, I have seen many parents who are worried about their child developing a stammer in early childhood. The truth is, stammering is very common (and normal!) in young children between the ages of 2 and 4. As many as 1 in 20 children may stammer, but as this often coincides with a period of rapid...
When people find out I’m a Speech Therapist, questions that often come up are. “So, when should my child start to talk?” “When do children start to link words together to make sentences?” And “When should I be worried?” Just like everything in child development, there is quite a large, natural variation...
“What did you have for your lunch? Was it nice? Who did you sit with? What did she say? How old are you? What’s that? Where did you get your hat from…?” Just like we don’t like to be in conversations where we are overwhelmed with questions, the same is true for children.
