Helping babies develop speech

Author: Alison Johnson

I came across this article on an interesting study from researchers at Florida Atlantic University, which found babies use lip-reading -- not just sound -- to learn how to speak. At about 6 months, as they enter the "babbling" stage, babies begin looking at a speaker's mouth to help them figure out how to make certain sounds; by a year, most have shifted back to looking the person in the eye.

The upshot: face time with babies is critically important. Putting them in front of a DVD or computer, in other words, just isn't the same. Scientists also hope understanding the complex process of how babies learn to speak can lead to interventions for children who develop slowly, and possibly identify very early red flags for autism.

“It is likely that, contrary to typically developing children, infants who are as yet undiagnosed but who are at risk for autism may continue to focus on the mouth of a native-language talker at 12 months of age and beyond,” says FAU's David J. Lewkowicz, Ph.D., a professor of psychology. “If so, this would provide the earliest behavioral confirmation of impending developmental disability and would give clinicians an early start on intervention procedures aimed at lessening or preventing the most devastating effects of autism and other communicative disorders.”

Children do develop at different paces, but there are some red flags to watch for, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Those include a lack of eye contact, not startling at loud noises as a newborn, not babbling by age 6 months, and not responding to simple commands or saying basic words ("mama" or "bye-bye") by 12-18 months. And in general, parents who are concerned a child seems "delayed" compared to peers should ask a pediatrician.

Other tips for helping young children develop language: Talk about what your child is doing and what she sees all around her. Listen closely to what she says without interrupting or trying to speed her along. Instead of pointing out mistakes and mispronunciations, model correct speech. For example, if your child says, "want wawa," respond by asking, "Did you say, 'I want water?'"

And, as the FAU study suggests, do it all face-to-face whenever possible!