Child does not speak at 3 years old: when to sound the alarm and what to do?

Most often, speech disorders are detected at the age of 3, when the child begins to speak actively. Using a real example, we explain what general speech underdevelopment (GSU) in children is, whether this diagnosis is dangerous or not, and how you can help your child speak at home.⠀

Speech development disorders can occur in children raised in ordinary families, as well as in children from bilingual families, i.e., in innate bilinguals, when the child's parents speak different languages.

Young bilingual children master two languages from an early age—the first, primary language, and the second, which they hear less often. Therefore, speech problems in such children are most often related to incorrect pronunciation of sounds and mixing languages in speech.

From this article, you will learn:

• what general speech underdevelopment (GSU) in children is;
• whether this diagnosis is dangerous or not;
• when to sound the alarm;
• which specialists to consult;
• how you can help your child speak at home.

To make it clearer for you, we will address all questions using a real example.

What is general speech underdevelopment (GSU) in children?

General speech underdevelopment (GSU) is a disorder in the formation of speech skills in a child. Most often, it can be detected at the age of three, when the child begins to speak actively. But GSU is not a symptom of a serious illness; more often, it is simply insufficient attention from parents to the child's speech. For example, if the child says "yba," "suba," "dau," and the parents do not correct him, thinking that "it will pass on its own."

"My son is 4 years old. He has been going to kindergarten since he was 3, but he hardly speaks. His speech resembles the babbling of a one-year-old child. I understand him only when he explains himself with gestures. Acquaintances reassure me that boys start speaking later, but I am very worried because the children in kindergarten do not want to play with my son; he constantly cries, gets angry, and even offends his peers.

I don't know what to do. Please advise whether I should do something now or wait until the child outgrows it? Is it necessary to see a specialist, or can I work on speech development at home?"

Giving any abstract advice without communicating with the child is difficult. Therefore, we invited the mother and the boy for a free online consultation.

The wonderful and smiling Roma had no problems with hearing or intellect, but he communicated with our methodologist as follows:

• instead of "give," he said "da-da," instead of "eat," "nam-nam";
• instead of a whole word, he only named the root and used it to denote several words at once—"ma" for "car," "ba" for "drum," "banana," "battery";
• he said the same words in different ways: "car" as "asha," "bibi," "pipi," "si";
• he shortened complex words and phrases: "Mom went to work" as "ma sia a atu."

After the consultation, it became clear—Roma has general speech underdevelopment (GSU) of the first degree.

Speech therapists can give this diagnosis to a child if he said his first words only after the age of 3 or if he communicates more with gestures. For example, instead of saying "Mom, give me candy," he says "give" and then points to the cabinet where the sweets are.

Below is a table with norms of speech development by age. Take a look, but do not focus too much on these data—every child is individual and develops at their own pace.

When to sound the alarm if the child does not speak?

1. If by 8–9 months of life, the baby is mostly silent.
2. If at one year, he does not react when you speak to him. For example, if you ask "where is the chair?" and he does not turn his head toward where the chair is. And to get your attention, he often cries.
3. If at 1.2–1.6 years, the child does not distinguish familiar objects by ear and cannot point to them in a picture. For example, you ask him to show where the bed is, but he cannot point to it either in the room or in the picture.
4. If at 1.5–2 years, the child does not understand how to fulfill your simplest requests. For example: "Bring the cup from the table," "Take the soldier and put it in the box."
5. If at 2–3 years, the child does not speak simple sentences. For example: "Mom, I want to eat," "Dad, take it."
6. If at 3–4 years, the child cannot speak in sentences. For example: "Dad came from work," "The dog is lying under the table." And also mispronounces most sounds.

Is GSU of the first degree dangerous?

GSU itself is not dangerous, but if correction is not started in time, the consequences can be serious. Speech therapists and neurologists assert that there is no need to worry before the age of 3. But if your child is already 3 years old and does not speak at all or has only said their first word at this age, this may be a signal of speech development delay.

If you ignore the problem further, it will worsen. Against the background of speech underdevelopment, mental development may be disrupted: thinking will become sluggish, concentration and memory will deteriorate, and movement coordination will be impaired.

The child's academic performance will decline, self-esteem will decrease, and complexes will appear; he will become withdrawn and prone to depression. To prevent this, it is advisable to identify the problem as early as possible and start acting.

Which specialists should you consult to identify general speech underdevelopment?

If the child does not speak at 4 years old, it is better to show him to several specialists immediately:

• a speech therapist-defectologist—will assess the severity of the speech disorder and suggest a direction for correctional work;
• an ENT specialist—will help ensure that hearing is normal;
• a neurologist—will examine the child, review the child's development chart to rule out organic damage, and, if necessary, prescribe appropriate medications.

Often, a consultation with an experienced speech therapist-defectologist is sufficient to determine GSU and begin correction, as in the case with our student Roma.⠀

But if the speech therapist still recommends visiting other specialists, it is worth listening.

What to do if your child is diagnosed with GSU of the first degree?

We gave Roma's mother 10 main recommendations on how to develop the child's speech at home. The first four concern communication, and the next six concern speech development work:

1. Monitor your own speech

Do not baby-talk with the child; pronounce words, phrases, and sentences clearly. Monitor your pace—speak neither too fast nor too slow. Children always take example from their parents.

2. Do not use complex words when talking to the child

Phrases should be simple and understandable. For example, if you are reading a book that contains unfamiliar words, stop and explain the meaning to the child.

3. Ask simple, specific questions and do not rush the answer

For example: "Are you cold?", "Do you want to eat?", "Does anything hurt?" etc. It will be easier for the child to answer clear questions.

4. Do not scold for speech errors, but gently correct

For example, the child says "payshou," and you gently say, "Bunny, the correct way is 'poshol'."

If there are other people around at that moment, say it so that no one else hears you. Then the child will not be embarrassed.

5. Develop fine motor skills of the hands

Allow the child to dress independently and tie shoelaces, give him more opportunities to mold, color, draw, assemble mosaics, and constructors. The better the child's hand motor skills are developed, the better the brain works, and the faster speech normalizes.

6. Engage in breathing exercises with the child

The child will be able to speak clearly, for a long time, without stuttering or hesitation.

7. Develop phonemic hearing

Phonemic hearing helps in the quick and correct mastery of oral speech through the ability to hear and distinguish sounds. Examples of games and simple exercises on how to develop phonemic hearing can be found here.

8. Do articulation exercises

Such exercises are aimed at training everything that helps us speak: the muscles of the face and mouth, nose, and voice. A developed articulation apparatus will help the child pronounce sounds correctly right away.

These include exercises such as "duck-tube," "fence," "horse," massaging the tongue with a toothbrush, etc. All these exercises can be easily found on YouTube.

9. Monitor how much time the child spends on gadgets

The child should spend more time in active games. For example, at home, you can also jump, play tag, build a house from chairs, pillows, and blankets.

10. More often, look at books with the child and read aloud to him

Reading best develops imagination, enriches vocabulary, and improves memory. If the child enjoys reading from childhood, he will definitely have beautiful and literate speech.

At first glance, doing all of the above seems difficult. But if you turn all the exercises into a game, your child will be delighted.

It's another matter if, like Roma's mother, you have no time for this at all. That is why we offered our help and enrolled Roma in our course "Bukvaryata 43," which is taught by educators with speech therapy training. To work on pronunciation of complex sounds (S, Z, Ts, Sh, Zh, Ch, R, L) through learning to read, then increase vocabulary and gradually develop his speech.

After 4 months of training, Roma already knows all the letters and is slowly reading by syllables. But the main thing is that he has started speaking. Of course, his speech is not yet perfect, but he has stopped replacing words with incomprehensible sounds and now speaks in short but clear phrases: "Mom, let's go," "I want to eat," "Let's play," etc.

There is still a lot of work ahead, so we are not stopping and moving forward. By school, Roma will already be speaking no worse than others, and he will also be able to read and write competently.

If your child also has speech problems and you do not have time to work with him at home, try our online lessons. Come, we will consult, give recommendations, select a teacher, and a suitable course.