So frequently, parents report that their child throws tantrums (screaming, crying, throwing his/her body on the ground, head banging) to get a desireable object.  Since I mostly work with 0-3 year olds, I have noticed that children who are language impaired (language comprehension and language expression difficulties) tantrum more that their typically developing peers.

WHY?!

Well, there could be a variety of factors that lead to a child’s tantrums.  A large contributor is frustration.  Children who are language impaired frequently become frustrated with their difficulty in communicating their basic wants and needs to their parent/caregiver.

So, yes.. children who tantrum are often frustrated – but how can we help decrease the amount and severity of tantrums? Two suggestions that I often provide parents:

1. Ignore the bad behavior, reinforce the good behavior

• Do not give your child a cookie, or any desireable object, in the midst of a tantrum. If you give them what they want, they start to legitimately think, “Oh, if I cry and scream, I get what I want! This is easy!” As opposed to reinforcing their bad behavior, praise them for their good behavior.  Throughout the day, as your child does things appropriately, bring positive attention to that behavior. For example, if your child picked up a piece of trash that fell on the floor, “Wow, [Gracie], I love it when you clean up after yourself! You make momma proud!” Consistent, positive reinforcement for desireable behavior will increase the amount of the desireable behavior.
• In the same light, if your child is kicking, screaming and crying for a cookie, DO NOT GIVE THEM A COOKIE! You may turn your head and let them “cry it out”or you may suggest for them to do something communicative.  Which brings me to my second suggestion…

2. Reinforce all modes of communication to decrease frustration

• As you ignore their “tantrum”, you may say to your child, “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand. Do you want more cookie?” Whether they say “cookie”, “more”, “more cookie” REINFORCE their communication by immediately giving them the object they desire. If your child cannot verbally talk, you can use the “more” sign. Initially, you will have to take their sweet little hands and do the “more” sign with them. As time progresses, your child will quickly learn that bringing their hands together for the “more” sign gets them what they want – without a tantrum!

Hopefully these tips help decrease the amoutn and severity of your baby’s tantrums!

Happy Babbling!

Just a quick story from a treatment session that warmed my heart…

I’ve been providing speech therapy for this child for approximately 2 months. He’s about 2 1/2 and his parents are dedicated to his language development.  This little guy did not initially have any sounds or true words when we started therapy. He rarely made eye contact or used any communicative gestures (ie., pointing, using a sign) to request (some of the things that are essential to language development.)  With the implementation of some good strategies at home, this little guy is starting to babble, use the “more” sign, point and consistently looks at his momma and daddy in the eyes.

During this particular session, we were rolling a ball back and forth with each other (a good turn-taking activity) and I was using simple language to narrate what we were doing.  It went something like this:

Me: Ball. Roll the ball. Ball.

[roll the ball to little guy.]

Little Guy: dasidamapodi (babbling)

[rolled the ball back to me.]

Me: Ball. Gimme ball?

[held the ball up towards my eyes and waited for little guy to make eye contact.]

Little Guy: BA!

I almost peed my pants with excitement. Little guy said /ba/ for “ball” three times during the session-his first true word. It took everything in me restrain myself from hugging his dad and crying.

…it was a good day

-baby.babbler

Onto my final post about pre-linguistic (or pre-language) skills in the little tykes..IMITATION and TURN-TAKING!

My dear friend, David, was sharing with me about how his 11-month-old daughter, Elliana, is starting to intentionally imitate his sounds (which obviously brings him so much joy.) Here are a few things I told him and his wife, Sarah, to watch out for:

• Does the child imitate sounds and sound combinations?
• At about 9-12 months, a baby should start to attempt to imitate sounds (ie., short words, environmental noises, and vocal play like blowing raspberries.)
• After they imitate single sounds, they will soon imitate short, simple words
• Does the child engage in vocal turn taking or turn-taking play activities?
• When a child is babbling and making noises, does he/she take turns with you if you imitate his/her babbling? For example:
• Baby: “dadadada”
• (pause)
• Momma: “bodadida”
• (pause)
• Baby: “dadadada”
• Does your child attempt to engage in turn-taking activities (like rolling a ball back and forth with his/her parent or caregiver?)
• Turn taking is an imperative skill in social communication that begins in a child’s play activities… it is a big red flag if he/she does not engage in turn-taking play

Soon after a child begins to imitate sounds, they begin to imitate simple words (like “ba” for “bottle”.) After they imitate simple words, they’re on the right road to spontaneously using single words!

So, to summarize how I respond to a parent’s question, “When will my child talk?”, these are the key characteristics I pay close attention to in their child:

1. Communicative Intent
2. Babbling structure
3. Imitation and turn-taking

All of these skills must develop prior to a child’s intentional use of words independently.

Please let me know if you have any more questions about pre-linguistic skills by leaving a comment!

Happy babbling!

….Back to the question, “when will my child talk?”  After looking at communicative intent, I start to probe a child’s parents about their babbling structure.  Prior to the production of TRUE words, a child must develop a complex babbling (also known as “baby talk”) structure.  Babbling is a prelinguistic skill (or pre-language.) Below are some key characteristics I look for when evaluating a young child:

• Babbling (or “cooing”) with vowels in typically developing kids usually occurs between 4-8 months… The baby does not initially use consonants (ie., “dadadadada” or “bababa”) but primarily uses vowels (ie., “uuhoohha”.)
• Babbling with consonants occurs between 6-8 months in typically developing children… This may include “babababa” (babbling with one consonant and one vowel) and will eventually turn into some complex babbling (babbling with a variety of consonants and vowels in a string like “badagigodadi.”)
• “Jargon” is a fancy word for “babbling with adult-like intonation.”  It usually occurs between 8-14 months. When the baby is babbling, is his/her pitch going up and down as if he/she is having a conversation with you?
• Using true words, or word approximations, amidst babbling occurs next (between 12-14 months-ish.) This may sound like, “Juice badadigo.” Juice is a real word while “badadigo” is simply babbling.

Baby talk isn’t as simple as one would think, eh?  If I’m evaluating a child and they are silent or only producing vowels, yet have communicative intent, this is where I start.  I imitate their vocalizations, babbling and jargon. Since therapy with 0-3 year olds is primary play-based, I sometimes imitate their babbling OR expand on their babbling in play, while using simple signs to request and label.

So, as I continue to answer a parent’s question of, “When will my child talk?”, I initially look at communicative intent and whether they are babbling…how complex is their babbling structure? Is the child solely using vowels? Or are they using a variety of consonants and consonant-vowel combinations with adult-like intonation?

Your child will intentionally start using words after he/she develops these pivotal prelinguistic skills of communicative intent and babbling….

Happy babbling!