The neurologist told at what age the child should start talking and how parents to help him

At what age the child begins to make the first attempts to speak and respond to his name, on the air of the talk show "PRO HEALTH" on the YouTube channel "SEE AND LIVE" told the doctor, child neurologist of the 18th city children's clinic of Minsk Anna Gorskaya. It's from sb.by. Is asymmetry in the movements of a child a norm or a reason to be alert? Asymmetry in motor skills is an important reason to visit a neurological doctor. The most disturbing moments will be when a child uses one hand more actively than the other. For example, it captures an object only with its right hand, and the left seems to ignore it. Or when crawling pulls up one hand - leading, - said the specialist. It often happens that the reception is addressed with complaints that the child lies or sleeps with a “banana” (arches in one direction). In most cases, this is the norm because the baby is so comfortable. The most important thing is that during activity he was symmetrical, equally well turned his head to the right and left, used the right and left hand, repelled the right and left foot.

When is it time for your child to say the first words? The first sounds of the baby are transformed into babbling speech by the type of “ma”, “ba”, “pa” at about 6-7 months. And the first more or less conscious combinations of syllables appear from 9 months to a year, more often in 10–11 months. By the year, a child should know about 10 words. But they are not the same as 10 words in our understanding. The child should not say “tractor,” “cow,” and so on. He must clearly understand that “ki” is “kisa”. And if it is in the understanding of a particular child, then for him this word, because in his head formed a clear association that this particular sound, this combination of syllables means a given object or a group of objects, explained the guest of the studio. At what age should the child respond to his name? In his name, the baby must respond at the age of 9-10 months and beyond. Instructions like give the typewriter, give the doll is a more difficult task. But give a pen, wave - these tasks the child can perform in one year. If by the age of one year the child does not say anything, is silent, does not respond to the appeals of others, this is enough alarm bell to contact a pediatric neurologist and undergo further examination, observation or consultation of other specialists. It happens that the child does not speak, does not give a response to the appeal, because he has a hearing impairment. Accordingly, in case of any speech disorders, including a visit to a pediatric otorhinolaryngologist is necessary. If the child has a delay in speech, then it is necessary to visit a pediatric neurologist, who in the process of examining the child will assess the basic cognitive functions and determine the further complex of examinations and consultations by other specialists. This may be an otorhinolaryngologist, a dentist who will assess the condition of the articulation apparatus, for example, the length of the bridle, which can prevent the formation of active speech of the child. In addition, it may be necessary to visit a speech therapist. Now speech therapists, psychologists participate in the speech development of the child as there is a need for any correction, explained Anna Gorskaya. At the stage of learning to walk, there are situations when the child previously said a small number of words, and then suddenly began to use them less. This will be a physiological condition because all of the child’s systems will be geared toward learning a new skill, such as walking. But this is not a very long period of time, and the child will still continue to develop their number of words. A more alarming sign will be if the child previously said some basic number of words, had certain skills, and then began to actively forget them. And this will be an occasion to immediately consult a pediatric neurologist in order to exclude paroxysmal conditions or hereditary neurological pathology. But stuttering is a condition that is more related to neuroses and is a manifestation of stress (both acute and chronic) in the life of the baby. That is, it is a response to something bad by the standards of a child, and from the point of view of an adult, it may not be an incident. Should I talk to my child even if he is still a baby? Of course, you need to talk to the baby, because the speech of the parents is what forms contact with the child. The child must constantly hear the speech of mom and dad in order to form a close connection and pre-verbal skills. The baby looks at the lips of the mother and, seeing how they say “O, A, U”, begins to repeat these articulation movements, and at some point these sounds are obtained, and in the future the baby builds up on these simple sounds additional “skills”, learns to speak.

Watch the project “PRO HEALTH” on the YouTube channel “Watch and Live” every Sunday at 12:00. Specialists in various fields will answer popular questions of concern to everyone in simple language and with humor.