The benefits of early speech intervention

Often parents notice a delay in their child’s speech, but for a myriad of reasons wait on getting it checked. Reasons might include: a doctor told them they would grow out of it, they’re right on the border for “typical development”, “boys develop slower than girls”, etc. There are so many benefits to early speech intervention though, and we always encourage parents to seek help anytime they suspect their child might be struggling with their communication skills.

The Sooner The Better:

There is a significant amount of research out there that suggests the sooner a language/communication issue is discovered, the better results in speech therapy. By age three most of the important structures in your child’s brain are considered to be “mature”, and at that point it becomes more difficult to make changes in certain pathways and connections that have already occurred in the brain. It’s not impossible past this point, it just means that interventions after the age of three may take longer to achieve the desired outcomes.

At Ability Innovations we offer free consultations to parents to see if speech therapy might be necessary for your child. This means you get the opportunity to have a speech therapist put eyes on your child, listen to how they’re speaking, and make professional recommendations at no cost to you. They may recommend a speech therapy evaluation after the consultation. The evaluation will give the therapist an opportunity to run a battery of tests that will determine if services are needed. If services aren’t needed, you’ll have peace of mind and can keep working on things at home, and if these tests show your child does need services, then your therapist can make a plan of care and map out how to get your child where they need to be.

Benefits of Early Speech Intervention:

There are many benefits of early speech intervention aside from the ones already mentioned. Some additional benefits can include improved relationships, improved behavior, future success in school, and children can learn compensatory strategies.

Improved Relationships:

It is difficult for children to develop age-appropriate relationships with their peers when a language delay is present. During this time children are navigating friendships, problem solving, and negotiating conflicts. All these skills become more difficult when a child doesn’t have the ability to communicate effectively. Early intervention can help children interact with same age peers more effectively and improve these relationships.

Improved Behavior:

It can be very frustrating for a young child to know what they want/need, but not be able to effectively communicate that to another parent, adult, or peer. It has been found that children with speech delays have 1.96 times more tantrums than children with typically developing speech. Speech therapy can help give your children the necessary tools to be able to communicate effectively, which should overtime have a huge impact on the meltdowns and behaviors you’re seeing at home.

Success in School:

There is a strong correlation between language development in childhood and later success in school with reading, writing, creative thinking, and overall literacy. Children who don’t have access to speech therapy as young child may struggle with these things later on in life. Speech therapy can get your child caught up to where they need to be developmentally and help mitigate these problems in the future.

Compensatory Strategies:

Compensatory strategies are things that can be taught in speech therapy that provide children alternative ways to communicate while they’re working on gaining/improving their traditional speech skills. These compensatory strategies could look like learning a small amount of sign language, using a picture board, or a picture-based app/device/binder/system. They can work with your child to help them learn different communication strategies to use NOW while also working on more long-terms goals that will help your child communicate more efficiently in the future.

The benefits of early intervention for speech therapy are huge. You’ll never regret seeking help. Either you’ll find out your child is fine and won’t need interventions, or you’ll find out there is a true issue, and you’ll have access to a trained speech therapist who can help your child to be a more effective communicator. It’s a win-win situation.