The Old “Wait and See”
Many things are worth waiting for. Most of us are waiting right now…Christmas time is just around the corner for many of us!
There are other things, however, for which waiting isn’t such a good idea. Child development is one. In the case of language or speech delays, it’s OK to give a little latitude, such as if Sally is six and doesn’t have her “s” sound perfected yet. We wouldn’t expect that sound to be perfectly clear until she’s seven and she’s perfectly clear otherwise. Maybe Ahmed, who’s a year old, doesn’t say five words yet. He’s doing really well in every other part of his development, including understanding language. We’ll keep a close eye on him for a few more weeks.
But there are times where the signs are much clearer, and regardless of what others say about waiting, it’s just not a good idea to wait. If Sally is slushing or lisping her “s” so badly that we can’t understand everything she’s saying, it’s time to look into it. If Ahmed doesn’t understand “give me the ball”, it’s time to check on him. Many later learning and developmental concerns are predicted by the early signs that professionals can pick up on.
Partners, grandparents, teachers, doctors all shape how we act on our concerns. But when it comes to child development, listen to your gut. If you think something’s not right, act on it. In the case of speech and language, there’s no harm in taking action. It’s not as if we perform exploratory surgery! And the answers you get from us may give you peace of mind or, better yet, catch issues that are easier to treat at a young age than when kids are older.
And you shouldn’t have to wait for months to get help. A few months may not seem that much to you, but to a child’s development, that is a very long time to miss out on identifying a problem and working on it. You can avoid waiting by reaching out to your Friendly Neighbourhood Speech Pathologist!
Mohamed (Mo) Oshalla, MHSc.,
Speech-Language Pathologist & Executive Director,
Ontario Speech & Language Services
