The doctor listed the household habits that slow down the child's speech development

Excessive screen time, the habit of parents to guess the child's desires without words, poor communication in the family and lack of joint play can slow down the development of speech in children. Olga Butenko, a pediatric neurologist at the Medin Medical Center, told Izvestia on February 25.

According to her, excessive screen time remains one of the main risk factors. Speech skills are formed in live communication, when there is joint attention with an adult, an emotional reaction and a pause for an answer.

"Cartoons don't wait for an answer, they don't adjust to the child. This is a stream of information that suppresses speech development rather than stimulates it. The age of three is especially vulnerable, when speech skills are actively being developed. Children under the age of two do not need to spend time in front of screens at all," Butenko said.

She called another common mistake the habit of parents to guess the baby's wishes in advance and immediately fulfill them without a verbal request. In such a situation, the child does not have the motivation to ask, clarify, and use the first words.

The speech environment in the family also influences development. If communication is limited to short commands, vocabulary is replenished more slowly. The doctor recommended pronouncing everyday actions more often in simple phrases, articulating the words emotionally and clearly, as well as giving the child time to respond.

Additional factors that slow down the development of speech may be the lack of joint play with the distribution of roles, excessive distortion of words when communicating with a child, and constant tension in the family. So, in conditions of chronic stress, the specialist noted, the brain resources are focused on adaptation, not on learning.

"A pointing gesture should appear around the year — this is a sign of understanding the addressed speech. The alarming signs that it is better not to delay are the lack of a pointing gesture, a weak response to treatment and a lack of understanding of speech by the age of two," she concluded.

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Galina Nevryuzina, a pediatric neurologist of the highest category at the SM Clinic for Children, said on January 28 that headache remains one of the most common reasons for contacting a pediatric neurologist and occurs even in young children. In some cases, this symptom may indicate serious health problems.

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