Join Better Speech on the new episode of Raising Remarkable Teenagers Podcast, where
we discuss the importance of intentional communication and how it can help parents better connect with their teens. Find out how broken lines of communication can become effective and clear when the right tools are applied.
Listen to the podcast using one of the players below:
Episode highlights
It is important to remember typical and atypical speech development in order to best support your child's language growth. Language starts at a young age and expands as our understanding grows.
It starts with receptive language: so when your little one is growing, what you're going to see is they're actually communicating, but non-verbally. They're looking for you. They're turning their head to see where that sound is coming from. They're trying to piece together that information about the world around them. And you, as a parent or guardian, your role in this is to keep talking.
As your little one develops, they'll start to have a vocal play, they'll start to make noises and understand they have a voice too. And as they start to get to one and two years old, their language skills are going to start to develop.
They're working to understand and model you. That's why it's so important to narrate for little ones, because not only are you telling them the information, but you're modeling for them. And they naturally want to model you back.
As your little one continues to develop speech sounds, they can have difficulty with specific sounds. So if you don't work on it, if you don't come for speech therapy services, what will actually happen is your child will then become aware in time that they're not talking like other people. And then what happens is they will start to become quieter, talk smaller and they'll move their mouth less.
Want to improve your child's speech skills?
Some other red flags to take into account as your child grows include:
Are they able to literally say their sentences clearly?
Are they responding with really short phrases and not a lot of detail?
What is the content that your teenager is talking to you about? Are they processing information correctly?
Do they avoid making eye contact or are they turning away from a lot of social situations?
Intentional parenting is about being clear, authentic, genuine, heard, understood and validated while having two-way conversations with your teen. To foster connection with teenagers they should be encouraged to speak about what interests them and their words should be repeated back to show understanding.
At Better Speech, we offer online speech therapy services convenient for you and tailored to your child's individual needs. Our services are affordable and effective - get Better Speech now.
About the Author
Lenora Edwards
I am ASHA Board Certified Speech Language Pathologist and Chief Knowledge Officer with Better Speech. Since obtaining my CCC’s in 2010, I have worked with individuals of all ages from little ones who are learning to understand and express themselves to adults who want to improve their speaking skills and become a more fluent and effective communicator. I love to teach and educate others, in my spare time I like reading, cooking and traveling!
