Developmental milestones, whether they involve fine motor control, large muscle mastery, or cognitive strengths, can vary from one child to another. Still, we set certain standards for most milestones that help identify when it’s appropriate to intervene, check for developmental disorders, or offer some extra help.
If a child has speech delays and needs interventions, such as speech therapy, it’s beneficial to start these interventions earlier rather than later. That raises the question, though: how to be sure whether there’s a genuine need, or if the child is just running on his own time and will pick up the speech skills soon?
Now, a large study in Australia has resulted in a diagnostic tool that researchers believe will help identify which kids will benefit most from speech therapy, and which speech delays are more likely to resolve on their own.
Speech Delays, Care Delays, & Lots Of Guesswork
Twice, I’ve been told one of my children might need speech therapy. The first time, the child in question had a sudden speech growth spurt and ‘caught up’ to age-level expectations before I even got a call back from the provider. The second time around, it was my preemie, and she clearly benefited from the extra support.
My older child didn’t make it to a waitlist or to a time slot in a speech therapist’s schedule, but knowing how long those waitlists can be, and how much some children truly need the extra support, I’m very aware that over-utilization of this commodity could add to wait times for others.
While I’ve experienced this on the patient/parent side, pediatricians and speech therapists share the same concern. Which kids have a strong need for professional support, and how do we juggle making sure the resources are being applied where the need is greatest?
U.S. Position On Routine Screenings
For now, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says it’s not clear whether routine screening for speech delays does much to prevent long-term problems.
“Many children identified as toddlers with speech and language delays go on to recover without intervention. One systematic review estimated that approximately 60% of children with expressive language delay and 25% with receptive and expressive delay recovered without intervention. However, evidence also suggests that school-aged children with speech or language delays may be at increased risk of learning and literacy disabilities, including difficulties with reading and writing.”
The independent agency’s review seems to emphasize that language delay alone, without other symptoms or diagnoses, may or may not merit screening and intervention.
Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) Develops New Tool To Identify Red Flags
Researchers in Melbourne, Australia, recruited nearly 1,200 participants aged 2 to 12 and began conducting assessments in coordination with speech and language therapists.
They concluded that speech difficulties were very common among kids ages 2 to 6 but then tapered off, according to News-Medical.
“Only minor differences in speech were seen between eight and 12 years. Disordered speech errors that occurred in less than 10 per cent of children included vowel errors, transpositions such as ‘efelant’ for elephant and mixing up speech sounds such as ‘glack’ for black.”
The full study should soon appear in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, and will require further research to confirm. However, it appears likely to provide medical professionals with a tool that will help them identify the kids whose speech struggles are least likely to grow out of naturally, and who will benefit most from intervention.