An article in the Daily Telegraph newspaper in Sydney Australia today is rather alarming. It states that children are losing their language skills due to an overuse of technology in the preschool years.
PRESCHOOL children who frequently use smart phones and tablet devices are 25 per cent more likely to develop speech problems, a Brookvale kids health expert has warned.
Kids First Children’s Services director Sonja Walker said parents and kids were relying too heavily on tech devices for entertainment which left less time for social activities involving direct converations with others.
“I see children who are completely engrossed in tablets when they’re out to dinner rather than talking about their experience,” Ms Walker said.
“Research is starting to emerge about children’s language acquisition and how well they’re prepared for school.”
“Evidence is starting to emerge that about 25 per cent of children growing up with iPads, smart phones and computers will start Kindergarten with language difficulties.
While parents may seek help when they first notice their child has a speech or language delay, there is a six to eight month waiting list for preschool and school-aged children to see a speech pathologist at both Queenscliff and Mona Vale community health centres.
There is a 12 to 16 week wait for children up to three years old.
A Northern Beaches Health Services spokeswoman said the speech pathology team was working on reducing wait times and had reduced these significantly this year.
Parents were still encouraged to contact their local centre as soon as they had concerns about their child’s communication, the spokeswoman said.
However, parents who don’t want to wait that long have been turning to Kids First Children’s Services at Brookvale which is offering a free initial speech therapy screening during October for children aged two to four.
Zac with speech pathologist Brenna Donovan.
Kids First director Sonja Walker said there was a growing body of evidence that due to the sedentary and solitary nature of using technology, many children were spending less time engaging in social activities that required them to use language.
“Rather than frequently being engaged in pretend play or games that involve rules like board games – where kids are required to talk to other kids – they are frequently choosing or being given devices instead,” Ms Walker said.
“I see children who are completely engrossed in tablets when we’re out to dinner, rather than talking about their experience.
“Research is starting to emerge about children’s language acquisition and how well they’re prepared for school.
“There is certainly evidence starting to come forward that up to 25 per cent of a Kindergarten class could have difficulties with language, whereas we didn’t see this even seven to 10 years ago.”
This includes children whose language is not meeting developmental milestones and who are not using long enough sentences or enough words.
While Zac chatters away about “everything” today, it was over three years ago that his mother Tiane noticed that he had a lack of words.
Five-year-old Zac, who is starting Kindergarten in the new year, was diagnosed with a speech delay when he was two.
“It was fairly evident by 18 months (that he had a lack of speech) and when he turned two he still didn’t have the recommended 50 words,” Mrs Olive, of Fairlight, said.
“I wasn’t keen when I heard about the six month wait at Queenscliff (community health centre) so I contacted Kids First (at Brookvale) and he was screened.”
Zac started seeing a speech pathologist on a weekly basis to learn how to pronounce sounds and words properly.
He didn’t use an iPad until he was two and a half and only watched a small amount of TV.
“It took him a bit of time to get going but since then he has skyrocketed and now we can’t keep him quiet,” Mrs Olive said.
“It’s very important for us to continue the work at home so I’m with him during the lessons and a lot of it is play-based.
“Now his words come out in the right order, most people can understand him and he’ll be starting school as a confident talker – he chats about everything and he’s got a great sense of humour, he loves to tell a joke.”
Zac with speech pathologist Brenna Donovan practicing sounds.
The Northern Beaches Paediatric Speech Pathology is experiencing steady rates of referrals with a constant high demand for services.
“There has been a trend over the past few years for children to be identified as having
difficulties with their communication skills much earlier, and as a result more children are being referred to a speech pathologist before they are three years old,” said the Northern Beaches Health Services spokeswoman.
“This allows intervention to begin much earlier and helps parents to work with their children to develop their communication skills individually or in our specialist early language playgroup programs.”
She said speech pathologists recommended that children under two years should not watch any TV.
Screen time should be limited to one to two hours a day for children over two years (including iPads, computers, phones and DVDs).
“The use of age-appropriate apps and programs is now a part of everyday life,” she said.
“Talking about what children have watched will help them learn and will make sure that they understand what they see.”
Ms Walker said the years between two and five were critical for language development – “you can’t get good at something you don’t do frequently”.
“Technology does not replace the necessity for children to be able to use language,” she said.
“They have to be given the chance to talk, to sing songs, to sing nursery rhymes out loud – all of these things are critical to a child’s later language and learning.”
Paediatric speech pathologist Brenna Donovan, who is part of the children’s education and health team at Kids First, said that about fifty per cent of what two year olds say and seventy five per cent of what three year olds say should be understood by people outside of the family.
For children over four, one hundred per cent of their speech should be understood by outsiders, although not all speech sounds have been acquired by this age.
“Ensuring that your child is hearing properly is an important first step when investigating the cause of a potential delay in language and speech sounds,” Mrs Donovan said.
“Early assessment is very important and can affect the outcome of treatment.”
To make a screening appointment call 9938 5419 or visit kids-first.com.au
TOP TIPS FOR PARENTS
Talk to your child using new and different words.
Use simple sentences so they understand what you’re saying.
Be patient – sometimes children take time to process what has been said.
Use play time, bath time and family meal times to participate in conversations where everyone gets a turn to speak and listen.
Read to your child.
Sing to your child – the repetition inherent in most children’s songs helps develop their vocabulary.
Ask your child simple questions.
Model good language.
Don’t correct your child when they make a mistake, simply repeat the word back correctly.
teachbabytotalk 