They simply don't know how to do it. Some psychologists say this lack of exposure feeds social anxiety: Unsure how to act in a hi-how-do-you-do situation, some kids panic.
If you think about it, if you don't say hello, goodbye, please or thank you, you are considered as 'rude' by society. Therefore, children may be feeling pressured, unintentionally, with these words. Selective mutism is an anxiety disorder and our first step is to take away pressure around speech.
Hellos won't suddenly be on tap, but they'll be more plentiful. People — and kids are people too — just have to meet each other halfway. Kasevich has a simple mantra she suggests for parents of introverted children: “Don't force. Don't quit.” For parents of shy kids, it's could be easier to just wait.
Be an Example – Model the correct way to use greetings for your children. Greet people you know when you meet them and use appropriate parting comments when you leave. Pretend Play – Create a pretend situation where you and your children practice using greetings during play.
Causes of a speech delay
There are several things that can cause speech delays, such as hearing loss, physical problems in the roof of the mouth, learning disabilities, or certain diagnosable conditions like autism spectrum disorder or cerebral palsy.
There's no deadline for a child to start talking or using full sentences. But most kids reach speech and language milestones by a certain age. Let your child's doctor know if they can't do some of the following. Also, take note if your child loses skills they have already learned.
There can be several reasons why your 4-year-old child is not talking. Some possible reasons can be hearing loss, neurological disorders, intellectual disability, lack of stimulation, cognitive delay, and speech and language development.
Around 12 months, according to experts. Common first words may be greetings ("hi" or "bye-bye") or they might be very concrete: people ("mama" or "dada"), pets ("doggy" or "kitty"), or food ("cookie," "juice," or "milk").
Lack of greetings (hi/bye)
Autistic children struggle to understand the process of greetings and farewells. They often don't learn to wave “hi” or “bye” or even use the words “hi” and “bye.” However, some do the process but rarely participate in the process or need to be instructed to do so.
Some kids are anxious about speaking up when they don't know what the response will be. Some don't like to talk in front of other people.
By not saying hello to people, you come off as rude, cold, and people are unlikely to want to speak to you in the future. You could be the nicest person in the world, but turning away from someone passing you is considered rude in our Western culture.
“Why You Should Never Say “Shut Up” to Your Child
Sometimes they want backtalk to stop, sometimes they want complaining to stop, and sometimes they're just tired of listening to their child. No matter what the context, saying “Shut up” is rarely helpful and never appropriate.
Children with autism can be silent or chatty, bright or intellectually challenged. Their behaviors can range from quirky to aggressive.
Most people with autism (though by no means all) do have the ability to talk. Most of the time, though, people with autism talk differently from their neurotypical peers.
They can maintain the topic of conversation and take turns speaking. They make good eye contact and are able to use language for multiple goals, such as to gain information, for entertainment, or to persuade others. Children this age control the use of different tenses (past, present, future).
As children grow, they learn to speak more clearly and in more complex sentences, and their parents tend to use less “baby talk” too. By the age of seven or eight years old, most English-speaking children have stopped making the usual errors of pronunciation.
Most kids say 1–2 words by 15 months and 3 or more words by 18 months. By 2 years old, most toddlers are saying even more words and can put together 2-word sentences. No matter when they say their first words, it's a sure bet they already understand much of what you say.
Autistic children often have speech delays, but speech delays alone do not mean your child has autism. Autistic speech delays usually occur along with other communication issues, such as not using gestures, not responding to their name, and not showing interest in connecting with people.
At 4-5 years, children are getting better at conversations. They can use longer sentences and take turns speaking. Preschoolers can say what they're thinking, tell stories and describe feelings. Adults can understand most of what preschoolers are saying.
A delay in speech or language is one of the earliest signs we have for kids that do go on to get a diagnosis of ADHD later in childhood. In this 2012 study, researchers found that two-thirds of the elementary-aged kids with ADHD had a speech or language delay at 18 months.
If your child is 6 years old and still demonstrating speech errors, make an appointment to speak with a speech-language pathologist, also known as a speech therapist. The speech therapist can evaluate your child and recommend treatment if it's needed. The earlier you reach out, the better. So don't wait!
According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), late talkers are toddlers (18 to 30 months old) who have a limited vocabulary for their age, but do not have any other developmental delays. Some late talkers may talk by three to five years of age.