How to Help a 3-year-old with Speech Delay:

We use the term late talker to describe a child who isn’t meeting their speech milestones above but who seem to be developing other skills on track.  These children often understand what is being said to them and have good play and motor skills.  They are simply lacking in their speech development.  This can happen for a variety of reasons and some late talkers will go on to develop typical speech on their own.  Others will require a little boost from speech therapy services to get going.  The treatment strategies on this page are perfect for late talkers!

Children with speech delays should be evaluated by a speech-language pathologist or professional in your area.  This person will be able to assess all areas of communication and determine the best treatments and therapies for each child.  However, there are several treatment strategies that should be used with all children with speech delay.  These can (and should!) be used both in therapy and at home to help boost the speech and language skills of a young child with a speech delay.

Check out our speech delay treatment strategies below:

Talk about what you are doing. Describe what you are holding, the actions you are performing, what you see, how you feel, and what you hear, smell, or taste. Talk about all of this! The child will learn from hearing you talk about all of those things. The key here is to keep your utterances short. As a general rule, you should speak in phrases that are the same length as the child’s or slightly longer.

For example, if the child isn’t talking yet or is only using one word at a time, you should be speaking in one-word phrases and two-word phrases, like “Ball. Throw. Throw ball. Ball”. If the child is using mostly single words but is beginning to put a few two-word phrases together, use a lot of two-word phrases when you speak to the child but also throw in some three-word utterances as well as a few one-word utterances. Don’t be afraid to repeat those same words many times. Our children learn best through repetition!

In this strategy, you will continue to use the self-talk described above but you will pair your spoken word with a sign language sign. Researchers have found that sign language serves as a great tool to get kids talking (or talking more), especially late talkers. Once the learn the power of communication through signing, they soon abandon signs for spoken language, as that will always be a more effective way to communicate for them. Click here to learn more about using sign language and to download our free sign language flashcards.

This strategy is very much like the “Self-Talk” strategy but instead of talking about what you are doing, you will be talking about what the child is doing. You can label the objects the child is using, the actions she is doing, how she’s feeling, what she hears, etc. Be sure that you’re continuing to use sentences that are right at or slightly above the length of sentences that the child is using, even if that’s only one or two words long.

In this strategy, you will build on the child’s speech or gestures by using expansions. Take whatever the child says and add one word onto it. If the child says “ball”, you could say “want ball”, “my ball”, “yellow ball”, “throw ball”, or anything else that contains the word ball with one other word. You could even use two or three different examples.

If the child is not saying anything yet, you can build on his gestures. Whenever he points at something or makes a gesture to try to communicate something with you, say the word that goes along with that gesture. You can name the thing he’s pointing at or reaching for, label the emotion he’s feeling, or anything else you feel like the child is trying to communicate.

In this strategy, you will work to increase the child’s receptive vocabulary. Receptive vocabulary includes all of the words the child understands when you say them, even if she’s not saying them herself yet. Children must first understand words before they can use them. You can increase the child’s receptive vocabulary by having him point to pictures, objects, or people when you label them for her.

For example, you can say “where’s Daddy?” and help her point or look towards Daddy. This is a great one to do while reading books. You can ask the child to point to an object in the book by saying “where’s the ___”, “show me the ____” or “point to the ____”. Give the child a bit of wait time, and if she can’t find it, then you can point it out for her and help her point to it as well. Keep doing this and soon the child will begin to understand more words.

Inside The Hub, you’ll find everything you need to help a child with a speech delay at home, in the classroom, or in speech therapy.  We provide you with the training you need to confidently support these children.  We’ll also give you pre-made therapy materials and activities so you can get results faster.  Join The Hub today to access all of the resources!