As well as getting an assessment from a Speech Language Therapist there are things that you can do to help your child’s language development.

Firstly, it is important to get a hearing assessment to ensure that your child can hear what is being said to them.

Secondly, have a think about how you communicate with your child. Do you ask them lots of questions? As parents, we are desperate to find out what our child knows and can do. It is very easy to fall into the trap of constantly asking questions “What’s that?” “What colour is it?” “What noise does it make?” When a child is not talking asking these questions is not going to suddenly make them speak. Try imagining that you are teaching English to a foreign language speaker. Could they answer those questions if they don’t know the vocabulary? Definitely not.

Instead, make comments about what your child is doing and label the toys e.g. “teddy, hug teddy” Using single words and short phrases will help your child to learn new words and they may start to copy them.