Speech Problems In Singapore Kids: When Should You Worry?

How can you help your little one get over his stuttering? Should you worry that your tot doesn’t speak as well or isn’t as talkative as his cousin? Sasha Gonzales polls the experts on the pressing speech and language issues in toddlers and preschoolers here.

- Sasha Gonzales

When Marianne (not her real name) heard her fouryear-old daughter pronounce her playschool friend Rory’s name as “Wowy”, she got worried.

“Over time, I noticed that it wasn’t just his name that she couldn’t say properly; she was substituting ‘w’s for ‘r’s almost all the time.

“Her friends her age didn’t seem to have trouble pronouncing their ‘r’s and I seriously began to wonder if she had a speech impediment. The fact that she couldn’t say her friend’s name correctly was, I thought, abnormal, and frankly, a little scary.”

It’s not uncommon for young children like Marianne’s daughter to have difficulty pronouncing or articulating certain words. Many children between the ages of 18 months and five years also find it hard to express their thoughts verbally, sing along to nursery rhymes or understand the difference between good and broken English.

Indeed, learning how to talk is a journey – one that’s filled with as much frustration as it is joy.

Fortunately, most speech and language development problems can be remedied, according to experts Young Parents talked to. Here are the best ways to address 10 of the most common ones.

How do I know if my toddler’s language development is on track?

There are certain language milestones toddlers ought to have reached by the time they get to specific ages, explains Lisa Lim, clinical director and speech language pathologist at The Speech Practice.