Wise Owl Speech

10/13/2024

In the spirit of Canadian Thanksgiving, I have decided to re-post this blog on misunderstanding, or in other words, language comprehension, a critical component of communication! Happy Canadian Thanksgving, my Canadian friends!

Turkey Misunderstandings and other Musings about Language Comprehension
Language comprehension development is critical for children...

October 11, 2019

Happy Thanksgiving from Wise Owl Speech! I love this cute meme which seems appropriate given that it is about comprehension, and it is Thanksgiving in Canada and soon will be in the United States. As a speech-language pathologist, I can see that there are a couple of things going on here, but mainly that there are different meanings for the phrase “having turkey for dinner!” English is fun like that! So many words and phrases can have different meanings, which is one of the reasons English is so hard to learn.

Language comprehension is a critical component of successful communication and it involves many different aspects all working together, such as hearing, listening, attention, memory, language processing, vocabulary, sentence structure, and context. So complicated! No wonder many children prone to learning difficulties have language comprehension challenges. Language comprehension is an area I frequently target with my preschool clients. Building comprehension is extremely beneficial for so many other skills, and for children to learn successfully in school.

Since comprehension of oral language is the foundation for all other aspects of successful communication, such as oral language expression, reading and writing, what should parents look for in their young children? When does comprehension start to develop?

I’m sure that it is no surprise that language comprehension begins to develop at birth. The early stages involve such behaviors as responding to voices and sound at 1 month of age and responding differently to angry voices versus pleasant voices by age 3 to 5 months. But then, language comprehension seems to explode, as young babies of 8 months are able to understand “no” and their own names, and “bye-bye” by age 9 months. By 11- 12 months of age, most children are able to follow simple instructions, such as “get your shoes” or “give that to me”. By age 3 to 4 years, children understand up to 1500 words and complex sentences, and by age 5 to 6 years, 2500-2800 words and very complicated sentences. Once school-aged, a child starts to learn and be able to talk about language itself, such as the fact that words can have different meanings, depending on the context, even though they sound the same and have the same spelling.

If you have concerns about your child’s comprehension, please get your child’s hearing checked and have him or her seen for a complete speech and language assessment by a qualified speech-language pathologist. Early intervention is critical for helping your child catch up to peers. For more information on language development and the development of comprehension, please check out Speech-Language and Audiology Canada (SAC) and the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA).

Thanks for reading and enjoy Thanksgiving!

05/18/2024

It's May 18th! Happy Speech-Language Pathologist Appreciation Day! WiseOwlSpeech SLP's work hard to plan unique therapy programs specifically for their clients and do all that they can to make the sessions fun and interesting! Our SLP's are dedicated and care deeply about their clients! Let's give a shout to SLP's on their special day!

05/14/2024

May 14th is “Childhood Apraxia of Speech Awareness Day”! Here is some information about Childhood Apraxia! If your child is not reaching milestones for speech and language development, please seek some help and advice from a Speech-Language Pathologist.

Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a neurological speech disorder that affects a child's ability to speak clearly. If your infant doesn't babble and begin talking later than their peers, they could be of the 1-2 out of every thousand children affected by CAS. Children with CAS also have an increased risk for difficulties in literacy. Speech-language pathologists are specially trained to assess, identify, and provide specialized, intensive speech therapy to treat children with communication disorders including CAS.

Learn more about CAS and how S-LPs can help: https://www.sac-oac.ca/for-the-public/

05/03/2024

May is Speech and Hearing Month! In Canada, this year’s theme is “Communication is…..”. To me, communication is the essence of being human, and everyone should have the means to communicate in the best possible way. On a more personal note, it means expressing oneself, sharing ideas and feelings, and understanding others’ points of view. What about you? Complete the sentence in the comments below, Communication is……….

05/01/2024

Look whoooo visited Japan! Hoot hoot hooray! Wishing you all a great communication day as we launch another May is Speech and Hearing Month!!

02/23/2024

Using videos and television to entertain young children has increased since the pandemic. Studies show that toddlers tend to watch television for a couple of hours per day. Unfortunately, this is correlated with reduced language skills. Check it out!

Television has been wryly referred to as the “electronic babysitter,” but a new study argues TV or other media could stunt a child’s language development.

12/22/2023

So, parents, being chatty pays off! Recent research reported in Science.org has shown that a parent's chattiness is related to their child's language and vocabulary! The article reports that "on average, kids spoke 27 times more per HOUR for every 100 extra adult vocalizations they heard. The number of vocalizations children make is closely linked to the size of their vocabulary". Take a closer look at the article here.
https://www.science.org/content/article/kids-chattier-parents-are-more-talkative-may-have-bigger-vocabulary

Global data set suggests socioeconomic status does not play a role in children’s language development

12/16/2023

Stuttering is a speech disorder which can persist into adulthood. Scientists have identified 4 genes which cause stuttering and now a new discovery to explain why some children outgrow stuttering and some do not. Please take a look!

Despite stuttering being a genetic disorder which causes structural changes in the brain, there is a lot that speech-language pathologists can do to help children and adults who stutter!

New University of Melbourne research links a newly discovered gene to persistent stuttering into adulthood, giving hope to those with severe speech disorders