What's wrong with a 16-month-old child who still can't speak?

Why does a child not speak at 16 months old? In fact, we should pay attention to understanding the child's language development process first. Generally speaking, children around two years old will ask some simple questions, and can basically express their thoughts around three years old. If there are developmental language disorders, or some psychological factors cause him to be afraid to speak, then parents should pay attention to guiding them correctly.

1. If your baby can’t speak, you should check for physiological problems

Each baby's development is individual and the same is true for the development of the language system. Some are early and some are late, but if a child cannot speak or has no communicative language at the age of two and a half, parents should consider whether the child has a physical problem - developmental delay. Language delay refers to the abnormal development level of a child's oral expression or language comprehension ability that lags significantly behind that of children of the same age due to various reasons.

2. Mental retardation (i.e. mental retardation):

Generally speaking, normal babies will imitate sounds at 7-8 months old, will call mom and dad at around one year old, will be able to say a dozen words and understand simple instructions at around one and a half years old, will be able to ask simple questions at around 2 years old, and will be able to basically express their thoughts at around 3 years old. If these symptoms appear only after a child is four to five months behind or even one to two years behind, they should be regarded as a sign of intellectual disability.

The results of the study show that the lower the IQ of a child, the worse his or her speaking ability. Some children with an IQ below 50 may not even be able to develop the necessary speech skills, while children with mild mental retardation may have deficits in speech and other cognitive abilities, which can be determined through a diagnostic intelligence test.

Treatment method: For children with intellectual retardation, speech intervention can be carried out according to the degree of intellectual retardation. Even for children with severe intellectual retardation, they should be encouraged to use posture and gestures to express their needs and learn simple communication skills with others.

3. Developmental language disorder:

This is more common in preschool children. Foreign surveys have found that among children aged 2.5 to 12 years old, 6% have speech abnormalities, and the incidence rate in boys is 100% higher than that in girls. According to statistics, the symptoms of such children are as follows:

4. If your baby can’t speak, you should check for psychological problems

The development of children's language ability, like the development of other abilities, depends not only on physical maturity, but also requires appropriate external conditions and breaking through psychological barriers. Among them, interaction with adults is the most critical factor. Therefore, parents play an important role in helping their babies break through psychological barriers.