iPad Apps to Help with Language Delay for a Toddler

soan papdi on 01/11/2016 - 14:26

I need some advice to help with my son's language delay. He is 2.5 years old and is happy and healthy overall. Our only concern is his language delay and he is well behind his peers. He uses and understands many words (juice, apple, biscuit, more, finish etc) and asks for what he wants. However he (almost) never uses 2+ words together (hi mummy, more apple, carry me), doesn't understand when we question him (do you want a biscuit?), doesn't ask questions on his own and so on. He is however a good visual learner and this was confirmed by both his paediatrician and speech therapist. So we were told to consider using apps on the iPad to help with building language skills.

There are too many apps on the market and I was wondering if any of you have had any experience using these on toddlers. Any recommendations or advice in general, please share. Thank you.

Education & Work

Comments

  • pformag on 01/11/2016 - 14:36
    +1

    Sorry, haven't had any chance with apps, but I did a quick search " iPad Apps to Help with Language Delay for a Toddler" on google and there are heaps of list. Maybe try the free ones first, and then move to paid versions.

    Have you got his hearing checked at all? We had issue with our son, and he had blocked ears. After grommets and stuff, his speech went through the roof.

    Hope this helps.

    http://nspt4kids.com/parenting/our-10-favorite-speech-and-la…

    and

    https://www.care.com/c/stories/6621/22-best-mobile-apps-for-…

    • soan papdi on 01/11/2016 - 14:48
      +1

      Yes I've seen those pages and we're going to try a few of them. We had checked his hearing maybe 18 months back and it was fine, but now maybe we need to do it again just to be sure. Thanks.

  • StewBalls on 01/11/2016 - 17:43
    +1

    Honestly, you just can't beat books & reading to your kids, and engaging with them in their play properly IME…sure, my kids play with tech too; as a matter of fact they're scary good with it; but it simply doesn't provide the requisite joint attention, peer interactivity & pragmatic skills that come from pure social/parent interaction.

    Yeah, I've heard all of the cognitive distortions to support apps/tablets, but apart from a different platform, they don't actually provide anything new to the educational paradigm; IME parents expect them to be a panacea for all developmental ills, which they absolutely are not…and IMHO they are counterproductive if used unwisely.

    Again, IME your best investment in your kids will always be a bit more of your own time & effort. Perhaps get your speechy to recommend some of the better developmental parent based programs like Hanen etc. if they're stumped for therapy ideas for language stimulation.

    • StewBalls on 02/11/2016 - 08:23

      Addendum: I've just spoken to a speechy colleague, she reckons I'm awesome (just kidding, but I am :P).

      You might want to investigate the Hanen It Takes Two To Talk program OP, apparently this is a great starting point for parents of children with communication delays, and will give you valuable insight into the way kids communicate and how to leverage this! ;)

      • soan papdi on 02/11/2016 - 10:44

        Thanks, I'll have a look at the Hanen program. Regarding reading I agree with you. I have been doing that regularly ever since he was around a year old. We've not progressed to wordy books because he loses interest soon, so we're on picture books still but he likes it and it's a routine, most days.

        • StewBalls on 02/11/2016 - 12:19

          Do you have a regular speech pathologist? When I spoke to my colleague she reckoned this is pretty standard work for them, and that there's plenty of intervention options.

          She also felt that nowadays non/minimally verbal kids in that age group is a growing problem, believe it or not, so don't feel that you're alone in this.

        • soan papdi on 02/11/2016 - 17:02
          +1

          @StewBalls: Yes we do see a speech therapist regularly and we're now working on getting him to ask for what he wants, using modifiers (big, long), etc. iPad is just another method we are willing to try.

        • StewBalls on 02/11/2016 - 17:05

          @ggop: Good to hear, I hope it goes well for you guys.

          I hope you're back in here in a few months with the same problem I currently have, getting them to stop talking…although, whilst persistent, those toddler dialogues can be hilarious & cute as all get out! ;)

          • soan papdi on 30/12/2019 - 10:05

            @StewBalls:

            hope you're back in here in a few months with the same problem I currently have, getting them to stop talking

            Just as an update, I am back with the same problem as you predicted. My son is now a chatterbox and he is turning his little sister into one as well. But this is a good problem to have! His grammar is still off quite often but he's way further ahead than we expected, so all is well at the moment.

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