If all your friends toddlers are chattering away and your child does not speak yet you may have reason to worry. One of the things that parents often use to assess their child's development is how early they begin to speak. Babies begin to experiment with sounds at an early age, usually consisting of babbling sounds, the typical "goo goo" and "GAA GAA" sounds, these will turn into "ma ma" and "da da". These sounds may progress to babbling mama and papa.

So how do you determine if your child has delayed speech development and what do you do if your child does not speak yet? On a daily basis your child will find ways to shape their mouths and change the noise they make, the first step in their speeches development.Parents naturally spend much time talking with their babies, but they are instinctively and especially enjoy the social interaction it offers. Many do not realize that it is also essential for the development of their speech and language.

Learn to recognize the sound of the voices of their parents even before birth, they become familiar with us when they are in the womb. Parent Voices is reassuring for them, especially for infants before their vision is fully developed. Babies and young children imitate their parents, that's how they learn. More verbal communication you undertake with your child, the faster they will learn. When your child is age twelve to eighteen months your baby should say words like mama and papa. During the year following speech development of your child, they learn to gather sound bites and communicate their needs to family members.

At the age of 21 months most children can be understood by their families. If your child can not communicate with family members and be understood by the age of 30 months, there would be cause for concern. At any time if your child is not age appropriate development timelinesyou must seek professional advice. Trust your instincts, most often parents know best. If your child does not speak yet there are things you can do to encourage the development of speech. Keyword signature, otherwise known as baby sign language has been shown by researchers to enhance the language acquisition of up to 3 months.

Children who use sign language have a language re-executed at their disposal by the parent company, gestures are used in conjunction with the word. Parents who use sign language with their children are often more aware of their communication with their baby and flooding with the language on a daily basis. Gesture based baby sign language alsoimproves word comprehensionas gesture is a natural motion that mimics the meaning of the word. Read to your child is another important strategy that will go a long way to improve language skills of your child.

When they are exposed to reading at an early age they pick up the language so ups and downs and are more likely to have an interest in books later. So if you fear that your child does not yet speak, to assess the development schedule as to ensure they achieve the recommended steps. Not all babies grow at the same speed and the normal range can vary from a few months. If you are looking for ways to encourage language development, because your child does not yet speak, read signingand keyword are both excellent places to start.

About the Author: Lisa Baade is the Author of Toddler Interpreter, A Parent's Guide to Baby Sign Language for Hearing Babies and Toddlers.
Teaching a simple keyword based communication tool such as Baby Sign Language can help to accelerate your child's speech comprehension and development. More importantly it can also provide an invaluable head start if you find out later that they suffer from a speech delay. For more information visit Toddler Interpreter.