Speech Therapy: Children not speaking on time: Overcrowding in speech therapy clinics
Little Sravanendu, a resident of Parnasree in Behala.
Even after 2 years of age, he could not speak. Shravanendu's father, Subhraswatvababu, said that when he and his wife left the office when he was a child, someone was hired to look after Shravanendu. Besides, there was his grandfather and grandmother. Shravanendur is currently 7 years old. He learned to speak very late. Even, Shubhraswatvababu had to consult a doctor to make his son talk. But one example of how little time spent with parents can harm children is late talk. Instead of one and a half years, children are not able to speak for even three years.
Usually, a child can speak 250-300 words at the age of two years. If there is an exception to this, doctors say that it is possible for the child to speak within 6 months if the therapist is consulted immediately. Somnath Mukherjee, a doctor at a private speech therapy organization in Kolkata, said, "The problem of this type of disease has increased in the last two years. More than 50 children and their parents attend speech therapy sessions with such problems every day. Somnath Babu said that if the child is brought on time, it takes 6 months to complete one speech therapy session. If the child has difficulty in hearing, he also has a delay in speaking.
This problem is called 'hearing impact'. In this case, children's words are meant first. This is called 'auditory training'. Then speech therapy started slowly. There are many children who want to be on their own from a young age, to be alone. Parents are leaving for work in the morning. Then children have this kind of problem when they are left alone all day. In this problem, the child's psychological examination is done by the doctors. What they like to eat, and what they like to play with are noticed.
The main work in this case is to create a mental connection with the child by drawing, coloring, and toys. Sometimes a picture of a family member is shown so that children can sit still with the person they see most of the time. The friendly behavior of doctors is important in this case. The child's family is also taught what the doctors are doing at each session. So that they can interact with the child when they go home.
However, this type of speech therapy is quite costly. So people from all walks of life can't take advantage of it. But as the problem of not speaking in children is increasing day by day, it is necessary to create opportunities for speech therapy more widely in government and private initiatives.
Credit: Aajkal