Psychoverbal development delay

In recent decades, more and more children have a diagnosis “Psychoverbal development delay”. The statistics are inexorable. And the sooner a psychoverbal development delay or speech delay is detected, the greater the chances for child’s treating are.

The term itself shows that this disease is associated with a rate disorder of the child’s mental development (memory, attention, speech, thinking, and emotional-volitional sphere). All these mental functions lag behind in their development from the generally accepted norms, which are characteristic of some age. Although it is not correct to call this condition a disease, it is, rather, the consequences of central nervous system and brain deviations.

Also, there are a number of diseases, which are accompanied by a psychoverbal development delay. These include cerebral palsy, epilepsy, congenital anomalies of the central nervous system, disorders of the cerebrospinal fluid circulation, hydrocephalus, mental illnesses, tumours, and the cerebral vessels abnormalities. Speech and mental development delays can be caused by different reasons.

The reasons of speech development delay are following:

1. Mother’s diseases during pregnancy (infections, traumas, intoxications);
2. Hereditary diseases of speech development delay;
3. Intrauterine fetal hypoxia (oxygen deprivation);
4. Difficult delivery (rapid labor, with a loop of cord) or child birth trauma (cervical spine injury and/or central nervous system trauma) can also lead to a speech development delay;
5. Severe infections and injuries suffered by the child at an early age, which had adversely affected the overall speech development;
6. Unfavourable climate in the family or miseducation (beatings, quarrels, lack of love and care from the parents or, on the contrary, helicopter parenting);
7. Severe psycho-emotional traumas at an early age can also negatively affect the speech development.

Signs of speech development delay

Of course, for all children it is individual, and for each baby there are specific rates of development. But nevertheless it is necessary to pay attention to certain moments:

• if your child does not respond to your words and gestures at the age of 4 months, does not smile;
• if the child does not babble at the age of 8-9 months, this can be one of the signs of speech development delay at an early age;
• at the age of 1 year the child practically does not pronounce any sounds, and by the age of 1.5 does not pronounce simple words like “mother”, “give”, does not understand the speech addressed to him;
• up to 2 years does not repeat new words, uses very few words in speech;
• up to 2.5 years uses only about 20 words, does not understand the names of body parts and objects; cannot compound an easy phrase of 2-3 words;
• up to 3 years can not repeat after an adult person a phrase or make an easy sentence, speaks too slowly, stretching words, or, on the contrary, quickly, “swallowing” their endings.

If you have previously noticed the above mentioned signs, we recommend you to immediately contact the speech development centre in Kiev or other regional centres and begin the comprehensive treatment. In our clinic you will be rehabilitated from the diagnosis, but the earlier the complex treatment is started, the more chances for successful complex recovery and proper development of the child in the future exist.

Children with a speech development delay also have an excessive salivation, often a slightly open mouth, they are not very emotional or, conversely, hyperactive and aggressive. They are poorly developed physically. Usually, psychoverbal development delay is diagnosed at the age of 3-4 years. In some cases, it occurs at the age of 5 years. The later this diagnosis is diagnosed, the more difficult is to get rid of it in future. This diagnosis is based on the complex expert’s opinion of the speech development centre in Kiev or other regional centres of Ukraine (children’s neurologist, speech therapist, and psychologist).

Speech delay treatment

If case of diagnosing of speech delay, the treatment should be started as soon as possible. Parents, neurologist, speech therapist, psychologist and reflex therapist participate in treatment. Only an integrated approach in the speech development centre in Kyiv will bring the maximal result. Please remember that it is necessary to eliminate the reasons that caused speech development delay first (it applies to families with an unfavourable climate).

If the degree of the child’s development delay is low, and the treatment of speech delay has been started as soon as it was possible, you can count on good results and high efficiency.

Specialists of the “Bersenev’s Medical Centre” have developed an individual program of treatment and correction of children with a psychoverbal development delay. This program is a complex of rehabilitation measures, which are carried out by a child’s neurologist, massage therapist, and a speech therapist.

To make an appointment for a consultation or a treatment session, please, call (044) 272-11-82 (children’s department) or (044) 238-22-31 (call centre). The booking is carried out by previous appointment.

Remember that the psychoverbal development delay is not treated instantly; it takes a lot of work and attention to such children. Only in this case they will catch up with peers in development, and this problem will not affect their future life in any way.