Understanding Word Meaning
Q: My 3-year-old daughter understands words and can recognize letters, pictures, and animals. However, she cannot develop ideas for herself and cannot understand what is asked for. She is sometimes unable to understand the meaning of the same words. After taking the advice from a speech therapist, she has started preschool and has started talking. Can you give advice on how she will learn the meaning of words and start talking more?
A: Every child learns at their own pace and your little girl has proven that. Her speech therapist is teaching her skills to strengthen her language development and understand how to express her needs and concerns. Her language development seems to growing in a step-by-step process. Her therapist should have goals set out for her in her IEP (Individual Education Plan). It should have specific goals she wants your daughter to work towards through her language development. As the parent you have the right to sit in on her IEP meetings and review the agenda for your daughter's therapy and education. You might want to discuss this with your child's speech therapist on how you could help her at home. One thing you could do to build her sight-vocabulary development would be to place pictures on a bulletin board (that is at her eye level) of her favorite things, such as her favorite juice cup or her favorite toy. When she wants it she can point to it and you then have the opportunity to reinforce the language by repeating what that object is to her.
Susan Canizares holds a PhD in language and literacy development.
