William Said:

could i become a speech pathologist in a school with a major in child development and a minor in psychology?

We Answered:

No. You need a degree in Speech Therapy also

Jesus Said:

child speech development ?

We Answered:

This will not slow his speech development. Just talk to your child and make sure that he hears lots of words and sounds. If your parents prefer to be called Umpa and Gigi then I see no good reason not to call them that. That said, your child may decide to call them something else on his own. Don't worry so much, you sound like good parents to me, just a little overprotective. Good Luck!

Fernando Said:

Does using Baby Talk when speaking to your infant have adverse effects on the child's speech development?

We Answered:

Children develop language by observing their role models; especially parents and siblings.
Using baby talk does nothing for such modeling. A baby must hear proper grammatical forms and pronunciation in order to learn to speak. If all he/she is spoken to is baby talk, that's what they will learn.
As far as observing others and imitating them is concerned, it's not going to happen until about 30 to 36 months of age-- a baby younger than that doesn't have the cognitive skills to distinguish that others are using language with each other. Think of listening to others using a foreign language in conversation, and you can only put a few words together without knowing the grammar and pronunciation, let alone the boundaries between words in a sentence. That's what a baby hears when observing others using highly complex language-- complex to the baby, that is.
The moral of the story? Talk normally to babies, but in simple sentences. For example, if a 2-year-old says "Mommy sock?", Mom should reply "Do you want your sock?", or "Where is the sock?" or "Mommy will put on your sock". You get the idea, right? Certainly not, "Find your sock and I'll put it on after Sesame Street is over". WAAAY to complex for a baby to follow.

Amy Said:

How can speech development be encouraged in young children?

We Answered:

Try to refrain from baby talk. Use real words to communicate

Gail Said:

What are some red flags as far as speech development in young children?

We Answered:

strangers should be able to understand about 80-90% of your child's speech.
it is normal for children not to be able to pronounce the letter R until they are 6/7 so if your child say "wabbit" instead of "rabbit" do not worry.
dropping and adding letter can be a problem, as instead of calling a truck a truck they say "uck", that's normal for very young kids)(2 years) but by 3-4 they should be able to say truck

Courtney Said:

Will quiet parents delay their baby's speech development and result in a late-talker child?

We Answered:

there is a correlation between how much parents speak to their children and the children's vocabulary later in life.

mom works for the military as a CDC director, and she's seen the effects of "baby talking" on young children. it definitely delays speech in children, limits their vocabulary, and makes them unsociable.

children with delayed speech tend to be biters as well, because they don't know how to use their words. they turn to physical violence to get their message across.