Michele is a two-year old girl who is the only child of an American couple living in the United States. After a full-term pregnancy, her mother gave birth to her via normal delivery. She was healthy as an infant despite her mother discontinuing to breastfeed at only three months after giving birth. However, it has been observed by her pediatrician that she has not yet talked since the expected age wherein infants are able to do so.
Although Michelle is unable to talk expressively, she is still able to follow one or two-step instructions; but often shows incompliance or defiance.Aside from this, there are yet no other problem areas seen in Michele. She was even enrolled recently in a gymnastics class and she has been doing well especially on the balance beam. Being an only child, she has no other playmate and it is reported that she is often left in the playroom all day long with the television on.
Hers is a typical family, with the father going to work and the mother having to do all the household chores. Because of this familial set-up, interaction is very limited. In spite of the pediatrician’s advice to let Michele undergo speech testing and assessment, her parents refused to do so.This firm decision made by her parents is unhealthy since testing and assessment are important in determining possible developmental delays or even disorders that Michele may have. Some of the possible problems that she may be encountering are Phonological Disorder, Expressive Language Disorder, Deafness, and in worst scenario, Mental Retardation or Autistic Disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2000).
Biological factors are not ruled out due to lack of appropriate assessment but, observable causes of Michele’s condition may include limited social interaction with others and predisposition to delayed development (Parker, 2000).According to the typical developmental milestones, the acquisition of language starts at about six months wherein the infant produces one-syllable sounds and repeats it over and over again (e. g. bababa, deedee). This is called babbling, and is common across languages.
This is an inherent form of processing and producing sounds which will later be used to form words. At this stage, the ability to discriminate between pa and ba is present. At nine months, sounds produced by infants resemble more of the vowel sounds which will later be used in speaking their native languages.For infants who can hear, babbling is done orally; while for those who are deaf, this is done through the sign language. This shows that language is acquired whether it is spoken or not.
It is important to note that language development partly depends on how the parents or caretaker are being responsive to the child’s messages because it shows more contact, awareness, and warmth during the child’s verbal interactions (Plotnik, 1999). The second stage of language acquisition begins at about one year of age when the infant starts to produce single words.Such words refer to objects that the infant often sees, hears, and feels (i. e.
door, ball, milk) or to actions (i. e. up, down, go). The third stage of language acquisition (that comes around the age of two), where Michele should have been in by now, is the production of two-word combinations.
Continuing to the fourth and final stage that comes at around four years of age, is when the child is able to formulate simple sentences. Considering Michele’s condition, she has not yet undergone the different stages of language acquisition.To reiterate, assessment must be given to her in order to determine the specific cause of her problem and eventually provide a treatment plan. Failure to do so may hinder her from communicating with others and may also hamper a normal and functional growth (Atkinson, Atkinson, Smith, & Bem, 1993).
Children of her age usually start to form peer groups or “buddies”, and that is why it is important for them to acquire language and engage in social interaction (Santrock, 2002). This would again be another problem area for Michele since she has no spoken language yet.Also, her parents continue to isolate her inside the house, particularly in the playroom where TV and toys are her only sources of interaction. If proven that Michele is speech delayed or has Expressive Language Disorder, it is highly possible that she would find it difficult to mingle with other kids in social situations.
This is because she is not equipped with verbal skills. For the worst scenario, if she would be diagnosed of having Mental Retardation or Autism, most of her areas of development are greatly affected including her social skills.It is primarily recommended that Michele undergo speech testing and assessment in order to come up with an accurate diagnosis of her condition. As mentioned earlier, this would serve as a basis for a valuable treatment plan that will help her manage her current condition.
It is also encouraged that her parents spare more time to be with her since parental attention, love, and care are as much as important as food and shelter. Finally, she should be allowed to engage in social interaction with kids of her age to gather more accurate observations of her behavior and more importantly, to let her experience childhood fun.
