Children learn to speak as a result of watching, listening, and learning from their parents, siblings, and others. They become enthralled with the prospect of mimicking the strange sounds people use to communicate with one another. Once they’ve learned how to speak, a whole new world of possibility has opened up because the child has developed the ability to express his or her feelings and thoughts with words. Eventually, in most cases, all of these parts come together with the only differing factors being the timing in which a child is able to grasp the skill of speech.
When a child takes longer than most kids to speak, we typically consider them to have a speech delay. This is not necessarily anything to be concerned about, but there are definitely steps to take and resources to utilize that can assist parents and other caregivers in offering their children the support they need in their speech development. At Arbor Vitae Chiropractic, we seek to connect our practice members to the help they need to address speech delays of various sorts.
What Causes Speech Delays in Children?
It can be difficult to pinpoint the exact root cause of a speech delay without evaluating several very different factors. A first thought to consider would be speech delay as a result of a physical issue with either the mouth or the ear. If a child can’t form words properly with his tongue and mouth, he won’t progress in his speech capacity. Similarly, if a child has trouble hearing, she won’t be able to produce words as she intends to. Intervention in the form of speech therapy is often applied in these cases. Other children struggle to speak due to a bigger picture issue or illness, but this isn’t always our first thought.
How Can My Bentonville Chiropractor Help with My Child’s Speech Delays?
Chiropractic caregivers see a link between the health of the spine and how functional a child’s speech is. Dr. Tom Niemela is skilled and experienced in helping to provide relief to children who are frustrated in their speech development journey. The spine and the brain are interconnected through the central nervous system. When a chiropractor adjusts practice members, the individual’s spine becomes properly aligned. When there is no longer interference between the brain and the spine, the brain can properly send the signals it needs to. These signals are what are responsible for speech occurring. If the problem your child faces regarding their speech is at all related to behavior, chiropractic can help with this as well.
Give Chiropractic Care a Try to Address Your Child’s Delays
Many individuals are surprised when they learn that chiropractic adjustments can help their children to improve their speech. When you begin to think about the body’s synergistic manner of healing itself, chiropractic care becomes much more than an answer for back pain. Several case studies can speak to the success of implementing chiropractic care to help improve a child’s speech delays. If your child is experiencing difficulty in engaging in communication through speech, consult with your Bentonville chiropractor today to find out how chiropractic adjustments with Dr. Tom Niemela can benefit their development and overall health.
Sources
Dorough, A. “Early intervention: Improvement in motor developmental speech delay in a 2-year-old male following chiropractic care: a case report”. Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics 2018; 17(2):1444-1448. http://jccponline.com/Dorough.pdf
“New Research Sheds Light on Chiropractic, Speech & Developmental Delay”, The Chronicle of Chiropractic; 2016. http://chiropractic.prosepoint.net/142701
Troy, J., Dennis, T., Cade, A. “Developmental advancements following chiropractic care in a four-year-old child with dyspraxia and associated developmental delays: A case report”, Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics; 2014. http://jccponline.com/developmental-advancements.html