Today we’ll try to figure out what alarming symptoms in the behavior of the child can signal the presence of violations. Immediately make a reservation that I will designate only signs that possibly indicate the presence of violations in the development of the child, and not the exact symptoms of specific diseases. And therefore, the presence of one or even several signs in the child will not indicate that he has, say, autism, it will rather be an occasion to consult a specialist in order to either dispel fears or start work as soon as possible, because it has already been proved that the sooner you start to deal with the child, the more successful the result of treatment and habilitation will be. Therefore, I ask you not to panic in advance, but to observe your child, carefully note his successes and help if something does not work out.
- There are age norms for the development of the child. Even if you don’t have a special education, you can easily type in the search engine the phrase “What should a child be able to do in 1, 2, 3 … n months” and get very specific lists of skills. And the first thing you can do is to compare what your child should be able to do with this age with what your child demonstrates. It should be understood that the younger the child, the less skilled he is, the older he becomes, the more new appears in his behavior and knowledge. There is also such a concept of “zone of proximal development” that is what a child can do with the help of an adult, you should also pay attention to this, this is what he will master and will do on his own in the near future. Therefore, if, according to age standards, your child doesn’t do something yet, but he does it with your help, then he will do it soon and it’s not worth worrying about it.
2. Lack of speech development. One of the most important indicators of a child’s development is speech, in its formation it goes through various stages. First, the child learns to respond to speech, even more likely to sounds, he begins to distinguish the mother’s voice and smiles or calms down when he hears it. Learns to respond to your name. And if the child does not respond to his name, and he is already more than six months old, then this is an occasion either to reconsider his behavior (for example, you use a lot of affectionate names, call the child a bunny, cat, sweetie, etc. and he just may not be able to figure out how his name is nevertheless) or take a closer look at other skills, try to teach him this, call more by name. The fact that the child does not respond to his name may indicate a possible hearing impairment or other impaired perception or thinking.
To say that if the words did not appear at a certain age means that the child definitely cannot have any violation, because the more difficult the skill, the greater the time spread in its development in different children. Only this is an occasion to take a closer look at how the child communicates, whether he has babble, whether there was humming, how he perceives someone else’s speech. How does he respond to the request. Does he understand intonation (smiles when he is spoken affectionately, cries if scolded). There are a lot of nuances, but if you know what to look for, it will be easier to understand everything well or you need to contact a specialist.
- Communication. It should be understood that up to 9-12 months the child may not need peers, it’s enough for her mother, father or other loved ones, who often spend time near him. It is also important to watch how the child begins to interact with the immediate environment. As he asks for something. The absence of a pointing gesture also indicates a violation of communication. Here again, it should be noted that this is not a 100% fact, it may be that the child is understood from a glance and he does not need to try to explain something to an adult. Observe yourself, pretend that you do not understand the child, he needs it, he must want to explain to you what he wants, otherwise he just will not have the need for speech, even if everything is in order with his health.
- A game. A very important and very multifaceted process. The game contributes to the development of social norms and rules, develops many skills and is truly invaluable in the process of child development. The simplest thing you can see is whether the child is following you with the objects. For example, you show him how the car drives, how its engine growls at the same time, how it enters into turns, how its wheels spin, and the child does not repeat after you. He takes the machine and spins the wheel, he likes it, for its intended purpose he does not use the machine and does not try. Of course, it is not necessary to draw conclusions the first time, if the child saw the machine for the first time, he is interested in examining it, but if for a long time he has not come to ride the machine, one must pay attention to the situation with other toys. Repetition after an adult is very important and indicative, try, explore the possibilities of your child, give him an empty plate and spoon, ask him to feed you, show yourself what you want from him, try in different situations.
Of course, all this is not a complete list of situations in which you can see problems, but in my opinion these are situations in which the parent himself can understand if he needs the help of a specialist or there is no reason to worry. I believe that going too far in either direction (constant anxiety and attempts to find what is wrong or completely ignoring age-related developmental norms) is always bad. The golden mean and consultation of one or several specialists is always better, especially when the parent can clearly state what worries him, will help to understand the situation and make the right decision. Watch your children, rejoice at their successes, help them to master the world around you, because they need you.