You should spend about 40 minutes on this task
Present a written argument or case to an educated reader with no specialist knowledge of the following topic.
Parents are often over-anxious to teach their children to speak. If children are ‘slow-developers’ parents often allow psychologists and schools to intervene and provide their children speech therapy. Do you think children develop at different rates and so should be left to themselves to acquire language skills, or, is such intervention justified?
Discuss both views and give your opinion.
INTRODUCTION
Speech development is a critical part of early childhood. Most children master basic verbal communication between the age of two to five. This is very important for humans as we are social creatures and need to express ourselves to each other in detail. Some people believe that even slow-developing youth should be allowed to master language without intervention while others ascertain that professional help is warranted. I believe that although children can master language on their own, it is valuable to involve psychologists and schools in this process.
BODY 1
Each child is unique and learns different skills at a different pace. Often, children have different family backgrounds and genetics which play a role in the rate of their speech development whether parents worry or not. In most cases, children who develop speech later than their cohorts, eventually master language just the same. For example, I did not start speaking until after the age of two, so my parents were very anxious. However, as they say, once I had started talking, I never stopped. Therefore, professional speech therapy is not always warranted, but it is definitely a good point to consider.
BODY 2
Specialists have valuable knowledge to help children who have slow language development. Though professional guidance, speech therapy and practice, slow-developing youth can certainly improve faster than if they are simply left to learn on their own. One of my colleague’s daughter had speech therapy for six months, so she not only caught up to her cohorts in verbal skills, but in some ways exceeded them. Clearly, taking her to a speech pathologist was the right decision.
CONCLUSION
Whether kids who struggle with speech acquisition are taken to see specialists or not, most do learn to use effective verbal communication. If parents are worried the rate that their children’s speech is developing, they should take them for professional help in school or to a psychologist. There is no harm in this. After all, these professionals dedicated their learning and career to help those parents and children.
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