In early years of the life child learns to speak through interaction with the loved ones , by constantly listening to them and trying to respond to their actions. When screen time increases these interactions are automatically reduced which is a bad sign for the child. The active interaction which is needed in this age is reduced day by day hence the child starts interacting passively .
Child watches , listens but fails to respond . The main difference between the person and the screen is that the screen dos not respond to childs action as a person does . Slowly slowly as the screen exposure increases baby misses on real life conversation and interactions and hence stops responding and talking. The baby fails to learn new words does not improve communication skills and hence can lead to delayed speech .
Let’s take case study .
My friends sister married and conceived twice . Her 2nd child a boy was totally normal , he smiled , responded to everyones interactions . The problem started when the baby parents started giving mobile in baby’s hands . The mother used to study as she was preparing for government competitive examinations so to avoid the disturbance of the baby she used to hand over the mobile to the baby and completely decrease the volume . The problem cane in notice after two years when the baby was of 5 years , parents noticed that the baby gave no response to their actions .
In this case the baby watched the cartoon and many more thing without sound which lead to zero listening, zero interactions and hence zero responses .
You might also notice that such children have a shorter attention span. They get used to fast-moving visuals, so it becomes harder for them to sit, and focus for longer period .
That’s why doctors advice to parents to avoid the screen exposure as much as they can.
What are more causes that can lead to speech delay ? Discuss in the comments section.
MBH/PS