Question

Are there differences in the way each caregiver interacts with children that may either positively or negatively influence speech development?

Answer 1

How the caregiver interacts with the infant can significantly affect the ability of the infant to learn to speak and make others understand what he or she wants. Good caregivers are usually highly attentive and concerned towards the infant and they are capable of understanding the infant’s needs much before he or she is able to speak. The interaction between the child and his or her caregiver during the initial few months of the child’s life (including the turn-taking and reciprocal interchange of expressions, looks and phonation) is a preverbal or proto-dialog conversation. Child and caregiver alternate vocalizations, facial expressions, utterances, and gestures are called proto or early conversations. The early interaction enables the child to acquire language by sensitizing the infant to the speech’s referential requirements, to communication objectives, and a sound system. The interactions between child and caregiver help the child to learn to convey meaning to others much before he or she actually learns to speak. In short, how caregiver relates and interacts with the child has a direct influence on the speech development.