Parents usually watch their child's development carefully, especially in the first year of life. Frequently, the lack of response to their name is a cause for concern. It is important to know when this may be the norm and when it signals possible problems, so a visit to a specialist should not be delayed.
When should a child respond to his or her name?
In most cases, children begin to respond to their name between 6 and 10 months of age, although sometimes it happens earlier - from 4 months. There is no exact timeframe, as every child has individual developmental peculiarities. Usually, babies at 1 year of age already respond to their name. If there is no response, it is worth taking a closer look at your son or daughter.
By the age of 1.5, a child should understand even complex constructions, such as "go and get me a spoon. At the age of 2, many children are already talking quite well - not in separate words, but in whole simple sentences. If developmental problems are noticed, it is better not to put off going to the doctor.
The main causes of the problem
If a child does not respond to his or her name, the reasons may include the following:
- Hearing problems. Your baby may simply not be able to hear you, but it can be difficult to tell if you are deaf at an early age. If your baby does not respond to his or her name, but also does not respond to other speech, the problem may be hearing loss or damage to the neural connections in the brain that are responsible for hearing sounds.
- Ignoring. It happens that even at an early age, children show character. If a child sometimes refuses to respond to his name, but there are no other signs of developmental delays, most likely he is doing it on purpose. If in doubt, it is best to consult a doctor and have an examination if necessary.
- Sensory alalia or auditory agnosia. The peculiarity of this speech disorder is that the child does not recognize speech. In other words, the addresses of parents and other people sound like a foreign language to the child. He does not understand the words, so he does not respond to them. For the same reason, the child does not look at the person when speaking.
- Motor alalia. Another speech disorder can cause a lack of response to the pronunciation of a name. The child does not know and cannot pronounce sounds. He does not understand what actions should be performed with the tongue and lips to say something. The disorder is not directly related to the fact that the child does not respond to the name, but in most cases, motor alalia is accompanied by auditory agnosia.
- ASD. To understand why a child with ASD does not respond to a name, it is worth knowing that children with this condition often have sensory overload. Words sound in the background of various noises (the work of household appliances, traffic, etc.), and each sound sounds equally strong to a child with autism, so he cannot distinguish his name in it. Lack of response can also be caused by delayed speech or mental development.
Only a specialist can determine the reason why a child does not respond to his or her name, after a comprehensive examination.
When and who to contact?
If the child does not always respond to the name, but there are no signs of intellectual disability, do not panic. In other cases, see a doctor. You can get an initial consultation with your pediatrician, but a visit to an otolaryngologist, neurologist, and psychiatrist is most likely required. After examination, a specialist will make a diagnostic program to accurately determine the cause of the problem, diagnosis and choose methods of correction.
What is the right way to introduce a child to his name?
In order for a child to respond more quickly to his or her name (provided there are no obvious health problems), it is advisable to follow these rules:
- Starting at 2-3 months, you should show the baby an object and name it, and then say the name and lightly touch the baby.
- When addressing a child, use one or two forms of the child's name. This will make it easier for him to remember. If you constantly call your baby "sunshine," "bunny," "kitty," "doll," he will get confused.
- When you approach a child or want to pick him up, first call his name, wait for a reaction, and then perform the planned action.
- If you want to interest the baby, put his name at the beginning of the sentence.
How do you teach a child to respond to his or her own name?
If the child is more than 1 year old and there is no response to the name, the best solution is to ask for qualified help. You can also try to remedy the situation with exercises. The following recommendations will help with autism spectrum disorders but may be useless with hearing problems and some other disabilities.
First, teach your child to respond to his name in silence. Exclude any extraneous sounds as much as possible. Sit across from your baby and say his name. When he responds, give him a toy or candy. Repeat the exercise many times. When a child starts to respond to a name in 8 out of 10 cases, make it more difficult - add background noise. This can be a softly running TV or other sounds. If necessary, speak louder so that the child hears you clearly.
The next step is to do the exercise in a familiar environment, but you should do it after the child begins to respond well to his or her name with a little background noise. It is quite a time-consuming process, but with diligence, it will yield results.
Experienced specialists will give more advice on how to teach your child to respond to his or her name, depending on the age, the cause of the problem, and the baby's health characteristics.
If the above methods do not produce the desired result, contact the Vivere Clinic. We look for the cause and then select personalized treatment methods that are combined with the pedagogical correction to achieve a pronounced and lasting result.
