What if My Baby Does Not Speak?

Host: A year of age, you're expecting the kid to say how many words? Henry Joseph Hasson: Well, by a year of age, children should be having that first few words. When you say language, it's not always necessarily words. For example, well, not only that for example pointing is really one of the first language that we see that in children. Children point for what they want, even before they happen to say words. Host: So is that expressive language? Henry Joseph Hasson: Sure, that will be applied with expressive language, and even babbling and cuing is the first starting of the expressive language, and as using the hands is easier than controlling all the muscles in the mouth that it takes to create certain sounds and words, you can see the children using their hands and gesturing, as if specifying even before using their words. Host: If a kid is four months of age, wasn't make an eye contact, will that be a little bit of concern? Henry Joseph Hasson: Sure, definitely about four month of age they should be -- at least with their mother or with the people that they are used to, should be making eye contact, they should be following, especially something that's of interest to them. Host: How about social smile, social smile, is that a little bit of concern? Henry Joseph Hasson: Sure. That will be of concern. Host: But what would you expect a social smile, it should be there in most babies? Henry Joseph Hasson: It's early on, they really start one or two month of age, when they really start, how to respond to their mother, and being consoled by their mother. Host: So, if the kids say 15 to 18 months is really not expressively by pointing gyration or with words, that sound like another big reflex sometimes? Henry Joseph Hasson: Yeah, that can be a red flag, and there is all sorts of, disorders associating with expressive language, and sort of expressing, I mean, by saying what they are saying that, as opposed to receptive whether they are understanding language, and it varies. Host: Okay, but of course, if you don't think the kid was speaking, you were always mentioning the kid had a hearing test? Henry Joseph Hasson: The first thing to do, there is a newborn hearing screen at one is the first one, but of course, that's not very accurate. It's helpful, but if a child is not speaking, the first things you'd do is, check the hearing, because that's something that could be taken care of. Host: Okay, there are ways of doing it, but we simply accurate as the kid gets older, but they should not just be done by anybody, it should be someone especially trained in doing that. Henry Joseph Hasson: Yeah, of course. Host: Some of this is based on observations, isn't it? Henry Joseph Hasson: Right, some parents will come and say, oh of course my child's hearing -- I can tell that they hear, but -- now hearing is that is -- is that a specific and at different frequencies that some babies can hear at different frequencies, that human language is functioning at, and therefore, all those frequencies need to be tested properly. Host: So, if a kid doesn't have a social smile and doesn't speak, people work on a term today, and that word is called autism. Like we put that diagnose in a kid in a young age, but you think about it a little bit of the kid that doesn't have a social smile, and does it straight, but we may say the kid is, we have concerns. Henry Joseph Hasson: Right, but early on can make the diagnosis, however, if you start seeing that they don't have language, and don't have socialability, and they are not interacting properly. It is something that you definitely want to keep in the back of your mind, that you can keep following your kid closely, so that you can diagnose it as early as responsible, because the sooner you diagnose the problem, the sooner you can start treating it properly. Host: There is a term you use, Language delay, which is not autism, for kids to speak later? Henry Joseph Hasson: Correct. Host: Okay, and they are perfectly okay. Henry Joseph Hasson: And a lot of that is hereditaric and genetic. Sometimes if you look into the family, the mother's family, the father's family, you can find that there are other learning disabilities or language disabilities as well. Host: Now if the kid is a two years old, no expressive language, virtually no eye contact with mother or father, would you have a greater concern that the kid could possibly have this -- what we are hearing the news all the time, autism, is there a possibility? Henry Joseph Hasson: Sure, and it is possible, and it is something we will look at, and we'll look at all the social interactions, we will look at it in the way he plays, the way he interacts with his environment in general. Host: What would like you be very suspicious, when you would look at and say, maybe this kid is doing something, oh, this is it. What would be the lesson? Henry Joseph Hasson: Sure, the other thing that -- children with autism do is, some of them have stereotypies, which are just repetitive movements, such as hand flapping or some children would be spinning on themselves or. Others are like doing repetitive behavior, such as flipping lights, which is opening and closing of doors, cabinets, spinning on themselves, and a lot of them will prefer to be alone, not necessarily prefer to be with other children or interacting with other people, and they don't play with their toys in a normal manner that children play with their toys. For example, the imaginative play, where children will take two cars and roll them and crash them and make traffic jams, or something like that. Children with autism may just line them up or stack them or bang them on their head or something like that. Host: But even some of these kids who have all these things, when they are five years old, we don't know why, some of them will be okay soon, is that sure? Henry Joseph Hasson: Yeah, I mean autism is a spectrum, that's called Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) , and one of the reasons to that, is there is a very wide spectrum, some children have some of these features and can do very well, well others have more of the features, and have more difficulty with social interaction and with the language, and actually one of the biggest predict is, how well they will do, and develop their social interactions, so that's one of the most important things in study today.