Abstract – Child not speaking in grammatical sentences
Four-year-old Viraj had a vocabulary of only about 300 words he used meaningfully, but his sentences were never grammatically correct. For example: “I no want. nothing”, “Plane sky go.” This challenge had his parents worried for him. They used English exclusively and knew that this was a matter of concern, as not mastering the rules of language would lead to bad performance in school.
Viraj required one year of therapy to master all the grammatical rules of the English language, such as plurals, tenses, etc. A combination of a structured approach, discrete trials training, and systematic tracking of progress helped Viraj take control of the rules of language.
Takeaway Note
Specific language impairment in children like Viraj generally goes unattended as parents are unaware of this delay. It is a sign of serious difficulty in learning a language. We recommend consulting a speech pathologist if your child is unable to make grammatically correct sentences by the age of 3, as intensive therapy is required to prevent the negative impact on schooling.
