CHILDRENS HEALTH

Language and Speech

Section Map

The doctor/nurse will frequently ask you about your child and its speech, and the clinic staff should note your own particular language situation at home so that they ask intelligent and relevant questions. If they don't, remind them! While some multilinguals acquire language just as fast as monolinguals, the vast majority don't, and your CB-arts needs to be aware of the context. At most appointments it's at the informal discussion level and the onus is on you to ask questions if you feel it's needed. Remember, though, that you may well get more helpful anecdotal evidence from an informal expat playgroup with diverse linguistic home environments than from some CB-artsen .

At about two years you will receive a language questionnaire for your child to complete for the next appointment. It is a list of common early words grouped into types (nouns, prepositions, verbs etc.) requiring you to tick yes/no for each. They are not interested in Dutch language ability particularly, but in language acquisition in general; you should note whether your child has the words in whatever language(s) she speaks. It is therefore a useful exercise for your Dutch vocabulary, if nothing else!

The clinic adds up all the words and comes to some kind of index of your infant's speech, which they will then discuss with you. The results are used by the GGD to identify children with language problems, whether multi- or monolingual, and to offer them and their families appropriate help at an early stage to prevent trouble later on in life ( taalachterstand , language handicap). Your multilingual child may score 'low' in this test, but the intelligent CB-arts will look beyond a mere numerical result and should not note you as a problem case on the basis of this alone. 

Hearing and Speech Therapy (Logopedie)

Pronunciation and other aspects of speech development go hand-in-hand with language acquisition, and all can be hampered by (among others) either a multilingual environment or a hearing problem. Identifying a developmental issue as categorically related to hearing is thus doubly difficult in the multilingual child, and should you suspect ear problems or deafness you will have to be extra aware. Remember the emphasis here on the parents' initiative, and don't be shy to push for a referral to an ENT specialist or for an extra hearing test.

The Netherlands are in general extremely aware of problems with spoken language. Jessica has contributed an excellent and comprehensive page on issues with talking and speech therapy, which you can read here.

Preventative side