Image: Karoliina Haapakoski / Yle

Speech therapists across the country say they’ve been seeing an increase in the numbers of young children being referred for treatment, as a larger numbers of three year-olds are found to be able to utter no more than a few single words.

Professionals say that one obvious reason that for the development is declining interaction between parents and children. Young children are unable to effectively develop their oral communication skills if their parents spend less time talking to them, they add.

"Social media steals some of the time people spend interacting with each other, and because of this children get to spend less time learning language and speech with their parents," speculated speech therapist Päivi Huusko.

Children have a right to speak

Huusko pointed out that children need adults to learn how to speak.

"We learn language by listening and imitating speech. A child needs adults for this and to have some kind of example, otherwise they can’t learn language and speech," she added.

Huusko said that speech is not only an important skill, it is every child’s right.

"It’s necessary to be on an equal footing with others. It’s one of the most important rights in order to be heard and it gives children a tool to speak for themselves," Huusko observed.

Small steps have major impact

In Finland, parents receive advice on their children’s speech development at an early stage – from the maternity clinic. However they may not necessarily think about how their own daily choices may affect their child’s ability to speak, said teaching professional Eeva-Liisa Ukkonen.

"If a parent takes a child to the store in a stroller he or she could speak to the child on the way about what they plan to buy and point out interesting sights along the way. This is how parents make a choice to support their children as they learn language," the special needs teacher noted.

"But if in a situation like that the parent has no interaction with the child, but only focuses on playing with the phone or talking on it, then the opportunity is lost,” Ukkonen added.

No rocket science

Ukkonen pointed out that helping children develop their language skills requires no more from parents than being present and making the effort to interact.

"Speaking out loud in everyday life, doing things with children and playing and especially reading books," Ukkonen suggested.

"When children are awake that’s the time to interact with them. When the kids have gone to sleep, that’s the time for parents to engage with social media and update their Facebook accounts," Ukkonen remarked.

Oral language skills or mobile phone usage?

The special needs teacher said she wondered whether adults had become so addicted to smart devices that they have overlooked the importance that speech development may have later in a child’s life.

"It’s becoming a situation where before we looked forward to hearing a child’s first word; are we now looking forward to the time when a child is first able to use a smartphone or computer?"