Kylie Smith with son William Hutchinson, 3. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER
Horsham mother Kylie Smith has urged Wimmera parents to enrol themselves and their children who struggle to speak in Wimmera Health Care Group's Target Word program.
The program teaches parents techniques and strategies to help get their children talking.
Miss Smith enrolled her son William Hutchinson, 3, in Target Word when he was two years old.
She said William could only say about 20 words, including mum, dad and bye, before starting the program.
"I was not concerned that my son would not speak but I didn't want him, when he did speak, to be behind at kindergarten or school," she said.
"I also always knew what he wanted but other people did not so I wanted him to be able to communicate with others.
"It was very frustrating having a child who could not just tell you what they wanted.
"He was a year-and-a-half old before he said mum so he just needed a kick-start."
Miss Smith said the invaluable program taught her the OWL process - observing, waiting and listening.
She said she had seen a complete change in William, who 'won't be quiet now'.
"The program showed me that I have to sit back a bit, observe and relax," she said.
"The biggest thing I learnt was that speaking was within William and I just had to sit back and let it come out.
"I found that I was dominating him and a lot of us miss those subtle signs that they are communicating to us.
"It is just important to listen to your child health care nurse and to your child because you know them better than anyone."
Senior speech pathologist Melinda Brilliant said the program was aimed at the parents of 'late talkers', who faced language, academic and social difficulties because of delayed speech development.
"Late talkers are children whose general development is normal, however their spoken words have been late to develop," she said.
"These children might also have a number of risk factors, including frequent ear infections or a family history of late talking and language delays.
"Recent research suggests that up to 15 to 20 per cent of two-year-olds are delayed with their language development and up to 60 per cent of them might not outgrow their delay, continuing to experience difficulties into later childhood and even adulthood.
"Ongoing difficulties with language are associated with difficulties learning to read and write as well as general academic and social difficulties."
Program organisers said people could call Wimmera Health Care Group's speech pathology department on 5381 9333 for more information.