Glen Korstrom
Northern News Services

NNSL (May 13/98) - For many parents, angst can surface from deep inside if junior isn't speaking by about age three.

Sometimes children do have learning disabilities but often it is simply a matter of communicating how to speak, according to Yellowknife speech language pathologist Fai Russo.

"Talk when you're doing something," she says.

"If you're stirring batter, say, 'Here I am, stirring the batter and the spoon is going round and round and round and round.'"

Equally important is varying speaking tones so your child will actively listen to your repetitive sentences.

And activities like batter-stirring are much better than moving a truck around and saying "varoom, varoom."

At the Stanton Hospital clinic, Russo says speech pathologists videotape parents playing with their children.

The difference between start and finish is striking, she says, as there is noticeably more speaking near the end.

Speaking for children out loud also holds benefits. If the child is stirring batter, for example, a parent could say, "There you are, stirring the batter with the spoon going round and round and round and round."

To expand vocabulary, Russo suggests stressing a few simple words and this means explicitly saying a word a few times.

If the child points to a bunny on a shelf, Russo encourages the parent to say, "Bunny, that is a bunny," before working the word into progressively more complex sentences.

Then, when the child sees the bunny in the future, he or she is likely to say, "Bunny," and the parent could say, "Yes, that's right a bunny," according to Russo.

Here, the language-imparting techniques are much the same as the controversial television show for toddlers, the Teletubbies, where the characters repeat the word "again" when they like what they see.

"Gradually you can expand on a child's utterances," Russo said.

Aside from talking, Russo says songs can help ingrain words as does a final essential aide: reading.

Even though children know how favorite stories end, they often want care-givers to read them over and over.

Though perhaps tedious for a parent, rereading helps embed new words in a child's mind.