Digitization and child’s speech development

Should young children use digital devices? Well no! Their use affects their speech development!

The brain is malleable throughout life, but mostly until the age of three. This is the most valuable time for a child’s development. Our homes are filled with technology – resources like TV and the radio are usually on all the time, there are lots of toys on the floor that make sounds, children very often use smartphones and tablets.

This might mean that a modern child is overstimulated by right-hemispheric stimuli, but has insufficient left-hemispheric (i.e. linguistic) stimuli. The right hemisphere blocks the left hemisphere, and as a result, speech development is delayed. It simply means that the predominance of right-hemispheric stimuli disrupts the natural, healthy development of speech.

Nothing can replace a daily chat and conversation with a child. The child in front of the screen is deprived of communicating with another human.