How do we feel about tv for toddlers with speech delay

[Ratchet101]

Exactly that. On the waiting list for some SALT for my ds 2.9yrs old and we love books and sing songs as well as adding new words to his ever growing vocab but he seems to be more of a gestalt processor so often the adding adjective/verb to a noun he already says doesn't seem to have the same effect. People have suggested shows like Ms Rachel or Yakka Dee but we've never thought of tv as a way to encourage his speech. He loves to repeat books (delayed echolalia) to communicate and we do let him watch the Julia Donaldson tv Productions, but have people found certain tv shows also good way to increase language ?

I don't think there's any harm in letting them watch a tv show like Miss Rachel. I'd put it on the big screen though rather than a tablet or phone.

I used to sit them on a potty, give them a snack and put on a tv show when we started potty training.

Steve and Maggie on YouTube worked for my DD. We streamed it through the tv or she watched it on my phone.

It's very repetitive but Steve who hosts it is well qualified so we gave it a go. My DD still sometimes asks to watch it and she's 4.5 now.

My DD had very few words at all at your son's age though, so it may be too basic for your DS. She didn't really speak much until she was 3. She has excellent speech now and an extensive vocabulary. We were never seen by SALT etc.

Yakka Dee on BBC iPlayer is good for speech delay. Using it to help my two year old with same issue.

I don't see the harm in using TV. He can listen whilst he plays.

Yakka Dee and Somethinf Special were useful for my eldest - she didn't have speech delay as such but had severe glue ear. The signing and repetition was very helpful to her. Singing Hands songs are available on YouTube or you can get DVDs.

Thank you for all your replies and suggestions! Definitely going to give it a go :)

I loved Miss Rachel. Insanely irritating to adults but she really knows what she's doing and kids just seem to adore her. I think she started her channel after her own son had speech delay.

She has a very American accent, which may not help If you don't.

I did let ds watch a bit of miss Rachel but tbh I actually found it helpful in how I spoke to him to encourage him to speak, thinking about repetition, slowing the word down and using pauses to encourage him to fill the gap rather than me just talking at him. So as long as it's not a substitute for you speaking to him and reading and singing together then I think it's fine.

Yes Steve and Maggie, yakee dee are great. Also nursery rhymes. There are some great ones on bbc schools radio.

My autistic son was slower to speak. His first words were all related to a TV show he loved. And it probably did encourage him to speak. (He is much older now and still doesn't talk much about basic wants and needs but will talk our ears off about his latest obsession!)

There are lots of slower paced TV shows, which are totally appropriate for very young children on CBeebies.

We also found using some sign language helpful.