I was inspired to write this post when my two-year-old was playing around with one of the squishy brains that I have (it also makes some weird sounds when you squeeze it…yup isolation is getting to us!). Seeing the brain-inspired me to write a post about what goes on in your child’s brain and how that affects speech and language development. I am going to touch on the main parts of the brain as this blog post could easily turn into an entire textbook if I don’t:)
The brain is so important to development! I always tell my husband when our kids are wrestling around, “Just watch out for their head!” I also wish I could make them wear helmets and bubble wrap all day, but that might be going a little too far. Needless to say, the brain is so important, and as a speech-language pathologist, I know it just takes a matter of seconds for something catastrophic to happen to the brain. That’s not meant to make you worried, but more to make you realize the brain is integral to our whole self.
What do the 4 main parts of the brain do?
Frontal Lobe:
This is the epicenter of who your kid is. This is the part of the brain that is responsible for their attention span, planning tasks, managing homework assignments, and their personality. Think of this part of the brain as the hub for making you, you. So what happens when this part of the brain is affected: your child will have a harder time managing tasks, sequencing steps, regulating their emotions, and display difficulty concentrating.
Parietal Lobe:
This is the hub for the senses. This part of the brain is responsible for integrating what you feel, taste, touch, and smell. If this part of the brain is affected, your child may have difficulty walking, feeling, eating, etc.
Temporal Lobe:
The language and hearing hub! As a speech therapist, we spend most of our time in school focusing on this part of the brain. If this part of the brain is affected your child will have difficulty understanding language and/or expressing language.
Occipital Lobe:
Vision! Isn’t it funny how the farthest part of your brain from your eyes is what is responsible for vision…I have always found that intriguing. If this part of the brain is affected, your child will have trouble with their vision.
References:
Dayna Sanders, MA, CCC-SLP
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