Improving early child development with words: Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald at TEDxAtlanta

[@ElisabethWykert]

As someone who talks A LOT and had a lot of great interaction with her child, my child still had a speech delay. Just a reminder for parents, every child is different. Stop putting your child’s successes and failures as a direct compliment or insult to your well-being. If you’re a good parent, you’re always striving to learn more, you’re watching videos like this, you’re finding ways to be a better influence in a child’s life, but every human life is different.

[@vandana910]

Completely agree.

[@avapilsen]

Absolutely. If a child is ill or has a delay or anything like that, then that it's okay, but the idea is to aim for improvement. :)

[@tarifefalas]

Thank youuuuuu

[@kathlegothangwana6577]

Well said, good reminder that each child is different.

[@kartikjain5183]

Thanks alot ma'am

[@MarkJones-yu1rs]

Honestly, this book ‘Raising Warriors: Preparing Your Children For a Godly Life’ gave me the encouragement I needed to stay strong in raising my kids with Christian values, it’s comforting to know Im not alone on this journey

[@motivationmoneymakingmonda8550]

😊❤

[@Thatmormonchica]

My husband did not go to college yet sounds very educated and has a wider vocabulary than me (who went to university) my parents did not go to college. His parents went to university. He says his father (he graduated from an IV league school) would always read books to him and so he found a love for reading (mostly fantasy) I don’t have memories of my parents reading to me. I remember watching a lot of TV while my husband did not have cable. Long story short read to your baby/child!

[@storytimebookbytes8873]

Interact with your child. Talk with your child. Engage with them in play and reading and exploring!

[@shinae8120]

Ll Pl

[@pianoman2276]

I'm autistic and have reading difficulties but that didn't stop me from becoming a successful college student. I'm a good auditory learner.

[@sonofgodrosalineb435]

My son learn from videos bc he is say to be austitic as well. But he sings song but still DNT like talking

[@LAGallerina]

@@sonofgodrosalineb435 He's memorizing words from the music but not able to mix them up and create new sentences. Language is not just knowing words but knowing how to put them together. Those are things we learn from other people not from videos.

[@ravireddyism]

Piano Man2 my son is Autistic aged 10. He is language deficient apart from other tantrums like self talking and silly laughing but he is high functioning with good health . Kindly advise me whether my son still has the potential to develop considering his age (10) what measures we have to take , respect to his diet , therapies, exercises, etc to improve his ability in his life to excel in all aspects. God has been kind enough to let me interact with people like you . Thank you.

[@omarley6584]

@@sonofgodrosalineb435 I have nearly the same with my nephew. But why does this happen? He is able to sing and follow TV music but won't speak to anyone.

[@omarley6584]

Now I get it 👏

[@whisperingwhiskerss4877]

I was a very interactive parent to my son he is in the 3rd grade and reads at a grade 6 level. I read to him as an infant I was very much concentrated on my son and I believe that helped with his success 🥰🖤

[@FruitCakeReaper]

Success? lol maybe at 6th grade he'll also read at grade 6 level? This search for academic success of children from before they are born is so pathetic.

[@peekstar]

A bit premature to call it success. Good job for sure, but you have many more years to go

[@MrSuperbluesky]

All that reading talk and dialogue you did paid off and will continue to pay off congrats !

[@mdidavi]

@@FruitCakeReaper As long as it is partnered with supportive parenting, its fine to encourage academic success.

[@mdidavi]

@@peekstar When do we determine a person is successful? True that supporting one's self in adulthood is one practical measure, but I'd say a child who loves to read has already reached a point of success as long as he or she is happy and able to relate well to others.

[@pixie7349]

My father worked three jobs and my mother worked two and was severely and debilitatingly mentally ill. She’s been hospitalized ALOT. I was put in LD classes as a child. It all worked out I am now a nurse and although I can say I love to read and I don’t disagree that words are important and talking to your babies is important BUT SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS EFFECTS DEVELOPMENT. Because you can be the most loving parent in the world but if you don’t have time to spend with your baby except about once or twice at night or you are so mentally ill (untreated due to cost) and you are just trying to make ends meet or keep yourself well then that effects development. POVERTY AND INCOME EFFECT DEVELOPMENT. Why does it seem like she is saying that it’s just people aren’t interacting with their kids? Sometimes people don’t have the opportunity to do as much and Georgia is one of the poorest states with high levels of poverty. Maybe if they focus on that and establishing some relief these parent’s would be able to spend more time interacting with their babies.

[@22Harponyo]

I could have written this myself... It was a trauma in life that I had to work through and I'm at peace now

[@joru4035]

I completly agree with you, I dont think that the way she explains it is the good way because that argument can make people think that because they are profesionals and with a good job their kids wont have language problems when the real reason is that even if they have education but if they dont speak to them they will not develop their language properly.

[@Derlet30]

Great points! Mental health and time availability due to economic strife, matters also. Great post!

[@ishathakor]

exactly. people in poverty aren't just choosing to speak to their kids less. they literally have less time to talk to their kids. that's the big difference.

[@MiVidaBellisima]

I think she was pretty clear about this. If you don’t have the time to invest in your kids’ development then the impact will be obvious and… not to shame people but not as good.

[@doula2010]

One thing she did not discuss was how important other members of the family were to the developing baby. I lived with my daughter and her husband when both of her daughters were born (at home with a midwife by choice). We all talked and played with both girls from the moment they were born> Other family members were often present and talked and played with them also. I did housework and diapers so my daughter had more time with them to read and garden with or take walks. The important thing at an early age is not how many thousands of words you speak to them, but the interaction, eye contact, touch, and response to their needs, which includes talking outloud to them. My daughter gave away their TV and x-box so that they would not be tempted to just sit around not interacting with their children and vice-versa. They do not watch videos on the computer...they read to them. None of this has anything to do with money or education level.

[@wahooooh]

doula2010 Yea I noticed that too. I think every family member is important especially dad (or the partner)! Mom and baby have a special bond, but any caregiver can help support language development

[@wahooooh]

And the more (healthy) family members the better! I actually just learned the other day that when parents move back with their families (grandparents, aunts/uncles, etc) with their troubled kid, behavioral problems go down. I think family's really important not just for language development, but for everything really!

[@vandana910]

My FIL is a great blessing to my now 22 months twins that way. My son has been listening to his stories since he was three months! My daughter loves to sit with him and talk. In addition, our neighbours spend time regularly just interacting with them. Extended family is a great blessing for children's development.

[@Derlet30]

Agree. It's the activities and the quality of the interactions that matter.

[@aung9211]

Yes it is. But parental education is matters for living standard and knowledge about child care, nutrition, and hygiene which all leads child development. When we talk about this we should not focus on individual experience as this only tells us on average or general.

[@reedafatmah4555]

I am always the most talkative person in my family. My in laws would make fun of that sometimes. One important aspect is parenting also. I went through post partum stress after 2nd baby which went un-diagnosed . The environment was equally traumatic for me due to the in laws pushing me alot. I suffered alot and would go numb and silent for hours. My 2 year old regressed in that one year .he is now ASD Level 3 , non verbal and high needs. I am trying to get over that grief and to help him grow as an independent child. It's a tough journey but I am happy to have the support now.

[@josephsapien4137]

I would like to state that it's amazing to have good people to take a stand and teach our Mothers & Father's how to be parents to our children, I'm sure that you guys are very much appreciated in the eyes of many

[@crystalhalvorson1378]

I am a single mother of a 3year old. I am a full-time student studying for my bachelor's degree in psychology. I do not work and live off of student loans at the time. I am what Americans would consider a person living in poverty. I would love to see the study data that says that families in poverty speak fewer words to their children than professional families. I agree on the power of vocabulary, and conversation, and I believe that dialogue with children is essential to development. I talk to my son about everything happening, what we see, and what we are doing, and we learn new things together. My son and I are both very intelligent. I grew up in extreme poverty. My son at 3 is highly advanced in language. He knows how to count, and the alphabet, he knows all sight words, some Spanish words, the planets, dinosaurs, cars, and construction vehicles, his vocabulary is immaculate. This will strengthen his development and aid him in the rest of his life, tell me though what does poverty really have to do with it?

[@EloraWood]

I think that is why she said at the beginning that it was not about how much money one has / how many toys one can afford etc… As a college student you would (for this study) not fall under the poverty umbrella. You obviously had an education and continue to seek one. She, I believe, talks about the kind of extreme poverty where life goes down to basic survival- where parents are so consumed by worrying about how to pay the bills and put food on he table and, unlike you, don’t have the tools to change their fate in the future. Yours is a temporary one - your child will be considered the child of an academic, but there are people whose poverty is most likely permanent, who cannot teach their kids or give something they didn’t receive themselves. I believe she is talking about them in her poverty category.

[@crystalhalvorson1378]

@@EloraWood Thank you for your response, I believe you are right. I had not thought of it on that level. It is sad that there is such a thing as permanent poverty. Now I see though how such a thing can and does exist.

[@Aurelie-bu7yf]

Well done! I am a single mum too and sadly couldnt concentrate on " just" my daughter so had to put her in nursery to work. I had barely enough money to buy food but we always had vegetables and spoke/ read together. It is hard to look after a child properly with no support and until society recognises that parenting is a full time job it will stay very hard. My daughter could speak at an early age and being " poor" has nothing to do with money....Her dad comes from a rich background but would happily sit her in front of the TV and feed her junk....These behaviours have nothing to do with money, keep up the good work!!

[@semiyeschultz7494]

I think its the educational poverty

[@alhajijawara340]

Thanks for your contribution as a professional social worker in children development growth. Language is our priority in communication.

[@sarahsimms8229]

As a speech-language pathologist who works with children in a high poverty school, AMEN!!!

[@vramkrishna5598]

It's not language/more words. Kind interaction with a child empowers it.

[@user-gk3lu1gg9t]

My 18 month old doesn't like to sit while I read. She turns pages and looks at the pictures so I've began to ask her what she sees on the pages and ask her to find certain things. If she can't find them, I'll show her and she'll know what it is the next time we go through it. I'm hoping by the time she's 2, she will let me read to her while also looking at the pictures. Awesome talk.

[@FreedomofSpeech865]

That is how it is at that age. My kids rarely let me read to them ever but they loved hearing my childhood fables from my native country and I talked to them plant as kids. Both graduated from prestigious universities with highest honors.

[@VanzHumbleHome]

Wow, very interesting. I am motivated to interact with my children more. I thought I was doing well but I never realized language had such a profound impact on the children's future!

[@fikriyekizilkaya682]

Same here. It really slapped my face will definitely be more with my kids

[@affiliatemarketing11]

I bought the book and have been using it with my three-year-old. It's a great, basic guidebook that you can follow step by step. The money was well spent.

[@mustafeabdi8483]

What's called that Book? Plz

[@tumwinebarekye6201]

Which book is that?

[@mamameahsoriano6919]

My senior kindergarten is a great reader, she is reading chapter books at age 5 by now. I taught her to read when she is only 3 years old. Yes it makes a big difference when u start talking to your child when they are newborn.. Goodluck to all parents

[@francislobo9297]

Talk to your baby - listening to your in depth talk of the subject has for first time in life give the exposure how one can make an infant talk the language only from its mother which is called as the mother tongue This has added to my general knowledge of how an infant can be made to talk the language which was not known to me The talk was superb & wish you add more such infant development videos

[@QueenB28348]

Also……my son is an only child with just me for the most part during the day. When he was 1, we spent 3 weeks around my BIG family with multiple children. My husband noticed that he was trying to talk more after visiting for 1 1/2 weeks. It is true that children learn words more/faster when spoken to on a regular basis.

[@ruthrosey9220]

With the help of Doctor Isibor on youtube using his Herbal supplement on my 4 year's old son who had speech delay has improved positively and started saying few words and now he can speak fluently

[@untacttv9231]

Human ability to communicate is a blessing. I should have a more sense of duty in caring for my child and focus on speaking and thinking deeply about the use of language.

[@kerriwillis2582]

Needed to hear this. my daughter is 18 mo and doesn't really speak. Thought I was teaching her well but obviously need to improve. love this. thank you

[@catriley4717]

Kerri Willis maybe she doesn't talk because you know what she needs and have a higher non verbal congruence with her. my first daughter had a speech delay they called it.. I have five kids and know they all develop at their own pace and my son u cant shut him up..he became the president of his second grade class because he wanted his favorite food rice on the school menu , my third child was first in her kindergarten class and learned to speak Spanish as well by 4 from a day care that was highly speaking Spanish, as for my first who had the delay when she was placed in an early learning classroom there were different stimuli that encouraged learning words through labeling everything that could be labeled ie the door had a tag label door etc..you can do this at home. She is actually more of a reader then a speaker to this day. Then I was instructed to say everything I was doing just for the sake of conversation but we had such a bond i always knew what she wanted and didn't speak much to her but it didn't damage her at all she has such profound insight when she did speak she would say things like after seeing me cry .." After ever storm there's supposed to be a rainbow" at four years old...not fully aware of the problems between her dad and I yet aware of how to effectively communicate her love. new moms worry a lot after hearing things like this and its great to think just words can help yet its more true imo to know in what environment your child thrives in and many environments are available no matter what the income level is as long as the bond is established so they feel secure in their unique self expression. I only intend to send love towards you since I felt similar to your comment at one point.

[@atvalle]

Kerri Willis how many words a child has at 18 months is no casting stone! It's more about how they use the sounds they have and how they communicate. If you need a boost please watch my video about milestones and if you have any questions please reach out to me. I am a child development consultant wanting to help parents and caregivers out there 💖

[@dianamcmullen3659]

This is something to bring to the attention of your pediatrician if she's truly not speaking several words. It also might seem like she's not talking a whole lot, but she might use other forms of communication (gestures, body language, etc.) The key is to encourage the use of WORDS to communicate. You would need a referral to a speech/language pathologist for recommendations for your child specifically.

[@goodwolf866]

I wondered how your daughter is doing 4 yrs later. Did you choose intervention like early intervention or anything else or did it work out in the end? I hope you are all doing well.

[@isauraascensio9116]

@@atvalle ❤

[@drkishoredas9805]

Hart and Risleys study of the 1990s had a very small study sample and there were biases. A 2017 study by Jill Gilkerson which was a larger study showed the gap to be 4 million words by the age of 4 years (instead of 30 million). A more recent 2018 study by Douglas Sperry disproved the notion that income alone determines how many words children hear. But developmental psychologists agree that the interaction between caregiver and child is crucial in developing language and the intervention inspired by the '30 million gap study' has pushed the parents in the right direction.

[@theproductspecialist]

Agree, I even played music and sermons to my daughter from when my wife pregnant by putting my studio headphones on my wife's tummy. And kept talking while doing things. She has grown up and got her dream job: Fashion Designer she does is prophetically while active in youth ministry going to places, singing, dancing, writing songs, designing special prophetic dresses, and playing music: drums, guitar, bass, keyboard. And for sure, she likes talking. Thank you for sharing this video.

[@agr8tyme]

Yes, indoctrinate them before birth. Bravo.

[@stratusandco]

It's this disappointing that this video was posted 8 years ago and only has 1.2m views, its should have 3 billion views by now, this shouldn't actually be a KZbin video but content taught to each and every health institution and educational facility

[@aia2473]

I remember increasing my vocabulary due to listening to a lot of talk radio. Sadly a lot of it was sort of sad, boring, investigative, heavy stuff - so happy they have podcasts now where there is such a massive diversity of interests!

[@learningstuffwithriverrizk4552]

my boy grew up in Indonesia with an Indonesian mother who spoke to him in Javanese. funny thing was he never picked up a word of Indonesian but has had excellent English skills from a young age. a lot of his "language nutrition" came form online media and his father (ie me) rather than the indonesian world around him

[@yeseniasplace]

I recommend this video to everyone that has kids. I love it and learned also with my nephews and cousins

[@holyddogg7]

Can you say mic drop-I’ve watch this at least half dozen times and been sharing with everybody-Thank you so much

[@malloryhoebelheinrich4203]

Great video,so informative, one thing you completely ignored though is homeschooling! A college education is not all it is made out to be. I am 21 and have owned two thriving businesses for 5 years because my mom and dad were excellent communicators! Homeschooled all the way!

[@jhancykollapalli1556]

S

[@zzzh9160]

Tell us more about your experience please...Thanks a lot for sharing. I am thinking about homeschooling my son.

[@transcender2621]

Yeah it will be interesting to hear from you about your homeschooling experience. Trying to homeschool my kids.

[@imeldakora1300]

This is a so wonderful and inspiring Ted talk. I think talking to our children from the womb and their childhood is the good thing that can happen to their lives. Thank you so much

[@leannbuff2476]

Yes unless you find out your dad sold you for a tax investment he blew instead of fixing me and my pediatric health disparities But I'm 37. So that wasn't that good ya know.

[@robertbasta7239]

Just a thought from my analysis on this video is that the computer era has added to the problem with language development in new norms since a lot of jobs are email based and the mothers don’t talk as nearly as much as they use too while pregnant. I would really like to see a study on this to record the amount of speech is being used for different mothers through out the day and compare to others and the results in spiking autism in this country.

[@coachian.m]

I appreciate the research to support the new babies so we can build a strong foundation for the new babies. My question is what do we do to truly support the 70% of Georgia students who are NOT reading at a 3rd grade reading level?

[@celesteroseberry7180]

Very nicely done. This was a good blend of science, practical solutions, and expert advice. I could not agree more that language nutrition is as critical as food nutrition. Thanks for sharing!

[@laurenastudillo3216]

Love!! A FTM here and I always try to talk to my baby! I read Spanish English books I teach him sign language here and there. I talk to him about what we’re doing and what we can see, I only hope that my sweet boy thrives

[@basemkhourma5163]

Thank you very much Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald

[@mardeahsmith1896]

You are ready a teacher not a doctor alone. Thanks for your clear teaching.

[@sil-educator]

Awesome context. Even patents in poverty who have access to this knowledge can offer their child a vocabulary rich environment by accessing free community resources.

[@alanahtargaryen3742]

yes exactly

[@saturdaysamson]

This video is an eye opening video. I am blessed.

[@EnderJackson]

Claims multiple times that income has no effect. Uses income based trend lines to make a point. Take your kid into the woods. Let them explore, while talking about the environment they find themselves. Develop a pointing game early in childhood. Let their curiosity guide their enlightenment. Don't listen to what some suit tells you what they think your child needs to know and at what level. As long as you keep the fire of curiosity alive the child will continue to strive to understand that which is unknown.

[@carolg7570]

I think her point was that it doesn't cost parents anything to read/communicate with their children. Yes, higher income families are more likely to do it, but reading/communicating has nothing to do with money.

[@g2gCthe]

@Carolina actually it does have alot to do with money. low income family has to work harder and longer, so the time to read/communicate are reduce compare to higher income families.

[@Starcraftghost]

g2gCthe, I agree with you. Many low income families have to take two jobs to make the rent payment, do not have the many conveniences of having the advanced dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, oven, refrigerator. They do not have a lot of options to eat out if they do not feel like cooking. Many have to take public transportation to go from one place to another. It is a choice to go buy a book or food to eat. Taking kids to libraries is time and effort that they do not have time for, which may be time for them to get another job. It is a bad cycle :(

[@EnderJackson]

Yes. The underlying problem to all of societal issues is the loss of buying power to the electorate. Peoples time now holds less value, therefor more time must be sacrificed. More dependence on the state for food, power, transportation, medical care and child care. The intent of which may be well enough but the nefarious actions allowed by the state in the financial markets has turned this country into a bunch of debt slaves incapable of holding onto the family values the country was centered around in the first place. There is no American dream if you have to beg someone to fulfill it. This problem is world wide and effects society in every conceivable way.

[@emagiraldo6853]

this is subjective, you may say that high income families need to direct more time to create and/or sustain hte wealth adn lifestyle, andyu also may say tht working 9-5 leaves little too no room to bond and educate... at the end it comes to a matter of priority. THE SPECTRAL OF HUMANITY DISSECTS TO PRIORITIES.. absolutely there are people with substantially more tools in their belt than others, but some have built more with their hands than their peers with a hammer...

[@Joyann1523]

Ive encouraged my little ones to use words simcr little, every tantrum i told her we use words. Not even 2 and she can speak a full sentences, knows shapes, animals, numbers, letters, amazing what just being with your kids will do.

[@KesiaFixMagnifiSense]

I wish I could press “like” many times. This is one of the best ted talks ever!

[@queenbee7074]

Imagine having her as a grandmother 💖🥰🥰

[@saritapanwar2869]

Wow🌷🌷⚘⚘

[@kurta007]

Thank you Dr. Brenda for sharing real knowledge with others. You energy is astonishing. YOU ROCK! Kiss

[@sharongriffin4908]

As a busker listening, I remember how worker class distrust of 'book learning' meant kids being actively discouraged from reading. Just put 'em on the field, talking code and group thinking. I read, and read books by myself, taught by mum at four.

[@sharongriffin4908]

JAMES GRIFFIN

[@douglaswoosley5136]

MY MOTHER WAS THE TEACHER IN OUR FAMILY SHE TAUGHT ME AND MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS TO READ BEFORE PRESCHOOL.OUR FIRST DAY AT PRESCHOOL WERE READING FIRST GRADE LEVEL BOOKS.

[@jvthegreat4497]

That's awesome lol!

[@saitrinathdubba]

Thank you so much !!! This is a real blessing to have this treasure with us.

[@MultiMusik4]

I've watched a few of these videos and this doctor seems like she'd be such an amazing teacher.

[@finakhan5221]

No baby talk! Babies pic up on more than you know, interact in conversation every time they are awake. Start building a library of books from the good will and the dollar store, Read to them befor bedtime, ask them to pick their favourite book and read it to them. Flash card at the dollar store lay them on the floor point to each one and identify them for him to hear and see the picture as he gets older you can now pick the card and when you ask what is on the picture he will try to say the word.They have the ability to learn 7 languages and musical instruments, sports all before the age of seven.I speak from experience my grandson of 3 1/2 is snowboarding, swimming, golfing, gymnastics, loves to read, has a large vocabulary now learning to skate, he has no fear.

[@lucienovakova5298]

I am a Montessori trained guide 0-3 and all I can say is AMEN to everything you just said, I am also a huge promoter to introduce a sign language to babies and toddlers, just to give them another tool to express themselves, when they do understand the language, but cannot speak yet

[@sanjitmajumdar8200]

I gather lots of information about language nutrition. Thank you ma'am for your great lecture.

[@smithamanidharan5046]

You have a point mam- interact with your child in a healthy way !!!

[@sukamtokamto7053]

I agree with dr. Brenda opinion. It was determined by interaction between parents and children.

[@loveofhealth8351]

But I do want to say. All of that being said (in my previous comment) spending time with your children is the most important thing as they are developing, especially in the early years. So in that she is right! I have two doctors and one teacher as grown children today and they are great people and A wonderful support to our community and still love their parents!

[@angemarie12]

She just described tyre most obvious correlation to income/money that I've ever heard. "Professionals" talk to their kids more?

[@donnaworthy4834]

Early intervention is so important to the child's development and the sooner parents get on board with the idea that they can make a difference the better for the child. So educating the parents is the way to go.

[@atvalle]

Donna Worthy 100% agreed. But milestones can be flexible and not a casting stone for life.

[@Carolmaizy]

My first son spoke in paragraphs at 11 months old but didn't read until mid first grade. My second son started babbling at six months, then stopped. He never crawled much either, but walked at 19 months. At 3 he was evaluated at Boston Children's Hospital. He had some delays and some autistic- like behaviors, but was not labeled autistic. Early Intervention provided play therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy, out patient and in home. He went to special needs preschool and had an IEP in kindergarten. He read at 4 years old, and at 6 years was helping his teachers fix their computer issues. He went on to earn an MCAS scholarship, but still exhibits some autistic-like quirks. I raised my second son as I did my first, language-wise. They are both intelligent but took different paths.

[@pikosetiawan8969]

The most compassionate. Taught the Quran. Create humanity, and taught them SPEECH. Surah Ar Rahman (1-4)

[@hussainanoordeen5754]

I gave my hundred percent of my time to my children. The older two were great students. All three of them were kind, bright n as closest to perfect children. I did not give them toys because I could not afford it. But they read. But as they grew became adults n finished University, they got emotionally messed up. There is no rule. It's karma.

[@nicholasfevelo3041]

University really is messing up a lot of good people.

[@itsmejeremy7]

Does the amount of words spoken matter most or is it a diversified vocabulary that helps most? What if I don’t feel my vocabulary is that great? Would talking a lot still help even without a large vocabulary?

[@YtubeUserr]

She shows how important the 1st few months of a baby are! Absolutely very important!

[@lucyrose679]

I love this video, Im training to be a teacher, and this video is just a friendly reminder on how important interaction and communication is to child development!!!!

[@kls06e]

A child born into poverty, parents, may not dialogue with their children because they are too overwhelmed in poverty...

[@lasinilatu4654]

Although I love this video and her wise lesson, I too thought this is more of first world problems as the poverty have something more serious to engage in.

[@Doctor_Ash]

Great , motivating and inspiring talk Mam.Appreciate the efforts you have brought forth for the development of kids !

[@marypepakiya9290]

Beautifully said. In talking to the baby speak the RIGHT words.

[@cricketchristine2996]

I’ve been at public spaces with my grandchildren, where there are lots of children and their parents, and most of the parents rarely look at or interact with their children. They’re universally on their cell phones.

[@ginnigarritsen9256]

Sad but true.

[@jebijabeenaph6810]

We are living in India. Here our children grow getting enough care from parents especially mother's. Mother never go for job unless the baby is 3. Only those working in Government sectors have to go for job ..... they start working only atleast after the child turns one year old. Relatives will speak to the child often & the child learn more than one language. Only very rarely kids suffer without proper education. They atleast get a advices from elders of what to be done & what not to be done. The slum grown children are more smart than children grown in a comfortable atmosphere. This is my experience.

[@cqrobyn]

I am more interested in the proposition that those in lower socio ecconomic situations do not speak the same language as the professional. So from a social welfare perspective, the ability of those with power, and their ability to effect social control, need to learn the 'others' frame of communication, in order to effect the change they so desperately seek.

[@jennapagano4618]

I think she has a good projection here, but you are right, she is missing the explanation of this social situation. I also think their solution is missing a couple of contextual processes. Mothers who are in this "poverty" group may fall into a lot of other roles making it more difficult to fulfill the task of talking to their children as much as the "professional group." For instance, single parent families with one income are more likely to be in a poverty group, and also have half of the adults talking to children. Furthermore, working labor intensive jobs, odd hours, more hours, and the stress of making ends meet take away opportunities to do so. You can't address the cycle and say, "hey look, you can fix it, all you have to do is A,B, and C like these other people. Let me teach you!" Without considering the barriers to them actually implementing AB&C.

[@karinatampoe2240]

according to my personal experience, children in lower socio economy to be harder focused well on their study coz they have to share the same burden with their's single parent. my sad childhood is a nightmare, but it's sending me eager study in university with my education bachelor be a teacher for early child student improve their capable with love, it helps me throw away my nightmare

[@ninijohannaq]

Poor people are too worry about how to bring food to the table so how they can talk more with their kids, it’s totally understandable

[@isabellezehnder2351]

@@karinatampoe2240}

[@zoeparker6031]

I like her energy😍

[@claudiasena5484]

Muito bom compreender a importância de desenvolver a linguagem precocemente. E hoje, infelizmente, com celular e redes sociais as pessoas interagem menos com as crianças.

[@johnkim7802]

Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald correctly describes how much mental reasoning and brain development occurs during pregnancy and in the first four years of a baby's life. More vocabulary exposure and conversations during this time clearly affects the person for the rest of his or her life. However, she almost sounds as if such is an extremely huge factor in getting people out of poverty and overemphasizes just the vocabulary exposure aspect of cognitive development.

[@kautilyapratapsingh]

superb information, simple and powerful!

[@eimearkennedy8653]

Her point is, from the study, an hour a day, presuming all sets of parents did have that hour to spend with their children. During that hour a day, the parents were not at their 9-5 jobs etc, giving more expensive toys etc, but during that hour one classification of parents spoke 10s of thousands (if I'm correct, that's what she said) of words more to their babies than did another classification. It wasn't about that they didn't have time, in that hour on which the study was based. As for not taking into account the circumstances of the less well off families versus the more well off families, that is what the study showed, by comparing the different classifications it was also accounting for the different life circumstances in deciding what classification to place the families in in the first place....

[@jehold2010ify]

Eimear Kennedy Honestly I have found peer interaction increased my daughter's language. My sitter started watching a two year old when my daughter turns 10 months now at 13 she speaks around 15 words now and is improving every day.

[@hannahlasher4626]

I thought this talk was fantastic. The concepts are excellent!!! I love the idea that this explains why a mom os so compelled to look at her infant and to the baby and make goofy faces. It is natural to help make a baby develop.

[@kathielautenslager4464]

Great information, absolutely needed! I do have a criticism about wic and the food it pays for. It seems to be mostly highly processed food and not any organic foods. I do believe we are what we eat!

[@mchenier4902]

Greatly agree. Have seen and keep selling it to all. Now my great grangchildren. It does make an incredible difference.

[@AndreaRussellwanders]

This woman does not keep in mind that maybe the parents who live at the poverty level speak only 11 million words, rather than the 43 million of the upper class, because those who are in poverty usually work longer hours and therefore do not have the opportunity to speak with their children as often as the privileged upper class. Not only that, but I call BS on the "if you can't read by third grade, you'll fall behind" and if you fall behind, what she is saying, is that you will become a menace to society. I worked with struggling readers at a school in an upper-class society at the third- fourth- and fifth grade level, and they were simply working out how to decode words. It does not equate to a group of people that will menace society. Some children just have a harder time making the connection between sounds and letters, just like some students have a hard time working out numbers in mathematics.

[@kw1030]

Absolutely Andrea, and it's this very empty rhetoric that has states building prisons based on 3rd grade testing scores. smh

[@warmongerism]

Although I agree with her estimates, 42 households are not a large enough sample size to statistically deduce conclusions.

[@Dr.freedom]

But reading at early age to kids was known even prior to the study

[@nawayeayeshwe5340]

excellent talk which is really essential on perfect nurturing children today

[@mimiprice7713]

Being that my two boys were taken from me 3 years ago there's a big age difference at least by 11 years I have a 6-year-old and a 17 year old but anyway I wanted to say I sure hope that they are being read to everyday even if it's in silence the morality of the situation will help

[@user-nx8nh1dk7n]

Initiated to be good with each other. Teach values and morals

[@gypsydayle7083]

That experiment made me cry omg..

[@niauge]

Poverty plays a big role in language. Telling people what to do and not showing them way to enrich their personal life doesn't change anything.

[@OliveraK]

I do this with my animals. They are responding. They are adorable.

[@BrandyMiller]

I think the reason we aren't solving the problem of poverty is that not enough people are interested in asking the poor for their input. Poverty's one of those things you just can't get from the outside looking in.

[@hopewharton2299]

Brandy Miller I agree.

[@misstaveras8028]

MY STORY WOULD BE DIFFERENT IF WOULD OF LEFT THE HOSPITAL WITH A MILESTONE PAMPHLET OR THE IMPORTANCE OF TALKING TO MY CHILD. AT hospital they more worry about you suing them then really informing you, they are very vague in their answers. My daughter was diagnosed with speech delay at 27 months. I felt so guilty so shameful about it but then I thought about it again: what wouldn't I give my child? Answer is i would give her everything. I f i would know, if would have a foot print of how to do what am supposed to do I would have had done it. Unfortunately i happen to be at a bad mental place and a VERY slow and LONG recovery I definitely needed to hear all this. I feel guilty for being misinformed. Thanks God things are going better. She is progressing very fast.

[@Soapandwater6]

I agree. The hospital or pediatrician there should give this kind of info to the new parents. Babies don't come with instructions, but a pamphlet about the importance of talking to your baby would be helpful to everyone. Good luck with your baby's progress!

[@krinka1458]

I am not convinced that this is pure causation and not simply a very predictable correlation. ? I'd like some comment on that

[@marisa9921]

What a great Ted talk!

[@pete9688]

Not sure about those stats... I have several friends who are “professionals “ and because of their work , they spend minimal time with their kids! The kids spend more time with the nanny. Some of them speak better Spanish now than English! 😳

[@zzzh9160]

This point came to my mind and I wondered

[@valquiriapereira9749]

The nanny probably interacted well with the children

[@pete9688]

@@valquiriapereira9749 a Little too much.

[@goodwolf866]

Also autism delays language and it occurs at the same rate across the socio-economic scale.

[@digimom82]

A house keeper for the nursing home my mother is at, has two boys, single mom. Her oldest is now a freshman at Harvard studying Nuclear Engineering on total scholarship. So poor does not always equate with poor knowledge. I have seen this many times. Many times but not always, it is laziness on the parent's end. No matter the color and sometimes even the wealth of the family.

[@shamsghori2937]

You're right about the laziness of the parent thing

[@mdidavi]

I think it is often how they were raised. That's why parent education is so important. It's also important to work toward removing racial and cultural biases.

[@sil-educator]

So true. Though we can do more in equity and resources, parent education is key!

[@tierna5372]

It's not even just laziness. With poorer families, a lot of the time the parents need to work multiple jobs. They physically can't be home to communicate with their child while working to provide shelter and food. And when they do have time at home, can you blame them for being too exhausted to interact so energetically with their child? More wealthy families can afford to take parental leave, or they can afford professional nannies or daycares to do all this interacting on their behalf. A poor family rearing a child that ends up successful like that is very much the exception to the norm, unfortunately.

[@funprints1]

Professional family vs Welfare family and yet it has nothing to do with money? 😊🙃

[@AnnaVelvet]

I thought the same thing.. Of course it is about money she even reaffirmed it 🤔🤔

[@mariz4790]

Its more about the time, welfare families tend to spend longer hours at work (due to taking more work or simply because) thus decreasing the amount of time with their children. Professional families have a set amount of time in their work thus they have a set time for work and family. Of course, I'm speaking stereotypically. It is still a case to case basis but this is what was generally observed. This is what I've gathered from my professor at least.

[@user-gk3lu1gg9t]

Additionally, professionals are more likely to be better educated and have better recognition of their social responsibility to raise a functioning citizen. Probably more likely to have a broader vocabulary as well.

[@kaitlinjohn3625]

There also might be a correlation between professional parents/ planned familys vs welfare parents/ unplanned family. So maybe professionals have spent time reflecting on the choices and what their goals as parents vs welfare parents just trying to get through? I donno, just a thought and also obviously a large generalization.

[@paolaalexandra483]

Nothing to do with money, everything to do with education. You can give a million dollars to an uneducated person and they'll be broke in a month.

[@atifadeshamukhya4668]

Eye opening!

[@kingdavidcohen3935]

God bless this woman! I needed this information!

[@evam.8375]

Thank you so much for this talk ♥️

[@dulceterapias]

Que maravilha! Ainda bem que fiz isso com meu filho.

[@Marie13368]

Thank you , this is a powerful conference for my students of Foundations of Development and Literacy.

[@mira6010]

How about multiple languages at home, is it good or bad? In our family we speak English, Mandarin and grandma speaks in dialect.

[@keithhoward4059]

Thank You Doc. Had no idea . I always knew hard wiring but not all these things

[@suzyr23]

So what I believe is that people in poverty are at work 40 hours a week or even overtime and trying to get their babies out of poverty and don’t have enough time to talk 2,000 words an hours. Sad to think about actually

[@houloudini]

You say it has nothing to do with other factors but that’s short sighted because all those other things effect the quality of care the parents provide completing the cycle.

[@sucinahaidar116]

As about laguage nutrition it is undoubtedly important to have interactions and exposing children to language so their brain gets developed but doing so to make a child able to graduate from a high school isn't a key to success without graduating u can still be successful by all means ....

[@staceykester1862]

Excellent video and lesson.