Komunikacja niemowląt – wyznacznik rozwoju poznawczego

Abstrakt

The subject of the study was the development of communication in infancy, described on the basis of longitudinal participant observation and video recordings of children’s behaviour during stimulation. The aim was to demonstrate the impact of the stimulation techniques used on the emergence of expected developmental stages. The growing number of infants exhibiting communication difficulties necessitates very early diagnosis and the immediate implementation of developmental stimulation. The text discusses infants’ primary skills and the specific role of the amygdala in establishing eye contact and speech learning. The timing of the start of stimulation significantly influences the formation of connections between subcortical and cortical structures, which determine the development of communication and social behaviour. Contemporary knowledge regarding the formation of early communicative behaviours has enabled the development of new techniques for stimulating cognitive function. The exercises involved combining different sensory modalities – hearing, sight, touch, movement, taste and smell—in order to activate all areas of the cerebral cortex and the cerebellum, which processes motor plans, including those related to articulation. The techniques used primarily comprised auditory language programmes (vowels, syllables, onomatopoeic expressions, words and sentences) recorded by an actress, photographs of people’s faces uttering vowels, as well as object categorisation exercises and pattern imitation patterns.

In summary, the stages of speech development in children diagnosed at an early stage and receiving therapeutic intervention are presented. Infants who had not reached the expected developmental milestones, through the use of exercises carried out at a table and during daily activities, not only returned to the correct developmental path but also mastered skills typically seen in older children, thereby building their high intellectual potential.