The Hanen Centre | Speech and Language Development for Children

What Parents Need to Know

We’ve created a resource page just for parents to give them the important information they need about the warning signs of language delay and the importance of getting help early.

Click here to learn more.

What Parents Need to Know includes:

Starting early: why it’s so important
Warning signs of language delay
Taking action now
Helpful videos, articles, and parents’ stories

Featured Article

Which Books are Best? How the Type of Book Affects Children’s Language Learning

Can electronic books promote language and literacy as well as paper books? Do moving parts in a book help children learn or are they distracting? Do the types of pictures in a book affect what a child learns? Find out what the research says. Read more.

In the News

Unplugged: New Recommendations about Media Use from the American Academy of Pediatrics

Many babies and toddlers under the age of two spend a significant amount of time watching “educational” programming or videos. But does watching such programming really help children learn? New recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics suggest that parents should re-think the amount of time their toddler spends in front of the television…

Read on

Tips for Parents

As a parent, you want to know how to help your child develop the best possible language and literacy skills. So we've developed a series of practical tips to help you do just that.

They are based on the most current research and are designed to be used with young children in everyday situations.

Choose the group of tips that corresponds best to your child's current stage of communication development:

Tips for parents of young children who communicate

without words.

Tips for parents of children who have just started talking.

Tips for parents of children who talk in sentences.