Ming argues that speech-delayed children need verbs first, not nouns. Many lack action words, which limits what they can express. Start with two- to three-word phrases like "mommy go" or "baby eat" depending on where the child is developmentally.
What a lot of children are lacking is actually the verbs. So what happens is that when children cannot express themselves properly, it's because they don't have enough action words. And that's why, if you watch a lot of our videos, we always talk about, oh, can you teach your child some verbs? Is this something that you can do? You have to keep it at your child's language level. You shouldn't be talking in full on sentences with a nonverbal child because it's pretty impossible for them to understand each and every word, and it's hard to pick it out and link it to a concept in the world. If a child is speaking at single word level, you want to do at two to three word phrases. If your child is talking at two to three phrases and a little telegraphic meaning, the grammar isn't that great. What you want to do is to start talking in full sentences, but a little shorter if they speak in full sentences. What you want to do now is to make sure that you expand a little bit on the semantics and the meaning.
