What Should I Do: My Toddler Says “Eh” Instead of the Word
Does your toddler blurt out sounds like “eh” or “uh” or grunt instead of saying the word?
Sometimes when young children are excited by something in their environment, they resort to crying out visceral sounds rather than retrieving the word necessary to thoughtfully convey their intention or idea. These meaningless sounds may occur more frequently with children who have language delays and disorders because it’s easier for them to make the sound “eh” or “uh” than to say the word.
One time I was working with two parents and their adorable toddler.
This little guy’s vocabulary was nicely expanding and he was beginning to combine two words together. This was exciting because our goal was to increase two word combinations.
One way to increase word combinations is to emphasize a variety of words – especially verbs because they drive sentence formulation. I write about the importance of stressing different types of words (e.g. actions, and location words) in my book, My Toddler’s First Words: A Step-By-Step Guide to Jump-start, Track, and Expand Your Toddler’s Language.
As this bright little guy’s language was progressing, he fell into the habit of saying “Mommy eh” or “Daddy eh”. Usually, he said this while simultaneously pointing to the respective parent or giving the object or toy to one of them in hopes they'll take a turn in the play.
So, I made these recommendations to Johnny’s (fake name) parents:
“Next time Johnny says “Daddy eh” or “Mommy eh”, I would like you to:
1. Ponder what Johnny is thinking or trying to say. If you’re NOT paying attention to the actions leading up to his utterance, then you’ll probably not be able to make an educated guess as to what he is thinking or trying to say. Thus, paying attention to what he’s doing will greatly help.
2. Then, say what you think he is thinking - say the word that he should say instead of "eh". For instance, if he gives you the puzzle piece and says, “Mommy, eh”, you can say something like, “Mommy put in” or “Mommy help” or “Mommy do”. This way you are repeating back part of what he has said (e.g. "Mommy") and adding to it. Consistently providing Johnny the missing word will be extremely helpful!
After I mentioned these suggestions, Johnny’s parents were so pleased because they hadn't known what to do when Johnny used these empty filler words. They said, “I’m glad you told us that because we weren’t really sure how to respond when he talks like that.”
I had been coaching these parents to use various language modeling and elicitation techniques and they were doing a fantastic job! But, sometimes such moments organically present themselves enabling you to address something that may be obvious to one person but not another.
Lastly, as I reflect back on this moment, do you know what I should have done BEFORE presenting my suggestions?
I should have asked Johnny’s parents, “Why do you think he says “Daddy eh” or “Mommy eh?” I missed an awesome opportunity to gain insight into what his parents were thinking and overlooked a chance to have had them explored a potential solution.
“The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.” Mark Van Doren