Barmer Significantly more speech disorders registered in school children

About every eighth child in Germany has language problems
Doctors are finding language development disorders in more and more pre-school and school children. Such disorders can severely affect the child's development. Those affected should therefore get help as soon as possible.

Every eighth child in Germany has language deficits
According to an extrapolation of the health insurance Barmer GEK in Germany around every eighth child has language problems. As the health insurance fund writes in a communication, in 2015 about 715,000 children between the ages of five and 14 who were legally insured were diagnosed with language development disorders. In 2011 there were 648,000 children.

More and more children in Germany have language disorders. There are both medical and social causes for this. Experts recommend parents to read aloud to their young children. (Image: contrastwerkstatt / fotolia.com)

Development is impaired
The proportion thus rose within four years from 9.8 to twelve percent. According to the health insurance, 441,000 more children than girls (274,000) suffered from language deficits in 2015.

"Speech disorders can impair and delay the development of a child. The later the help comes, the more likely it is that it does not learn to speak properly, "said Barmer GEK CEO, Prof. Dr. Ing. Christoph Straub.

According to Swiss experts, a limited language development in children can also trigger strong aggression.

Often the language development normalizes in the following years
Although many children require speech therapy, Straub warned against automatically treating any supposedly affected child. For many of them, language development normalizes in the following years.

"Whether and how a child is treated, parents should decide together with expert doctors," said the chief of the cash.

Speech therapies rose sharply
According to an AOK analysis, the prescription of speech therapy for children has increased by a quarter over the past decade.

"Especially boys are therapeutically supported in their age-appropriate speech and language development. For the six-year-old boys, this means one in four, "writes the Scientific Institute of the AOK (WIdO) on the occasion of the publication of the current Remedies Report 2016.

However, "even if speech therapies can help to overcome deficiencies in the child's environment, the effectiveness and preventative measures in kindergartens and schools as well as in the home should not be underestimated. This can prevent developmental problems in the early years, "explained Helmut Schröder, Deputy Managing Director of WidO.

Experts often recommend giving more importance to reading aloud. It strengthens language development and family ties.

Medical and social causes
The Association of Pediatricians (BVKJ) also observed that language deficits are increasing. Dr. Hermann Josef Kahl, Federal Press Spokesman of the BVKJ, explained in a message on the website "kinderaerzte-im-netz.de": "We have to differentiate between medical and social causes."

Medical reasons include, for example, licking, licking or hearing problems.

According to the experts, however, social causes such as a lack of German language skills of children with foreign roots are much more common today. Or parents who did not speak too well with their offspring. "We are usually harassed by parents to send their children to the speech therapist. Often, however, we see the parents as the duty first, "says Kahl. (Ad)