SPEECH
The age at which the child begins to talk varies with individuals and also with circumstances and environment. Girls on the average will learn to talk earlier than boys; the average is about two months earlier. The average child begins to say such words as mamma and papa a little before one year of age. Other simple and easy words are learned until by the second year he is putting words together. How early a child learns to talk depends to a great extent upon the amount of time given him by adults in trying to teach him. The words that he learns depend largely on what is taught at the beginning. The reason for the average child learning to say papa first is largely due to the efforts of the mother who induces the child to say this word; then naturally an effort is made to get the child to say mamma and from this word attention is directed to any pets there may be in the family. Then the names of objects are learned. Verbs are usually next learned then adverbs and adjectives. Following these in order are the conjunctions, prepositions, and articles. Personal pronouns are the last to be learned.
Children who are permitted to associate with other children will usually learn to talk earlier than those who are reared alone. If the child has not learned to talk at two years of age he may be mentally deficient; or failure to talk may be the result of being deaf or some other incoördination of the vocal apparatus may exist. As soon as a child is discovered to be mute he should have immediate chiropractic attention. Many such cases are on record which show excellent results obtained through adjustments.