SHORT TAKES : Girl Speaks; New Kids Get Credit

DUNDALK, Md. —  The New Kids on the Block, the pop group with the hit album and video “Hangin’ Tough,” inspired a hearing-impaired toddler to begin speaking this fall, the little girl’s mother said.

Dolores Watts said her daughter fell behind in her development after ear infections hurt her hearing at age 11 months. “She couldn’t speak in sentences or even say Mommy and Daddy correctly,” Dolores Watts said.

Then, in late October, the 2-year-old saw a New Kids video at a birthday party. She stared at it, danced to it, had a temper tantrum when it was turned off. And the next morning, she woke up and said her first sentence, “Mommy, I Want Joe.”

Joe McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, Danny Wood and Jordan and Jonathan Knight are the five Boston teen-agers in the band known for its clean image, anti-drug activities and the song “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever).”

Dolores Watts said that New Kids’ music has been playing nonstop in her apartment and that her daughter has learned some of the words. The Sun in Baltimore interviewed Dolores Watts in connection with the band’s scheduled concerts at the Baltimore Arena today and Thursday.