Signs your child's speech and language development is on track
What parents should look out for in their children's language development
8:12 AM
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Speech and language are essential parts of every child’s development.
Language development impacts your child’s social interactions, behavior and academic skills.
So, how can you determine if your child's speech and language development is on track?
Early on, babies like to make sounds of their own. As they get older, they learn to mimic the sounds they hear.
Milestones that demonstrate normal speech development include:
| Age | Language Level |
| Birth | Cries |
| 2-3 months | Coos in response to you, smiles |
| 6 months | Babbles, turns and looks at new sounds |
| 8 months | Responds to name, pats self in mirror |
| 10 months | Shouts to attract attention, says a syllable repeatedly |
| 12 months | Says 1-2 words; recognizes name; imitates familiar sounds; points to objects |
| 12-17 months | Understands simple instructions, imitates familiar words, understands “no,” uses “mama” “dada” and a few other words |
| 18 months | Uses 10-20 words, including names, starts to combine 2 words “all gone,” “bye-bye mama,” uses words to make wants known “up” “all done” or “more;” knows body parts |
| 2 years | Says 2-3 word sentences; has >50 words, asks “what’s this” and “where’s my” vocabulary is growing; identifies body parts, names pictures in book, forms some plurals by adding “s” |
| 2 ½ years | Gives first name; calls self “me” instead of name; combines nouns and verbs; has a 450 word vocabulary; uses short sentences; matches 3 to 4 colors, knows big and little; likes to hear same story repeated |
| 3 years | Can tell a story; sentence length of 3 to 4 words; vocabulary of about 1000 words; knows last name, name of street, several nursery rhymes, can sing songs |
| 4 years | Sentence length of 4 to 5 words; uses past tense; identifies colors, shapes; asks many questions like “why?” and “who?” Can speak of imaginary conditions “I hope” Uses following sounds correctly: b, d, f, g, h, m, n, ng, t, w, y (as in yes) |
If your child isn’t meeting these milestones, talk with your pediatrician.
The first step is to get your child’s hearing checked.
Even if they seem to hear just fine, kids are experts at picking up visual cues to get by.
It’s important to catch hearing loss early so that treatment can begin as soon as possible.
Tips for supporting your child’s speech and language development
Start talking to your child at birth. Even newborns benefit from hearing speech.
This is why it's important to respond to your baby’s coos and babbling. Another tip is to play simple games with your baby like peek-a-boo and patty-cake.
Talk to your child a lot, telling them what you are doing as you do it is helpful.
Read books aloud to your child. Ask a librarian for books that are age appropriate for your child. If your baby loses interest in the text, just talk about the pictures.
You can also sing to your child and provide them with music. Learning new songs helps your child learn new words, and uses memory skills, listening skills, and expression of ideas with words.
Use gestures along with words and don’t ever force your child to speak.
Another helpful strategy is to expand on what your child says. For example, if your child says, “Elmo,” you can say, “You want Elmo!”
Describe for your child what they are doing, feeling and hearing throughout the day.
Be sure to listen to your child and look at them when they talk to you. Also, it's important to give them time to respond. It may feel like an eternity, but count to 5, or even 10, before filling the silence.
Parents should encourage storytelling and sharing information.
Play with your child one-on-one often , and talk about the toys and games while you're playing.
Plan family trips and outings. Your new experiences give you something interesting to talk about before, during and after the outing. This is also a good opportunity to look at family photos and talk about them with your child.
Ask your child lots of questions, but don’t criticize their grammar mistakes. Instead, just model good grammar yourself.
It's beneficial to follow your child’s lead, so you are doing activities that hold their interest as you talk.
Lastly, have your child play with kids whose language is a little better than theirs so they can learn.
What causes speech and language problems?
There are several reasons speech and language problems can occur in children.
Some reasons include:
Developmental speech and language disorders
These are a common reason for speech and language problems in kids.
Learning disorders are caused by the brain working differently. Your child may have trouble producing speech sounds, using spoken language to communicate or understanding what other people say.
Speech and language problems are often the earliest sign of a learning disability.
Hearing loss
This is often overlooked, even though it can actually be easily identified.
If your child is speech/language delayed, their hearing should be tested.
Extreme environmental deprivation
If a child is neglected or abused and doesn't hear others speaking, they won't learn to speak.
Prematurity
This can lead to many kinds of developmental delays, including speech/language problems.
This describes a problem with decoding speech sounds.
Fortunately, this can improve with speech and language therapy.
Neurological problems
Conditions like cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, and traumatic brain injury can affect the muscles needed for speaking.
Autism affects communication. Speech, language and communication problems are often an early sign of autism.
Apraxia of speech
This is a specific speech disorder in which a child has difficulty in sequencing and executing speech movements.
Selective mutism
This condition is when a child will not talk at all in certain situations, and it's often present in school settings.
How to tell if your child has a language problem or is just "late-bloomer"
It can be difficult for a parent to tell whether a child is a late bloomer, or if they have hearing loss, an expressive language disorder or other underlying cause of speech delay.
A trained specialist will be able to help you determine if your child is experiencing speech or language delays.
The earlier your child gets help, the greater their progress will be.
And if they turn out to be a late bloomer, the extra attention to their speech will not hurt them in any way.
Treatment for speech and language delays
It’s important to identify speech/language problems early, so your child can begin treatment, and it should begin as soon as possible.
Research shows that kids know a lot about language long before the first word is ever said.
If your child needs treatment, it should be developmentally appropriate and individualized.
Your child’s treatment team might include a doctor, an audiologist, a speech-language pathologist, an occupational therapist and/or a social worker.
Non-verbal ways to communicate with children
Children who are nonverbal, or not communicating well enough due to hearing loss, autism, apraxia, or similar problems, can use other methods of communication.
These include sign language, the Picture Exchange Communication System and Augmentative and Alternative Communication.
Recommended reading:
- The Late Talker, by Marilyn Agin, Lisa Geng, and Malcolm Nicholl.
- My Toddler Talks: Strategies and Activities to Promote Your Child's Language Development, by Kimberly Scanlon
Reviewed and updated by Sara Laule, MD
Updated by Sydney Ryckman, MD, February 2022
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