It is so important to identify and treat speech and language delays as early as possible. If you have any concerns regarding your child's speech and language development, it is best to reach out to a speech-language pathologist to assess your child's development.
As a general guideline, below are some appropriate developmental milestones to consider. Children typically develop the skills by the end of the age range.
Birth-1 year old:
Turns and looks in the direction of sounds
Looks when you point
Responds to own name
Understands words for familiar objects and people
Starts to respond to simple words and phrases (e.g., "no")
Participates in social games with gestures (e.g., peek-a-boo)
Babbles long strings of sounds (e.g., bababa)
Uses gestures functionally (e.g., waving bye, reaching for "up," shaking head no)
Says "mama" or "dada" meaningfully and exclamations like "uh oh"
Begins to imitate familiar words
1-2 years old:
Understands "come here" and "sit down"
Identifies several body parts
Follows 1-step commands during play (e.g., "roll the ball")
Understands some early prepositions (e.g., "in" and "on")
Understands familiar action words
Points to pictures in a book when named
Uses single words frequently
Imitates/ begins to spontaneously use 2-word combinations (e.g., "drink milk")
Asks for "more"
Refers to self by name
Asks simple wh- questions (e.g., "What's that?" "Where's doggy?")
Uses social words (e.g., bye, hi, thank you, please)
Uses a variety of consonant sounds (e.g., p, b, m, h, w)
2-3 years old
Follows 2-step related and unrelated commands
Performs action words on request
Understands early pronouns
Understands early descriptive words
Understands opposites (e.g., go/stop, big/little, up/down)
Comprehends number concepts (e.g., one and two)
Recognizes family members' names
Identifies objects by function
Uses location words (e.g., in, on, under)
Refers to self by name then pronoun by ~27-30 months
Asks for help when needed
Uses 3-word phrases
Uses negation
Uses plurals (e.g., 2 socks)
Uses present progressive -ing (e.g., crying)
Answers early "wh-" questions
Holds up fingers to tell age
Responds to greetings consistently
Helps put things away
Uses k, g, f, t, d, and n in words
3-4 years old
Understands more pronouns
Follows 3-step directions
Understands more complex prepositions
Begins to comprehend When, Why and How Questions
Understands the concepts same/different
Expresses ideas and feelings
Most people understand what your child is saying
Uses articles
Uses possessives
Uses more pronouns
Uses more verb forms
Tells stories
Talks about what happened during the day using about 4 sentences at a time
Participates in rhyming games
This is not an exhaustive list and a single indicator does not necessarily mean your child needs speech and language therapy. If you have any concerns, act early and call us today!