Milestones In Speech
One of the greatest joys of parenthood is when I your child says their first
word. It is the beginning of their journey of experimentation with sounds, words
and sentences. This can also be a time of anxiety for some parents and
grandparents. It can often result from comments such as "Isn't he talking yet?"
or "I can't understand him and his cousin who's the same age, speaks quite
clearly."
It is important to remember that children develop speech and language at
different rates. Milestones provide both a guide and a means to encourage your
child. Any concerns parents have with regard to their child's speech can be
discussed with the Child Health Nurse or a Speech
Pathologist.
Milestones 0 - 6 months
Receptive Skills-Communication
- Responds to sound and voice
- Turns head in direction of voice
- Smiles when spoken to
- Laughs in response to a happy voice
Expressive Skills- Speech
- Repeats some sounds said to them
- Cries to express pain, hunger or discomfort
- Begins to babble using sounds such as ma ma, da da
Milestones 6 - 12 months
Receptive Skills-Communication
- Understands and responds to own name
- Understands 'no' and safety sounds such as 'hot'
- Shakes head and understands 'yes' and 'no' though not always reliably.
- Follows simple instructions
Expressive Skills-Speech
- Initiates lots of sounds
- babbles using longer groups of sounds
- Copies adult speech by varying pitch.
- 1st words appear
- Names familiar objects
Milestones 18 months - 2 years
Receptive Skills-Communication
- Understands about 300words
- Identifies 5 body parts
- Enjoys listening to stories
- Follows 2 part instructions e.g. put your cup on the table
Expressive Skills-Speech
- Jargons i.e. strings sounds together with adult inflection
- Vocab 50-100 words or more. Not always understood by strangers.
- Begins to combine nouns and verbs e.g. Car going Mum work.
Milestones 2 - 3 years
Receptive Skills-Communication
- Understands action words e.g. run, jump, eat
- Points to pictures in book when named
- Understands most things said to them
- Has a receptive vocab of 500-900 words.
Expressive Skills-Speech
- Speech is mostly intelligible
- Says full name and asks many questions
- Vocab increases to 50-250 words
- Grammatical errors occur frequently
- Knows some nursery rhymes
Milestones 3 - 4 years
Receptive Skills-Communication
- Understands plurals, different pronouns e.g. his/her, adjectives
(hot/cold)
- Listening skills improve and begins to 'really' understand what is being
said.
- Understands use of objects e.g. knife for cutting
- Answers more complex question
Expressive Skills-Speech
- Sentences continue to improve although some errors still exist.
- Speech improves but some problems with sounds e.g. sh / ch / s
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