infants & toddler therapy
Late Talkers: Speech & Language Delays
Infants are born communicators. They know instantly how to get what they want or need through crying. As a parent, you quickly become adept at learning the subtle differences in your baby’s cries, and are able to satisfy their need to be fed, changed, or comforted.
IS Your Child STill Not Talking?
Early Language Development
As your baby grows, his/her needs and wants become more complex and, as a result, a more complex means of communication is needed. Infants begin to understand that the gestures and sounds they make have meanings associated with them, and using these new means of communication can get them exactly what they want.
Instead of crying when they are hungry, they may say “ba-ba” to draw your attention to their need for milk. They soon discover that using sounds and words is more efficient than crying. This small step is one of many in typical speech and language development milestones.
Every child is unique and develops at their own pace. If your child does not talk or appear to have reached expected milestones by a certain age, it does not necessarily mean that he/she will have difficulty with their speech and language development.
We offer comprehensive Speech Assessments to determine if your child would benefit from a client-focused therapy program that involves you, the parent or guardian, every step of the way.
We’ve helped hundreds of kids improve their speech & communication and we can help your child, too!
At 6 months
By 6 months, your child should typically...
- Make eye contact
- Startle to loud sounds
- Quiet down in response to a voice
- Have a social smile
- Respond to their name
- Make gurgling sounds
- Babble, usually with the same syllable repeated, such as “mamamama”
At 9 months
By 9 months, your child should typically...
- Understand “no”
- Distinguish different emotions in the tone of speaker’s voice
- Turn to look at new sounds
- Laugh or squeal when happy
- Use a wider variety of consonants when babbling (usually 3-4)
- Play peek-a-boo
At 12 months
By 1 year, your child should typically...
- Understand 3-50 words
- Respond to simple directions
- Imitate speech sounds
- Typically use 1 word (or part of a word) for names of familiar people, objects, games or routines
- Produce long strings of gibberish with appropriate intonation
- Gesture, for example, shaking head for “no” or waving
- Be aware of intention associated with vocalizations
Your child may have Delayed Speech if he/she...
- Is not saying “mama” or “dada”
- Does not gesture
- Does not babble with changes in their intonation
- Does not respond to his/her name
- Does not to point to items
At 18 months
By 18 months, your child should typically...
- Follow simple directions
- Identify a few body parts
- Respond to yes/no questions
- Express approximately 50 words (usually nouns) although it may not be clear
- Use a mix of babbling and sounds to communicate
- Start to use 2-word utterances
Your child may have Delayed Speech if he/she...
- Is not saying “mama” or “dada”
- Does not gesture
- Does not babble with changes in their intonation
- Does not respond to his/her name
- Does not to point to items
Q.
Is my child too young for Speech Services?
Parents have a great intuition about their child’s development. If you have any concerns about their progress in the areas of speech and language, it’s never too early to speak with our Speech Therapists. We can provide you with information on developmental milestones as well as strategies to help facilitate speech and language development.
At 24 months
By 2 years old, your child should typically...
- Point to pictures in a book when named
- Point to body parts with good consistency
- Express 200-300 words
- Use speech that is about 50% intelligible
- Use a wider variety of consonants
Your child may have Delayed Speech if he/she...
- says less than 100 words
- does not imitate actions or words
- is not putting together 2 words
- does not respond to simple directions
- does not engage in pretend play with dolls or by themselves
At 30 months
By 30 months, your child should typically...
- Begin to understand what, who, where questions
- Engage in symbolic play (pretend play)
- Be able to talk about objects that are not immediately visible
- Overgeneralize past tense verbs used (“I walkeded over there”)
- Begin to use plurals
Your child may have Delayed Speech if he/she...
- Is not understood by family members
- Is not using verbs/action words
At 36 months
By 3 years old, your child should typically...
- Understand over 1000 words
- Follow 2-step commands
- Use and understand “why” questions
- Use speech that is approximately 75% intelligible
- Have an expressive vocabulary of around 1000 words
- Use simple sentences
- Use pronouns,: “I” “you” “me”
- Use prepositions: in, on, under
- Start to use the word “not”
Your child may have Delayed Speech if he/she...
- Is not usually understood by strangers
- Does not use pronouns
- Does not put words into short phrases
- Is not interacting with other children
- Appears to have difficulty initiating speech or grimaces when trying to make sounds (also see Childhood Apraxia)
At 48 months
By 4 years old, your child should typically...
- Follow 3-step commands
- Use words and language to express different things – requests, directives, ideas, etc.
- Use and understand “when” and “how” questions
- Tell and retell stories
- Use props and imaginary plays
- Start to use complex sentences
Your child may have Delayed Speech if he/she...
- Does not ask questions
- Does not use pronouns correctly
- Is using unclear speech
- Appears to have difficulty initiating speech or grimaces when trying to make sounds (also see Childhood Apraxia)
At 60 months
By 5 years old, your child should typically...
- Have an expressive vocabulary of approximately 2000 words
- Have knowledge of sound-letter correspondence begins
- Use complex sentences more consistently
- Be able to break words into syllables
- Produce most consonants correctly, but errors /s, r, l/ and TH may persist
Your child may have Delayed Speech if he/she...
- Is not using sentences
- Is not able to tell a simple story
- Is not using consonants consistently
- Appears to have difficulty initiating speech or grimaces when trying to make sounds (also see Childhood Apraxia)
Online therapy instead?
Staying safe and socially distanced is the thing to do in 2022. If you’d like to improve your child’s speech in the safety of your home, then Virtual or Online Therapy is for you. We can conduct their Speech Assessment and Therapy Sessions over a secure video conferencing platform. Payments, practice aids, and videos would all be exchanged online – no hand sanitizer needed! Click below to learn more.