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Typical Language Developmental Milestones

Children grow and develop speech and language skills at different rates. While children are individual in their rate of progress; each will follow a set of predictable milestones along the way. You may want to seek out an initial consultation/ evaluation if your child isn't meeting the milestones for speech/ language listed below.

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Keep in mind that each child is unique and develops skills differently. 

Birth- 3 months:

Most infants will:

  • Respond to speech by looking at the speaker

  • Respond differently to the voice of a parent than to other voices

  • React to changes in a speaker's tone, pitch, volume, and intonation

  • Respond differently to their home language than to another language

  • Communicate with bodily movements, by crying, babbling, and laughing

  • Attempt to imitate vowel sounds

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3 months- 6 months:

Babies love to have "conversations."

  • Exchange sounds, facial expressions, or gestures with a parent or caregiver

  • Listen to conversations

  • Repeat some vowel and consonant sounds

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6 months- 9 months:
Vocalizations increase.

  • Begin repetitive babbling (deaf children also start to babble with their hands)

  • Associate gestures with simple words and two-word phrases, like "hi" and "bye-bye"

  • Use vocal and non-vocal communication to express interest and influence others

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9 months- 12 months:
Children are getting ready to talk. Around the first birthday, language production greatly increases.

  • Understand the names of familiar people and objects

  • Show their understanding by responding with body language (pointing) and facial expressions

  • Say a few words

  • Understand simple repetitive commands, such as: responding to a firm "no" by stopping what they are doing

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Resources: 

www.asha.org

www.pbs.org

www.proedinc.com 

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1- 2 years:
Begin to learn many new words and use simple phrases. 

  • Understand many words, as well as simple phrases and directions ("Drink your milk")

  • Follow 2 step simple directions

  • Respond correctly (mostly pointing or showing) when asked simple "where?" questions

  • Say a few words clearly, along with a few dozen additional words that family members can understand.

  • Will correctly understand a few prepositions such as "on," "in," or "under."

  • Many can say "more" and "all gone."

  • From about 18 months, begin learning about 9 new words a day

  • Use "my" or "mine" to indicate possession; begin to use "me," "I," and "you"

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2-3 years: 
Both understanding and use of language develop more rapidly at this stage. 

  • Join familiar words into phrases

  • Begin to use adverbs and adjectives

  • Point to common objects when they are named

  • Name objects based on their description

  • Respond to "what?" and "where?" questions

  • Enjoy listening to stories 

  • Talk about simple events that happened that day 

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3-4 years:
Language becomes more complex. 

  • Understood by familiar and unfamiliar listeners, despite some sound errors

  • Use and understand sentences

  • Use more complex grammar, such as plurals and past tense

  • Understand sentences involving time concepts (for example, "Grandma is coming tomorrow") 

  • Understand size comparisons such as big and small

  • Follow 2-4 step related directions

  • Sing a song and repeat at least one nursery rhyme

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4-5 years: 
Use language to converse and exchange information. 

  • Retell a story (but may confuse facts)

  • Combine thoughts into one sentence

  • Ask "when?" "how?" and "why?" questions

  • Use words like "can," "will," "should," and "might"

  • Properly use "because" and "so"

  • Follow three unrelated commands appropriately

  • Understand comparatives like loud, louder, loudest

  • Listen to long stories (but may misinterpret the facts)

  • Understand sequencing of events when clearly explained (for example, "First we wash our hands, then we sit at the table, and finally we eat our lunch") 

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Typical Speech Sound

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Developmental Milestones

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Children develop at different rates, so there can be a lot of difference from one child to the next and across gender. The sounds listed under each age are typically acquired by 90% of children.

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3 years old: 

ALL vowel sounds

/p/: pie

/m/: mom

/w/: want

/h/: house

/b/: baby

/n/: no

/d/: dog

/y/: yes

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4 years old:

/k/: kick

/g/: go

/t/: toy

/f/: fast 

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5 years old:

/ng/: ring

/j/: jump

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6 years old:

/sh/: sheep

/l/: lion

/v/: vet

/ch/: chair

l-blends: blue

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7 -8 years old:

/s/: sun

/z/: zebra

s-blends: swim

/th/ voiced: that

/r/: run

r-blends: green

/th/ unvoiced: thin

/zh/: beige

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