When to Seek Help

We strongly recommend that you seek help from a Speech Pathologist if your child:

By 12 months

  • doesn’t babble with changes in tone – e.g. dadadadadadadadada

  • doesn’t use gestures like waving “bye bye” or shaking head for “no”

  • doesn’t respond to her/his name

  • doesn’t communicate in some way when s/he needs help with something

By 15 months

  • doesn't understand and respond to words like "no" and "up"

  • says no words

  • doesn't point to objects or pictures when asked “Where’s the...?

  • doesn’t point to things of interest as if to say “Look at that!”  and then look right at you

By 18 months

  • doesn’t understand simple commands like "Don't touch"

  • doesn't point to objects or pictures when asked “Where’s the...?”

  • isn’t using at least 20 single words like "Mummy" or "up"

  • can’t point to two or three major body parts such as head, nose, eyes, feet

By 24 months

  • says fewer than 100 words

  • isn’t consistently joining two words together like "Daddy go" or “ shoes on”

  • doesn’t imitate actions or words

  • doesn’t pretend with toys, such as feeding doll or making toy man drive toy car

3-4 years 

  • isn’t using action words like “run”, “eat”, “fall”

  • isn’t using some adult grammar, such as “two babies” and “doggie sleeping”

  • doesn’t ask questions using words such as, “who”, “what”, “where”

  • isn’t using sentences (e.g., "I don't want that" or "My truck is broken")  by three years

  • speech is unclear to unfamiliar listeners

 

 Starting early: Why it’s so important

 You’ve probably heard that the early years of your child’s life are the most important for building strong language skills. That’s because your child’s brain is developing extremely fast during this time, and they are more open to learning and more receptive to enriching experiences than he will ever be.

From birth to 5 years of age, children learn language by participating in back-and-forth interactions with the important adults in their lives. When a child sends a message, whether it be with a gesture, a sound, or a word, parents' responses serve as helpful feedback that reinforce and encourage their learning.

But if a child is communicating less than others his/her age, or are difficult to understand, they are unlikely to receive as much of this essential feedback. Since children with delayed speech or language delays cannot participate fully during activities and conversations, they may fall even further behind if they are not provided with the help they need.

This is why it’s so important not to wait if you see any sign that you child’s communication development may be delayed. Some parents are advised that their child will likely “grow out of it”, and they simply wait for the child to catch up. But a “wait and see” approach means that precious time can be lost during this critical learning phase.

On the other hand, if a child with a delay receives extra support from the important adults in his life, they can make significant gains. Early language intervention is critically important for these children to develop the communication skills necessary for future success in their academic and personal lives.

Simply put, the earlier a child receives the help they need, the better his/her language outcome will be.

 

Adapted from Information at: https://www.hanen.org/