Educational Consultants Group - Pediatric Speech Language Development Milestones

Language Therapy

(813) 373-0016

Call Us Today! Your Child Will Be Glad You Did!

We design individual treatment plans to meet the specific needs of each child. Treatment can include audio taped sessions, video taped pre- and post-therapy analysis, auditory amplification, computer software programs, direct/indirect parent participation, and much more!

Language is different from speech:

Language Delays/Disorders:

Children with language problems often have difficulty expressing themselves or following directions because they don’t know what words mean (e.g., "star" can refer to a bright object in the night sky or a celebrity)

Or they don’t understand by adding endings to words like "friend" and making it "friendly" that the word means something different. They may even have trouble with making new words like (e.g., friend, friendly, unfriendly)

Sometimes they aren’t sure how to put words together (e.g., "Peg walked to the new store" rather than "Peg walk store new")

Often times they don’t express themselves well because they aren’t sure what word combinations are best in specific situations ("Would you mind moving your foot?" could quickly change to "Get off my foot, please!" if the first request did not produce results)

A slowness in the development of the vocabulary and grammar necessary for expressing and undertanding thoughts and ideas.

There are expected

language milestones

for different ages.

Children do develop

at different rates; what is

important is that the child

shows continuous

language growth.

Language is made up of rules that include the following:

If your intuition is telling you that your child has a delay or something is wrong, that is your call to action because your intuition is probably right!!

The best way to tell if your child’s language development is on track is to review the milestones below, listen to your intuition and have your child’s language skills checked.

You may have been told that your child is just a "late-bloomer". But how can you tell whether a child with delayed speech is a late bloomer or has expressive language problems or language comprehension problems or a speech delay?

That’s why it’s worth seeking help!! The earlier your child gets help, the greater his or her progress will be. And if your child turns out to be a late bloomer, the extra attention to his or her communication skills will not have hurt in any way.

Age

12 months

18 months

Between 1 and 2 years

Between 2 and 3 years

Between 3 and 4 years

Between 4 and 5 years

Between 5 and 6 years

Language Level

Says 1-2 words; recognizes name;

imitates familiar sounds;

understands simple instructions

Uses 5-20 words, including names

Says 2-word sentences; vocabulary is growing; waves goodbye; makes “sounds” of familiar animals; uses words (like “more”) to make wants known; understands “no”

Identifies body parts; calls self “me” instead of name; combines nouns and verbs; has a 450 word vocabulary; uses short sentences; matches 3-4 colors, knows big and little; likes to hear same story repeated; forms some plurals

Can tell a story; sentence length of 4-5 words; vocabulary of about 1000 words; knows last name, name of street, several nursery rhymes

Sentence length of 4-5 words; uses past tense; vocabulary of about 1500 words; identifies colors, shapes; asks many questions like “why?” and “who?”

Sentence length of 5-6 words; vocabulary of about 2000 words; can tell you what objects are made of; knows spatial relations (like “on top” and “far”); knows address; understands same and different; identifies a penny, nickel and dime; counts ten things; knows right and left hand; uses all types of sentences

Language Development Milestones