Barbara McKinney, MS, CCC/SLP
Speech/Language Pathologist
Sullivan County Community Hospital
Early developmental milestones related to speech and language, hearing, and understanding include:
By 6 months, babies coo and babble, with some speech-like babbling sounds, giggle, move eyes in the direction of sound, notice toys that make sounds, and pay attention to music.
By 1 year of age, babies produce longer strings of sounds; point to objects; use gestures like waving bye, reach up to be picked up, shake their head no; imitate different speech sounds; and say 1-2 words that may not be clear. By 1 year of age, babies also turn and look in the direction of sound, look where you point, recognize words for familiar objects and people, play routine games like peek-a-boo, and listen to short stories.
By 2 years of age, toddlers use a lot of new words; use p, b, m, h, and w in words; name pictures in books; ask what, who, and where questions; and put 2 words together. Additionally, toddlers can point to a few body parts when you ask, follow one-step directions, understand simple questions, and point to pictures in books when you name them.
By 3 years of age toddlers have a word for familiar people, places, things, and actions; talk about things not in the room; talk during pretend play; use k, g, f, t, d, and n in words; use words such as in, on, and under; ask why; and put 3 words together to talk about and ask for things. Also, 3-year-olds can understand opposite words, follow 2-step directions, and understand new words quickly.
Early intervention in the 0-3 year range is critical to unlock the child’s full communication potential for language, articulation, social-emotional development, and academic success. Successful language development starts with a strong foundation of communicative interaction skills such as gestures, requesting, following directions, expressive language, receptive language, and vocabulary expansion. These can be accomplished by play-based learning, modeling, repetition, positive reinforcement, family involvement, sensory activities, and sometimes the use of augmentative and alternative communication options.
If a parent/guardian has concerns about their child not meeting developmental milestones, they should first talk to their physician. The earlier the intervention, the greater potential for progress. Parents/guardians should not only consider early intervention with speech, occupational, and physical therapies in a 1:1 setting available at SCCH, but also consider early intervention programs available in our area, such as First Steps, Head Start, Pace, and developmental pre-schools available through the local school district. Building an early foundation of skills will pave the way to succeed in the educational years to come.