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Are my Child's Speech & Language Skills On Track?
GET FREE SPEECH & LANGUAGE MILESTONES
The letters inside each number show the sounds a child should be able to say by that age. All vowel sounds are in place by age three.
Intelligibility means how well speech is understood. Age and intelligibility norms by parents:
By 18 months a child's speech is normally 25% intelligible
By 24 months a child's speech is normally 50-75% intelligible
By 36 months a child's speech is normally 75-100% intelligible
(Source: Lynch, Brookshire, and Fox, 1980, p. 102, cited in Bowen, 1998)
Signs of Preschool Language Disorders (via ASHA):
Some children have problems understanding, called RECEPTIVE language. They may have trouble:
-Understanding what people mean when they use gestures, like shrugging or nodding
-Following directions
-Answering questions
-Pointing to objects and pictures
-Knowing how to take turns when talking with others
Some children have problems talking, called EXPRESSIVE language. They may have trouble:
-Asking questions
-Naming objects
-Using gestures
-Putting words together into sentences
-Learning songs and rhymes
-Using correct pronouns, like "he" or "they"
-Knowing how to start a conversation and keep it going
-Changing how they talk to different people and in different places. For example, you speak differently to an adult than a young child. You can talk louder outside than inside.
Many children have problems with both understanding and talking.
Some children also have trouble with early reading and writing, such as:
-Holding a book right side up
-Looking at pictures in a book and turning pages
-Telling a story with a beginning, middle, and end
-Naming letters and numbers
-Learning the alphabet
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