How to Encourage Language in Toddlers: Part One

Encouraging Language in Toddlers: Introduction and Disclaimer

Lately I've had a few parents of one and two year olds ask me: "My child isn't really talking yet..should I be worried?" followed by "What should I do?"  In moments like this, my role as an SLP requires me to not only give a correct answer, but also make it somewhat short, without using a whole bunch of acronyms or strange vocabulary, give good resources and advice, and also assure Mom that she is doing a good job.  So I told myself, "It's time for Speaking of Kids to do a series on this subject!"

Let me start off with a little disclaimer: This series is not meant to replace a thorough speech/language evaluation.  If you have concerns about your child, you really ought to find a local friendly Speech-Language Pathologist who can evaluate your child's own specific strengths and weaknesses to determine a) what the problem is, b) what to do about it, and c) if there are any other underlying factors to take into account (such as apraxia, autism, syndromes, etc.)  The tips I will share are the tips another SLP would probably give you, so why not start now??

The first step is to decide if your child is behind or not.  Sometimes that can be very obvious, other times it's not.  But in this series I will be mostly focusing on Expressive Vocabulary, so here are the facts:

• At twelve months old, your child should be just starting to use words, maybe using one or two fairly consistently. (Usually "Momma", "Bottle", "Up"....)  (More on that here)
•  By 18 months, they should be using at least 10 words, and possibly up to 50. (More on that here)
• At 24 months, a child should be using between 200 and 300 words.  They should be starting to put two words together soon.  
• By 36 months, they should use about 1000 words.  Wow! (More on that here)

Now you are armed with knowledge!  If you think your child is behind, don't panic.  Find a speech therapist to talk to you specifically about your child.  Nothing is worse than wondering.  Just take action and see where it takes you.  In the meantime, I hope you're excited because the next post will be about the FIRST step to take if you think your child might be a little behind in language development.  See you next time!

What Your 3 Year Old Should Be Doing

Right now I am working with a darling little boy who is turning 3 in a few weeks.  It's almost been 6 months since we first started doing therapy together and that means it's time to do some new language testing and see where he stands with hearing, language, and speech milestones.  As you can imagine, little kiddos change SO MUCH in a very short time so it's important to be constantly monitoring progress.  Every session should be diagnostic in nature, so no test results should be much of a surprise, but it's good to get a broad overview and look at standard scores, etc.  I made a little chart here of Speech/Language Milestones that should be reached between the ages of 2 and 3.  Just thought I would share it with you! Just click on the image to open, save, and print!


PS For all you moms who are like "What in the heck are phonological processes?" Never fear!  I will be doing a series on all things related to Phonological Processes very soon.  Be excited!

Auditory Verbal Therapy: Part 7

Auditory Verbal Therapy: Part VII

Principle VII

Guide and coach parents to use natural developmental patterns of audition, speech, language, cognition, and communication.

I think the key word here is expectations.  Parents need to understand that children follow a developmental sequence with regards to language, cognition, and speech.  The child needs to continue on that developmental path.  We can't skip steps.  We can certainly move through them more quickly, and we hope to catch them up to their peers, but there are no shortcuts.

 Another key concept is hearing age.  We have to take into account how long the child has been hearing.  AN important thing to understand is that listening and speech develop together - not separately.  This article is my favorite reference for further discussion on these important concepts.

"Is My Child Behind?": 1 to 4 years old

Do you wonder if your toddler is developing normally?  Lots of parents ask me if their child is behind in speech or language, and the answer is never very clear-cut.  I took these charts from the ASHA (American Speech-Language Hearing Association) website asha.org and compiled them into one place for your reference.  Take a look and see if these confirm your concerns or if your child is doing pretty well for their age.  If you're still worried it's a good idea to consult a professional.  In the meantime you can try to implement some language-enhancing strategies.

1 to 2 years

Hearing and Understanding	Talking
Points to a few body parts when asked. Follows simple commands and understands simple questions ("Roll the ball," "Kiss the baby," "Where's your shoe?"). Listens to simple stories, songs, and rhymes. Points to pictures in a book when named.	Says more words every month. Uses some one- or two- word questions ("Where kitty?" "Go bye-bye?" "What's that?"). Puts two words together ("more cookie," "no juice," "mommy book"). Uses many different consonant sounds at the beginning of words.

2 to 3 years

Hearing and Understanding	Talking
Understands differences in meaning ("go-stop," "in-on," "big-little," "up-down"). Follows two requests ("Get the book and put it on the table"). Listens to and enjoys hearing stories for longer periods of time	Has a word for almost everything. Uses two- or three- words to talk about and ask for things. Uses k, g, f, t, d, and n sounds. Speech is understood by familiar listeners most of the time. Often asks for or directs attention to objects by naming them.

3 to 4 years

Hearing and Understanding	Talking
Hears you when you call from another room. Hears television or radio at the same loudness level as other family members. Answers simple "who?", "what?", "where?", and "why?" questions.	Talks about activities at school or at friends' homes. People outside of the family usually understand child's speech. Uses a lot of sentences that have 4 or more words. Usually talks easily without repeating syllables or words.

MLU: An overview

MLU is a term that is used when referring to a younger child (1-5 years old) and their language abilities. It stands for Mean Length of Utterance. Basically it is referring to the average number of words (or units of meaning) the child puts together during one speaking turn. As a general rule, one-year-olds should be using one word in each utterance or phrase, two year olds should be putting 2 words together, three year olds 3. Four-year-olds are getting real smart and should be putting about 6 words together.

Now, it's a little more complicated than at first glance because the child gets credit for units of meaning. For example, if the child says "balls" and adds an -s to indicate a plural, then that is a unit of meaning so they get two points for that. If they add an -ed and say "I walked there", that is 4 points because they use walk and add -ed to indicate past tense. Very clever, these children are! (see this link for a much more detailed overview).

I think it's GREAT information for parents of young kids so that you are able to listen to your child and evaluate this part of their language abilities. Maybe they'r a language prodigy and you didn't know it! Or maybe they're a little behind and you've been wondering.

My two year old boy happens to be somewhat of a genius child. Not to brag or anything, but his MLU is about 7. Here is a conversation he had (with himself) while playing with his trains:

"Hey look! Stop train! You cannot cross my bridge! Uh oh! Here comes another bridge! You better cross it! (Then his train track broke) Mom, you can help me do this? It's pretty hard to do. You can take me to the hospital? Okay this is the hospital. Thank you! He bonked his head. You help me take him to the doctor? I will. OK! Oh man. This is gonna be sweet!"

Isn't he great? Well some kids are just born with an easier ability to learn language. Some kids might be a little slower in picking up on it. If your child is 3 years old and they are still generally only using 1-2 words in each phrase, you might want to get them evaluated. And next time I'll post some suggestions on what you can do with younger kids to try to help them start expanding their utterances and putting more words together.

Did you like this post? Was it helpful? Do you have more questions? Let me know!

Speech Sounds by Age

Concerned about your child's speech? Do you worry that they can't say their R sound? Their L sound? I'm hoping that this post will help answer some of those common questions. They vary a little bit based on the research studies that have been done, but here are the general guidelines:

Age 3: all vowels, p, m, n, w, h

Age 4: b, d, g, k, ng, f, y

Age 5: (all above sounds)

Age 6: l

Age 7: r, ch, sh, z, th

You can find many different charts around the wonderful world wide web that show you visually the different ages and sounds to look for. Find some here, here, and here. Or just google "sound acquisition charts" and see what comes up.

Birth to 1 Milestones

Children start learning language basics even before they are born! Even in the womb, babies hear voices and become used to their mother's voice. As soon as they are born they respond to their mother's voices by increased sucking or being comforted. Then throughout the first year, they learn the foundations for language. Here are some milestones to watch for in your baby:

Birth to 3 Months:

- smiles reflexively

- coos

- tracks sound with eyes

- quiets when picked up

- startles to loud sounds

4-6 Months

- raises arms in response to "Come here" or other phrases

- Looks at appropriate family members when named

- Begins to growl, squeal, yell, make raspberries, and babble

7-9 Months

- can recognize common objects when their name is said (Where's your ball?)

- plays pat-a-cake-, peek-a-boo,

- uncovers hidden toy

- understands "no"

10-12 Months

- understands up to 10 words

- uses first true word (uses the same sounds consistently for the same object/person)

- turns head when name is said

- points to or vocalizes when they want something

Don't panic if your child hasn't reached one or two of these milestones. Take a day or two and try to work on something specifically. Sometimes a child just needs a little direction and they'll pick it up quickly. If they are a few months behind on several of these milestones then you might want to get an evaluation.

Communication Disorder: Know the Warning Signs

The following information was adapted from a brochure published by ASHA (American Speech-Language and Hearing Association) , 2010.

Your child may have an underlying problem in communication if he or she...

Began talking later than expected

Is harder to understand than other kids their age

Is performing below expectations in the classroom

Is having difficulty learning to read

Cannot seem to express his/her thoughts and ideas, uses lots of "filler words" such as "stuff" and "things". Also may be very vague or unclear when explaining something.

Has problems understanding others and following directions

Doesn't pick up on social cues

Has problems taking tests

Says "huh" a lot and needs things repeated often

Does not respond consistently to sounds

If any or some of these ring true for you, and your motherly instinct is telling you something is off, go get your child evaluated. It will put your mind at ease to know what professionals think. If there is a problem, then you can start taking care of it with support from others.