Speech and Language Development Checklist: Birth – 3 Years Old

 

Speech and language development begins long before your little one says his/her first word.  The first three years of life is the most intense time for acquiring speech and language skills.  Although, children tend to vary in their speech and language development, just as in other areas of development, they follow a natural progression of language acquisition.  These milestones can be helpful in determining whether or not your child is developing normally or may benefit from speech and language therapy.  It is important that if you suspect your child is not meeting these milestones that you contact a local agency where your child can be evaluated by a speech language pathologist and also have his/her hearing tested by an audiologist.

 

 

Birth - 3 Months Old

·         Smiles

·         Responds to your voice

·         Makes sounds to show pleasure (cooing noises start around 3 months)

·         Watches your face when you speak

·         Enjoys playing with people and may cry when playing stops (2-3 months)

4 – 7 Months Old

·         Looks toward sounds

·         Notices loud noises

·         Laughs and chuckles

·         Notices toys that make sound

·         Makes noises for pleasure and displeasure

·         Imitates some movements and facial expressions

·         Makes sounds similar to speech sounds, including  m, p, b

8-12 Months Old

·         Responds to simple verbal requests (ex: Come here)

·         Responds to “no”

·         Makes simple gestures (ex: shaking head, waving)

·         Babbles with inflection

·         Babbles “dada” and “mama”

·         Babbles both long and short groups of sounds

·         Says “dada” and “mama” for specific person (11-12 months)

·         Uses exclamations (ex: UH-OH)

·         Repeats sounds or gestures for attention

·         Enjoys games like peek-a-boo and patty cake

·         Recognizes words for common objects (ex: bottle, dog)

12-24 Months Old

·         Follows simple commands

·         Understands simple questions

·         Listens and attends to simple stories and rhymes

·         Says several single words (15-18 months)

·         Says more words every month

·         Points to pictures in a book when named

·         Puts two words together (18-24 months)

·         Points to a few body parts when asked

·         Begins make believe play (20-24 months)

·         Repeats words heard in conversation

24-36 Months Old

·         Understands difference in meaning

·         Follows two step commands (ex: Get your car and put it in the toy box)

·         Listens and enjoys hearing stories for longer periods of time

·         Has a word for almost everything

·         Talks about things and asks questions using 2-3 words

·         Speech is understood by familiar listeners

·         Can say name, age and sex

·         Uses pronouns

·         Can express a wide range of emotions