Speech Chart for For Normal Speech Development & Delay Info

NORMAL SPEECH/LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Communication begins in infancy. Parents interact with their infants in such a way as to promote communication, and they do this naturally. The infants aren't intentionally communicating; they are responding to their environment reflexively. They cry when hungry, tired, or feeling discomfort. They become still and pay attention to new and interesting sights, sounds and sensations. Parents of infants speak to them with a slower rate of speech, stretching the words out. They vary their intonation, which makes their speech sound more interesting to their baby. They pause between utterances as if to allow their baby a turn in the "conversation". This is turntaking. Their baby is intrigued by this stimulation and will look at the parent, maintaining eye contact, which encourages the parent to continue. When baby looks away, parents interpret this as loss of interest in the interaction or assume that the baby is tired and let them have quiet time to sleep. If the baby looks to an object in the environment, the parent will talk about that object, label it, and perhaps bring it closer or offer it to the baby. Parents interpret their infant's behavior as meaningful and they respond appropriately. With frequent repetition of these interactions, the infant begins to learn that they can affect their environment. If they cry, they will be picked up, held and fed; if they look from parent to an object, they may get that object; if they look away from their parent they will be left to rest. The development of speech and language skills is a maturational process. Children are not formally "taught" these skills but they learn them over time.

Speech and language milestones are divided into three areas: language comprehension, language expression and speech.

Language Comprehension	Language Expression	Speech
From Birth To Six Months
-startles to loud noises -quieted by a familiar voice -watches speaker's face -stops moving when name is called	-vocalizes a variety of sounds for pleasure and displeasure -babbling at 6 months	-mostly vowel sounds - strings of sounds, with consonants p,b.
Age 6 - 12 Months
-turns to environmental sound -shows a reaction to certain words ("no", "bye-bye") -follows commands accompanied by a gesture -anticipates an event	-copies sounds made by another person -behavior becomes intentional - uses gestures, pushing or pulling to communicate nonverbally - first word appears around 12 months	-repetitive babbling - "p, b, t, d"
From Age 12 - 18 Months
-identifies familiar objects when named -understands up to 50 words -understands simple commands -looks to family members when named	-has a vocabulary of 3-20 words - uses one word utterances with gestures to communicate	-single words and jargon -may leave off sounds at the beginning or end of words
From Age 18 - 24 Months
-points to 3-5 body parts on self when named -follows simple directions without cues/gestures	-has a vocabulary of more than 20 words -refers to self by name -uses pronouns (me, my, mine) - produces strings of single word utterances ("daddy", "up") and begins to use 2 word utterances ("more juice", "no sleep")	-speech is at least 50% intelligible. -"p, b, m, n, w, h, k, g"
From Age 2 - 2 1/2 Years
-follows 2 step commands -understands several pronouns (him, his, your, mine) -points to pictures in a book when named (objects and actions) -understands some quantity concepts (one vs all)	-vocabulary increases from 50 to 200 intelligible words -begins to use grammatical markers ("ing" verb ending, plural "s" ending) - uses 3 word combinations by age 2 and1/2 -uses rising inflection to ask questions	-speech is 60-70% understandable to unfamiliar listeners -may leave off sounds at end of words
From Age 2 1/2 to 3 Years
-identifies objects by use (what do we cut with?) -understands prepositions "in, out, on, off " -understands some descriptive words "big, little, wet, dirty, fast, slow/'	-uses 3 and 4 word sentences by age 3 -has vocabulary of at least 200-300 words -uses words like "because", "or", "if" -asks simple questions -uses possessives -uses negatives "won't, can't, don't"	-uses "p,b,m,n,w,h,f,ng,y,k,g,t,d"
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