If so, you're definitely not alone. There are speech and language milestones that children need to achieve that can help and guide you about your child's progress. When in doubt, take your child to a local university Speech and Hearing Center for an evaluation and certainly follow up with your Pediatrician.
Milestones That You Should Be Aware Of
* By 12 Months: Your child should know a couple of simple words, use body language to get attention, or point to and show objects to other people.
* By Age 2: They should ask simple questions, associate words with specific images, and put two words together.
* By Age 3: They should start asking "why" questions, form three-word sentences, and speak clearly so anyone can understand them.
* By Age 4: Your child should know how to use pronouns, ask the 5 Ws, and can talk about their day with no issues.
* By Age 5: A child should form two-verb sentences, adjust their language based on the situation, and have a full conversation.
There is no specific date for each milestone, but there is a range for speech and language development that can help you assess your child's overall progress.
How Would You Describe The Problem?
Young children can present with language expression or comprehension issues. Children with comprehension language difficulties may have trouble understanding what they hear or read. Children with expressive language issues struggle with skills like pronunciation and the formulation of standard sentence structures such as questions, comments, and negations. Children may also have difficulty learning new vocabulary words which can also provide the underpinning for many behavioral problems that we see in young children in Nursery School and Kindergarten.
Assessing Your Child's Development
The American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) acknowledges that no child is the same. So ASHA created an extensive age range for each milestone. If you think your child needs help with their speech and/or language skills, Tiegerman offers comprehensive speech, language and hearing evaluations to help you evaluate your child's progress. Don't wait. Call us with your questions about our services and educational programs. Reach out and contact us today.