Pediatric Speech andLanguage Therapy

San Juan Regional Medical Center

Are You Concerned About Your Child’s Speech and Language Development?

sanjuanregional.com

810 West Maple Street • Farmington, New Mexico 87401

ph: 505.609.6013fx: 505.609.2795

Language (i.e., system of expressing or receiving information – verbal, nonverbal and written)

Speech (i.e., verbal means of communicating) includes the following:

• Articulation: How speech sounds are made • Voice: Use of the vocal folds and breathing to produce sound • Fluency: The rhythm of speech

Feeding disorders (i.e., when an infant or child is unable to eat, refuses to eat or has difficulty eating)

Swallowing disorders or dysphagia (i.e., difficulty swallowing)

If you have concerns about your child’s development please contact your physician for a referral for an evaluation with a speech-language pathologist at SJRMC Pediatric Rehabilitation Outpatient Clinic.

Pediatric Speech and Language Therapy Services available for patients ages newborn to 18 years old in the following areas:

Please contact your physician for a full evaluation referral.

Birth to 5 months • Coos • Vocalizes pleasure and displeasure sounds (laughs, giggles, cries, or fusses) • Makes noises when talked to • Turns head toward sound source • Watches your face when you speak

6 to 11 months • Understands “No-No” • Babbles (ba-ba-ba or ma-ma-ma) • Tries to communicate by using actions or gestures • Tries to repeat sounds

12 to 17 months • Answers simple questions non-verbally • Says two or three words to label a person or object (may be slightly unclear) • Tries to imitate simple words • Has vocabulary of four to six words • Follows simple directions accompanied by gestures

18 to 23 months • Correctly produces most vowels and n, m, p, h, especially in the beginning of syllables and short words–also begins to use other speech sounds • Has vocabulary of less than 50 words • Asks for common foods by name • Makes animal sounds (e.g., moo) • Starts to combine two words (e.g., “more milk”)

2 to 3 years • Has vocabulary 50 words at 2 years • Has vocabulary of approximately 50 to 900 words at 3 years • Uses two–three word sentences • Knows some spatial concepts (e.g., “in”, “on”) • Knows pronouns (e.g., “you”, “me”, “her”) • Knows descriptive words (e.g., “happy”, “big”) • Speaks more understandably, but may leave off ending sounds

How is your child’s speech and language developing?

The following are some developmental milestones for children birth to five years of age.

• Uses question inflection to ask for something (e.g., “my ball”) • Begins to use plurals (e.g., “shoes”, “socks”), and regular past tense verbs (e.g., “jumped”)

3 to 4 years • Groups objects (e.g., clothes, food) • Identifies colors • Uses most speech sounds but may distort some of the more difficult sounds (e.g., l, r, s, sh, ch, y, z, th)–these sounds may not be fully mastered until age 7 or 8 • Uses consonants in the beginning, middle and ends of words • Speaks understandably, for most of what is said, to unfamiliar listeners. • Able to describe the use of objects (e.g., fork, car) • Expresses ideas and feelings rather than just talking about the world around him/her • Uses verbs that end in “ing” (e.g., “walking”, “talking”) • Repeats sentences

4 to 5 years • Understands spatial concepts (e.g., “behind”, “next to”) • Understands complex questions • Speaks understandably to all listeners – only has mistakes on long, difficult or complex words (e.g., “hippopotamus”) • Has vocabulary of 1500 words • Uses some irregular past tense verbs (e.g.,“ran”, “fell”) • Defines words • Lists items that belong in a category (e.g., animals, vehicles) • Answers “why” questions

5 years • Understands more than 2,000 words • Understands time sequences (e.g., first, second, third) • Carries out a series of three directions • Understands rhyming • Engages in conversation • Can form sentences of eight or more words • Describes objects • Uses imagination to create stories

Talk, talk, talk! Talk about what you are doing and what your child is doing. Your child will learn to associate words you say with the actions, objects and feelings you describe.

Be A Good Speech Model Speak clearly and naturally and use correct speech sounds and real words.

Don’t Correct Your Child’s Speech Error If your child has a speech error, say the sound correctly in your own speech. Don’t correct your child in the early stage of speech development.

Show Your Excitement When your child vocalizes, imitates your mouth movements or sounds, or uses new sounds and words.

Give Your Child Time to Respond After you talk, pause and give your child a chance to respond.

Respond to any of your child’s communication attempts, including cooing and babbling sounds. Imitate your child’s sounds or words and add to them.

Ask Questions That require more than a “yes” or “no” answer when your child is developmentally ready.

Create Opportunities If your home is bilingual, create many opportunities to hear and use vocabulary from both languages in everyday interactions.

The following tips can help stimulate speech, language and listening skills in your young child.