Children can have trouble with speech, language, or both.
Students with speech or language disorders may receive therapy from an SLP, or speech-language pathologist.
|Birth–3 months||Not smiling or playing with others|
|4–7 months||Not babbling|
|7–12 months||Making only a few sounds. Not using gestures, like waving or pointing.|
|7 months–2 years||Not understanding what others say|
|12–18 months||Saying only a few words|
|1½–2 years||Not putting two words together|
|2 years||Saying fewer than 50 words|
|2–3 years||Having trouble playing and talking with other children|
|2½–3 years||Having problems with early reading and writing. For example, your child may not like to draw or look at books.|
|1–2 years||Not saying p, b, m, h, and w the right way in words most of the time|
|2–3 years||Not saying k, g, f, t, d, and n the right way in words most of the time. Being hard to understand, even to people who know the child well.|
It is normal for young children to say some sounds the wrong way. Some sounds do not develop until a child is 4, 5, or 6 years old.
Most of us pause or repeat a sound or word when we speak. When this happens a lot, the person may stutter. Young children may stutter for a little while. This is normal and will go away over time. Signs that stuttering might not stop include:
Having a lot of trouble saying sounds or words
Repeating the first sounds of words, like “b-b-b-ball” for “ball”
Pausing a lot while talking
Stretching sounds out, like “fffffarm” for “farm”
You can read more information about speech and language disorders from the American Speech-Language Hearing Association here.