Communication milestones- What do we expect?

Though every child is different, there is a general timeframe for when certain communication skills should begin to emerge. If you believe your child is not meeting these milestones, you might benefit from a speech & language evaluation.

By one year old:

• Reaching for, pointing to, showing, and giving objects.

• imitating social gestures an games such as blowing kisses and playing peekaboo.

• Trying to imitate speech

• Responding to simple phrases like bye-bye or all done.

• saying their first true word, such as hi, bye, mama, dada, etc.

By two years old:

• Combining 2 words together

• Understanding at least 50 words

• Following 2-step directions such as “grab your shoes and put them on the floor”

• Early pronoun use such as me, mine, or you

• Beginning to ask for help when needed

By three years old:

• Using more and more word combinations

• Using plurals (dogs, toys) and adding -ing to action words (running, dancing)

• Giving reasons for things (why do you need a coat? because it’s cold outside!)

• Answering simple WH- (who, what, when, where, why,) questions

• Correctly pronouncing p, b, m, h, w, d, & n in words.

• Speech should be getting clearer, may still be hard to understand with unfamiliar listeners.

By four years old:

• Starting to use more descriptive or comparative words (bigger, shorter, faster)

• Retelling stories

• Understanding and using location words (in, on, under, etc.)

• Correctly pronounces t, k, g, f, y, & –ing in words.

• Says all syllables in a word

• Speech should be fluent and understood by most listeners.

By five years old:

• Sentences should be longer and more complex, containing generally correct grammar.

• Starting to use irregular plural forms (feet, fish, etc.)

• Understands more complex positional words like beside or between

• Following simple directions

• Playing games with peers

• Using words associated with time such as tomorrow or yesterday.

• Most speech is understood in conversation

• Identifying some rhyming words.

https://www.asha.org/public/developmental-milestones/communication-milestones/