SPEECH AND LANGUAGE MILESTONES - AGE BIRTH TO 5 YEARS

Speech Milestones:

• Produces cooing sounds by 3 months
• Begins to babble around 6 months
• Vocalizes p, b, m sounds
• Begins to imitate sounds (e.g., "ba ba")

Language Milestones:

• Turns towards sounds
• Responds to "no"
• Cries differently for wants/needs
• Recognizes own name and names of some family members
• Uses gestures to communicate (e.g., reaching arms up when wants "up")
• Says first word (e.g., "mama" or "dada") around 12 months
• Starts to respond to requests (e.g., "want more?")

Speech Milestones

• Speech is understood approx 50% of the time by familiar caregivers
• Many words contain only a consonant and a vowel (e.g., "ca" for cat)
• At around 2 years, child begins to use different combinations of vowels and consonants

Language Milestones

• Combine two-word phrases at 2 years old (e.g., "more juice")
• Uses more than 50 words and understands more than 300 words
• Follows one-step instructions (e.g., "get the ball")
• Answers yes/no questions (e.g., "do you want more?")
• Uses more complex gestures (e.g., pointing, reaching, giving, etc)

Speech Milestones:

• Uses more speech sounds, including: p, b, m, n, w, h, t, d, k, g, ng (-ing), and y
• Speech should be understood 50-75% of the time by an unfamiliar listener

Language Milestones

• Combines 3-word phrases by the time they are 3 (e.g., "I want juice")
• Starts to understand opposites (e.g., big vs little, slow vs fast, up vs down)
• Follow 2-step directions (e.g., "get your shoes and bring them to me")
• Names objects when requested
• Answers simple WH-questions (e.g., "what is this?")

Speech Milestones:

• Age 3-3.5: 
  • Speech should be understood at least 75% of the time by an unfamiliar listener
  • Should produce: all previous + tw- (twin), kw (quick) & most vowels
• Age 4-4.5
  • 100% understandable by unfamiliar listeners with some pronunciation errors
  • Should produce: all previous + v, j, v, gl (glow)
• Age 5-5.5:
  • Should produce: all previous + s, sh, th (they), s-blends (e.g., swim, spill), some l-blends (e.g., clap, black), and tr (tree) and kr (cracker)
• Common speech sound errors that continue to be present at age 6: r, l, z, th (think) and ch (check)

Language Milestones

• Follows 3-step directions (e.g., "put your toy on the table, get your coat, and come here")
• Uses 4+ words in a sentence
• Answers complex WH-questions (e.g., "why is he at the doctor?")
• Uses more correct grammar when speaking (e.g., plurals, past tense, pronouns)
• Starts to recognize letters and numbers