Is my child behind?

Chances are if you’ve made your way here, then you must have some questions or concerns about your child’s speech and language development. Don’t worry, you’ve come to the right place! At Bellflower Speech, Language and Literacy, we are here for you!

Just as other areas of development, there are developmental milestones to look out for related to speech and language. Milestones are what about 90% of children are expected to be able to do at a certain age. 


Receptive Language is the ability to understand language. Expressive Language is the ability to use language to communicate wants/needs. Speech is the sounds used to communicate. Social Communication is the ability to use language within social situations. Use the below milestones as a guide to understand what your child should be able to do in terms of Expressive/Receptive Language, Speech, and Social Communication.

Children at 12 months pay attention briefly,wave "bye bye", shake their head for no, follow simple directions and questions, and recognize many words for their favorite items. They will imitate sounds they hear and have 2-6 words in their vocabulary.

Before they turn 1, babies playfully babble, wave, and will express themselves by crying and shaking their head “no”

By age 2 years toddlers will recognize many new words and begin to use short phrases ("more milk"). Toddlers will engage in pretend play with dolls and show more independence. They will produce many consonant sounds and be understood 50% of the time

By 2 years of age, your child will follow simple directions, recognize and label their favorite people and toys, combine words (or approximated words) into short phrases, and will use words containing many early-developing sounds, like /p/ “puh”, /b/ “buh”, and /t/ “tuh”

If a child doesn’t reach speech and language milestones as expected, this may be a "red flag," or warning, that your child might need some support in developing their speech and language.

3-4-year olds use most consonants and all vowels. They are understood by others 90% of the time. By 4 years kids will understand 2-3 step directions, prepositions, WH questions, and begin to use short sentences while playing and learning with others.

By 4 years, your child should be understood by familiar people 90% of the time and they will use phrases and sentences to express a variety of requests, ideas, and stories

What are some “red flags”?

  • No babbling by 9 months.

  • No first words by 15 months.

  • No consistent words by 18 months.

  • No word combinations by 24 months.

  • Slowed or stagnant speech development.

  • Problems understanding your child's speech at 24 months of age; strangers having problems understanding your child's speech by 36 months of age.

  • Not showing an interest in communicating.

The earlier your child receives intervention, the more likely your child will be able to overcome the difficulties they're having communicating. If you do have any concerns regarding your child's speech, language or feeding development we are ready to support you!

https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/chart/ - Go here to learn more.

Hillary Guestspeech language pathology, speech language pathologist, speech therapy, child development