Does my three-year-old have a Speech or language delay?
- Lauren and Claudia Fri-Rod
- Oct 22
- 5 min read
FACT: the fastest period of growth for the acquisition of speech and language skills occurs in the FIRST THREE YEARS of life! Three-year-olds fall within this ‘critical period’ for speech and language development, meaning it’s a time when a child’s brain is BEST suited to learn and absorb language(s). This is a crucial period to provide your child with frequent and rich language learning experiences throughout the day. It's also a time when parents should carefully observe their child's acquired communication skills and become more familiar with typical language learning milestones. Identifying speech and language delays EARLY and implementing appropriate early interventions leads to better overall outcomes for your child's communication and language development.
We have briefly outlined some of the major communication milestones that most typically developing children master by the age of 3 years. If your child has not met the communication milestones detailed below by the age of 3.5 years, we encourage you to consult with your Pediatrician and/or a licensed Speech Language Pathologist to learn about the benefits of early intervention services.
The following communication milestones were adapted from the American Speech Language & Hearing Association website, CDC.gov website as well as the Rosetti Infant-Toddler Language Scale:
3 Years: Typical Language & Speech Milestones:
Receptive Language - how your child understands language
Answers simple ‘Who, What, Where, Why’ questions
In addition to answering basic ‘what, who, where’ questions, children should also begin answering more abstract ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions by the age of three. Try asking your child these different question types during joint picture book reading. If your child can answer the more basic ‘who, what, where’ questions related to a picture in the book (e.g. “What is the dog doing?”, “Where is the dog?”) then try to ask some more complex ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions (e.g. “Why did the dog do that?”, “How will the dog get out?”). Provide your child with plenty of time to respond to your question before you repeat it or offer to help them with an answer.
Follows 2-Step Directions – Without Prompting
Your child should now be able to follow 2- step directions involving actions and objects, without any visual or gestural prompts. For example, “Get your bag and take out lunchbox.” We love working on 2-step directions involving actions by playing fun games such as, ‘Simon Says.’
Understands many Basic Concepts
By the age of three, your child should now understand many basic concepts and opposites such as: big/small, same/different, wet/dry, hot/cold, tall/short.
There are some wonderful ‘opposites’ books, songs and memory matching games geared for preschool-aged children that can help teach and reinforce these language concepts. Some examples of books we love, include:
Understands Prepositions: 'in, on, under'
Your child should be able to follow 1-2 step directions involving basic prepositions (e.g. “put in the box”) as well as use prepositions ‘in, on, under’ when describing the location of objects. When giving your child a direction using a prepositional word, try not to look towards the object or location named, because children often learn to follow an adult's eye gaze when unsure of prepositional words and novel directions. Fun ways to help teach basic prepositions include: Hide-and-seek, eye-spy books and games, lock-and-key toys, and arts and crafts that include specific instructions.
Expressive Language – How your child uses language to communicate with others
Says between 250-1000 words
By the age of three, your child should be saying a minimum of 250 words independently – without your modeling or prompting. Your child be able to name several words from the following categories: animals, colors, body parts, clothing items, vehicles, actions (e.g. “running”), common adjectives, common household objects and familiar people and places.
Speaks using 3-word phrases
Your child should now be using phrases that are 3-4 words in length frequently, such as when making requests (e.g. “I want + noun”), describing actions (e.g. “boy is eating”) and describing locations of objects (e.g. “under the table”).
Tip: When you hear your child using shorter 1-2 word utterances, try to repeat what they have said by adding one additional word. For example, if your child says, ‘pick up” you can repeat, ‘Pick me up’ so your child is able to hear and imitate the expanded 3-word phrase.
Grammar: Begins using more grammatical forms
Your child should now be able to correctly use the following grammatical markers when they are speaking, most of the time:
- Regular plural-s (e.g. “two cars”)
- Possessives – “Mommy’s shirt”
- Personal Pronouns – “I want”, “Me”, “my turn”, “your turn”
- Present Tense -ing verbs – “boy is running”
- Regular past tense verbs – “I jumped”
Tip: It is still common for three-year-olds to overgeneralize the use of regular -ed verbs when describing actions that occurred in the past. At three years old, they are still not yet expected to correctly use irregular past tense verbs (e.g. they may say “digged”/dug, “drinked”/drank, “runned”/ran). However, you can repeat their phrases using the correct verb tense and grammatical forms so they hear their utterance with the correct grammar. For example, a child says, “Me eated it” and parent replies, ‘Yes, you ate it!
Speech: Is understood about 75% of the time
You should now be able to understand at least 75% of what your child says, with some noticeable articulation errors still present. At three years old, most children can correctly produce the following consonant sounds in words: P,B,M,T,D,N,H,K,G,W,NG, F,Y. Some common speech sound substitution error patterns (also known as phonological processes) that typically disappear by the age of three, include:
Final consonant deletion - when the final consonant sound of a word is left off – e.g. “ca”/cat
Reduplication – when a complete syllable is repeated – e.g. ‘baba’/bottle
Assimilation – when a consonant sound starts to sound like another consonant sound in a word – e.g. “bub”/bus
Stopping for ‘f’ and ‘s’ – when a stop consonant sound like ‘p’ or ‘d’ is used in place of a ‘f’ or ‘s’ sound – e.g. “pan”/fan or “dun”/sun
**When reviewing milestone checklists, it’s important to remember that every child is unique and children may develop some of these skills a few months earlier or later than the ‘expected’ age range. These milestones are meant to be a general guideline for parents, based on the typical stages of language development observed in children.
ABOUT US:
Sunny Spot Speech provides private speech therapy services and evaluations for kids in home, online, at your child's preschool, daycare, private school, or at another community location throughout Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley. We have an incredible and growing team of bilingual (Spanish and English speaking) Los Angeles based Speech Language Pathologists who are knowledgeable in the assessment and treatment of a wide range of communicative disorders, including (but not limited to) children with Language Disorders and Developmental Delays, Hearing Loss, AAC users, Fluency disorders, Articulation and Phonological Disorders, Childhood Apraxia of Speech, and Gestalt Language Processors.
We are accepting new pediatric speech therapy clients in the following Los Angeles locations: Northridge, Granada Hills, Encino, Tarzana, Woodland Hills, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Van Nuys, San Fernando, Valley Village, Burbank, Calabasas.
Contact us for a free phone consultation if you’re concerned about your child’s speech, language or communication abilities: Phone: 818-350-3107 or Email: info@sunnyspotspeech.com.
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