Does my two-year-old have a Speech or language delay?

FACT: the most intensive period of growth for the acquisition of speech and language skills occurs in the FIRST THREE YEARS of life! Two-year-olds fall within this ‘critical period’ for speech and language development, meaning it’s the 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 communication development and the skills they have acquired.

We often receive feedback from families of two-year-olds with language and speech delays that someone has incorrectly suggested they should simply "wait and see" or commented that their "child is just a late talker... and needs some time." The truth is that identifying speech and language delays early and implementing appropriate early interventions leads to better overall outcomes for your child's communication and language development, particularly during this crucial language learning period.

We have briefly outlined some of the major communication milestones that most typically developing children master between the ages of 2 to 3 years of age. Under each skill listed, we provide some basic strategies that parents can use to more easily determine if their child has already met these early speech and language milestones. If a child has not met several of the communication milestones detailed below, parents are strongly encouraged to consult with their 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:

2-3 Years: Typical Language & Speech Milestones:

Receptive Language - how your child understands language

Answers all ‘WH’ questions, including “Why” and “How” Questions

Tip: In addition to answering basic ‘what, where, who, where’ questions, toddlers should also begin to answer the more abstract ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions by the age of three years old. A good time to ask these question types is during joint reading with your child, where they can answer questions related to a picture in a book. If your child can answer some basic 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?”).

Following Directions - Your child should be able to follow two-step directions involving common actions and basic concepts

Tip: Without providing any gestures, make sure you gain your child’s attention before giving your child 2-step commands using words that they already know. For example, “pick up bear and open the door.” To gain your child’s attention for this task, get on your child’s level by kneeling or sitting-down so you are face-to-face with them. Do this activity in a room with fewer distractions (e.g. away from the TV/iPad, other family members and out of sight from your child’s toys).

Points to several action words, animals and colors in pictures and demonstrates common actions by request

By the age of 30 months, your child should be able to point to several named actions in pictures, at least one color, and several animals named.

Tip: An easy and fun way to determine what action words/verbs your child understands, is by asking them to perform various actions during joint pretend-play. For example, with a baby doll you can ask your child to, 'feed baby', 'pick up', 'lay down', 'wash', 'brush teeth', 'wipe.' Children also enjoy turn-taking games where you ask them to perform various actions such as, 'jump', 'stomp', 'sit', 'shake', 'dance' etc.

Knows Prepositions: 'in, on, under'

The first prepositions that your child should comprehend are the words, 'in, on, under.' To determine if your child understands these words, give them a toy and a simple container (e.g. a small box or bag) and give simple directions using the prepositional words (e.g. "Put the toy in/under/on the box.")

Tip: 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.

Expressive Language – How is your child using language to communicate with others?

Says about 50 words

By the age of 30 months, your child should be saying at least 50 words independently – without your modeling or prompting. The best way to track their expressive language word count is by using a ‘common first words’ checklist, that family members can check-off when they hear their child saying new words. Here is an example of a free Spanish/English First Words checklist that you can download, from Speech and Language at Home (https://speechandlanguageathome.com/first-words-checklist/).

Uses 2-3 word combinations often

Your two-year-old should begin saying a variety of different 2-3 word combinations more frequently, instead of primarily using just single words to communicate. They should also begin describing actions using two-word phrases (e.g. “Doggy run”). For example, instead of saying, “juice” they should begin saying longer 2-3 word phrases such as, “more juice” or, “I want juice” independently – without your prompting or direct modeling.

Tip: when your child turns two, we recommend parents keep a running list of the new phrases that a child says on their own. Having a list on a piece of paper or on a whiteboard in common place of the house like your kitchen or the child’s bedroom will allow parents to quickly jot down phrases that they hear their child make spontaneously and during play.

Grammar: Describes actions using -ing, -ed and uses Personal Pronouns

Your child should begin describing actions in the present tense and regular past tense using -ing and regular -ed verb endings. For example, your child may say “Dog is eating” in response to the question, ‘What is the dog doing?’ and, “Dog played” in response to, ‘What did the dog do?” By the age of 30 months, children should also begin using personal pronoun words like, “I” and “me” to refer to self.

Tip: It is still common for your child to overgeneralize the use of regular -ed verbs when describing actions in the past, as they are not yet expected to know and use irregular past tense verbs (e.g. they may say “digged”/dug, “drinked”/drank, “runned”/ran).

Speech: Is understood between 50-75% of the time

By the age of two, you should be able to understand at least 50% of what they are saying. By three years, you should understand approximately 75% or more of your child’s speech. Your toddler should now be able to produce most vowel sounds correctly in words as well as the following consonant sounds: p, b, m, h, w, d, and n.

Tip: for more information on the exact speech sounds that your child should be able to say from the age of 7 months to 6-years old, read our blog post: https://www.sunnyspotspeech.com/post/when-will-i-understand-my-child-s-speech.

**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.