Parents often begin to notice speech/language delays when comparing their child to a sibling or a friend’s child who can say more words and sentences and/or is more understandable when they speak. The parent typically thinks that their child will “catch up” on their own. Many parents hesitate to seek advice, feeling a child will just grow into it. For example, cooing and babbling should occur prior to 12 months. After 12-15 months, a child should be using a wide range of speech sounds in their babbling (e.g., p, b, m, d or n) and start to imitate sounds and words from family members. At 18-24 months, toddlers should be saying at least 20-50 words by the time they turn 2. From 2-3 years, parents should see big gains in their child’s vocabulary and typically are speaking in simple sentences.

There are different terms for delays in speech and language:

• Receptive language delay – This is when a child has difficulty understanding language. They have trouble comprehending what they see, hear, or read.

• Expressive language delay – This is when a child has difficulty talking or expressing his/her ideas.

• Pragmatic language delay – This is when a child has difficulty understanding the semantics of speech (the meaning of what is being said) and is not using language appropriately in social situations.

How Pediatric Speech Therapy Helps

If you feel your child is not meeting the typical language milestones, an evaluation by our skilled pediatric speech and language therapists can identify if there is a delay. Then, the individualized therapy interventions can be used to focus on improving their speech/language skills. Our pediatric speech therapists work to improve understanding, pronunciation and forming of speech to help your child be more social and communicate effectively.