1. Your child is not engaging with you: If your young child is not showing you toys, bringing you toys or books or looking at you for reactions to events (i.e. laughing during peek-a-boo or tickling), it is time to seek the help of a speech-language pathologist to increase your child’s ability to engage in parallel play and socialization.
2. Your child uses one to three single words to label everything in his or her environment (i.e. saying “buh buh” to represent many different things such as “book”, “milk”, “hat” and “eat”). At the age of 18-20 months, your child should start to use varying words or sound combinations to ask for items and comment on items. The number of words can vary from 20 to 50.
3. Your toddler does not identify familiar items in books, pictures, or their environment when asked to point (ie: “Point to the duck.” or “Show me the banana.”)Receptive language or comprehension (they are the same) is the initial building block of communication. Your child must understand what a word is before they are able to utilize that word in spoken communication.
4. Your child does not react to social gestures and games such as peek-a-boo or saying “bye bye” to others. Social language (in above examples) is a cornerstone of a baby and toddler developing speech and language. If your child does not make eye contact, seek out the attention of others or engage in interactive play, they may need the support of a speech therapist.
5. Your child is unable to follow simple commands or doesn’t appear to understand what you say to them. Receptive language, as discussed above, is the foundation for expressive language. We only use words when we understand the meaning behind them. Children who are unable to follow directions or understand what is said to them will usually also have expressive language delays.
6. Your child appears very frustrated that they are unable to effectively communicate their wants and needs with you. They may scream, tantrum, hit or bite when they are unable to express themselves. This usually results in frustrated parents too. Caregivers usually begin playing the guessing game to figure out what their child wants/needs. Both parties are left feeling defeated and communication can become a power struggle.
7. On the flipside, if your child does not seem frustrated when he or she cannot get what he or she wants, this can also be concerning. The child may want a cup of milk and attempt with gestures or a vocalization “uh uh” then give up easily or not even attempt to communicate with you at all. Almost all children are born with a need to communicate their wants and needs. Not showing an interest in interacting or communicating should also be addressed.
8. Your toddler uses words that don’t contain many consonants and a lot of vowels (uh ah oo oo). Also keep an eye out for groping, which is the mouth searching for the correct way to shape a sound. This can be a sign of a motor planning deficit in the mouth, cheek and tongue muscles.
9. You have great difficulty understanding what your child says. Your child is talking, but you are not able to decipher much of what they say. Parents and caregivers are usually the best interpreters as they are the most familiar with the child’s speech. If your child is frustrated because they are talking, but you don’t understand them, you may benefit from the instruction of a speech therapist.
10.Your child seems to have age-appropriate speech and language up until a certain age then suddenly the progression stops or halts. Speech and language development follows a linear progress in most children, though every child is different.
Rebecca and Lindsey are both moms and speech-language pathologists. They author a blog: www.ToddlerTalking.com and can be reached for questions at ToddlersTalking@gmail.com. For a speech therapy evaluation and/or treatment, please contact Rebecca at ACT Speech Therapy. She can be reached at actspeech@gmail.com .
