Did you know:
• Between five and 10 percent of children have noticeable speech disorders, most of which have no known cause?
• Between six and 6 million people in the United States have some form of language impairment?
• One in 150 children are diagnosed with Autism?
• About one million people in the United States have aphasia?
• More than 3 million Americans stutter?
• Approximately 7.5 million Americans have a voice disorder?
Often times parents “feel” that a particular area of a child’s development is either advanced or delayed.⯠It is important to know developmental norms — when most children acquire a particular skill to accurately assess where your child is on the continuum.⯠I discourage parents from comparing one child to another, as the other child may be advanced and therefore makes your child seem delayed, or the other child may also be delayed, therefore giving you a false sense of security about your child’s development.⯠Following are some general guidelines about what a child should be doing at various stages/ages.
By 12 to 14 months a child should be:
• Imitating sounds
• “Talking” — using conversational strings of unintelligible utterances with occasional true words
• Saying “mama” and “dada” and three or more other true words
By 18 months a child should be:
• Imitating some words you say
• Following most verbal directions, with no accompanying gestures
By two years old a child:
• Should have a spontaneous vocabulary of between 50 and 200 words.
• Is starting to combine words (make phrases and short sentences)
By two to two and a half years old a child should:
• Have a 300- to 500-word vocabulary
• Be making sentences of three or more words
• Answer a variety of ‘wh’ questions appropriately.
By three to three and a half years old:
• 90 percent of speech is understood by strangers
• Child should participate in conversation
• Child should sequence whole ideas, tell stories, etc.
By four to four and a half years old:
• Child should have a vocabulary of approximately 1,500 words
• Speech should be completely intelligible (understood).⯠There may be some developmental articulation errors.
If your child does not fall somewhere within these general guidelines, he/she should be evaluated by a licensed and certified speech/language pathologist who specializes in children. Children who are late language developers are at higher risk for language based learning problems when they attend school, and they are at higher risk for developing articulation difficulties. A qualified and competent speech/language pathologist will not only evaluate and treat your child’s speech and/or language deficits directly, but will also work closely with you to develop a communicative style that promotes carry-over at home.
Susan Kasdorf, M.S., CCC/SLP has been providing speech/language therapy services in private practice to children and adults in the Santa Clarita Valley for the past 18 years.⯠She has a Masters Degree in Speech Pathology from Columbia University, is California licensed, and is in good standing with the American Speech and Language Association (ASHA).⯠If you have any questions about speech/language development or about someone’s skills, please call Susan directly at 661-259-1858.