Sunflower Therapy Solutions | Speech Milestones
When to Seek Help | Pediatric Speech Therapy
Pediatric speech therapy helps children build the skills they need to communicate confidently and effectively. Our speech-language pathologists (SLPs) use a combination of play-based strategies and parent coaching to help your child shine.
Through fun and engaging play, we follow personalized goals to guide your child’s growth. We also empower you with strategies to support communication at home and collaborate with schools and other therapists to ensure progress in all areas of your child’s life. At every step, we’re here as your child’s advocate, championing their success.
If you’re worried about your child’s communication skills, a consultation with a speech-language pathologist can provide clarity and support. Here are some common signs that speech therapy may be helpful:
- Limited vocabulary or trouble expressing wants and needs
- Difficulty pronouncing certain sounds or stuttering
- Challenges understanding questions or following directions
- Struggles to communicate with peers or share stories
- Loss of previously acquired language skills
- Frustration when trying to communicate
- Using scripts, like repeating phrases from TV shows
- Trouble with reading, writing, or storytelling
Early support can make a world of difference—if these signs feel familiar, don’t hesitate to reach out.
Skills to Look for and When to Intervene
6 months
- Laughs, gurgles, coos with familiar people
- Babbles for attention
- Experiments with sounds /ba/ /da/ /ka/ /ma/
- Interacts with adults using vocalization and eye contact
- Searches for a speaker/turns head toward a voice
- Discriminates between threatening and friendly voices
12 months
- Says 3-5 words, including mama/dada, spontaneously
- Imitates the names of familiar objects
- Imitates sound combinations
- Recognizes the names of a few familiar objects
- Looks at person saying child’s name
- Follows simple directions occasionally
18 months
- Says 50+ meaningful words.
- Uses words to make wants/needs known (ie: “more” “up” “cookie” “juice”)
- Imitates familiar words overheard in conversation
- May begin combining words into 2-word phrases (ie: “more cookie”)
- Identifies 3-5 body parts
- Brings familiar object from another room on request (ie: “Go get your cup.”)
- Follows simple directions consistently
24 months
- Uses 200+ words
- Combines words into 2 and some 3-word utterances
- Uses a few early pronouns (ie: I, me, mine)
- Begins asking ‘wh’ questions
- Identifies pictures when named by an adult
- Chooses objects from a large group on request
- Understands simple questions and commands
- Follows simple directions consistently
30 months
- Uses 400+ words
- Refers to self by pronoun consistently
- Uses 2 sentence types (ie: statement and question)
- Responds to simple questions using words
- Answers yes/no questions, but may confuse ‘yes’ versus ‘no’
- Understands early concepts (ie: big/little, “one”)
- Parallel play predominates
36 months
- Uses verb forms and modifiers (adjectives) in phrases/sentences
- Expresses physical states (ie: hungry, tired, thirsty)
- Unfamiliar listeners are able to understand child 85% of the time
- Answers yes/no questions correctly
- Beginning to understand some prepositions
- Follows more complex directions
- Beginning interest in cooperative play with small groups
- Imaginative play begins to emerge
3-4 years
- Child is mostly intelligible to unfamiliar listeners in connected speech
- Consistently combines 4-5 words in sentences and uses complex sentences frequently
- Begins to use “Is” at the beginning of questions
- Regular plural forms are consistent; irregular plural forms are emerging
- Uses simple past tense verbs
- Participates in detailed conversations
- Appropriately answers “what if” questions
- Follows commands involving 3 actions
- Makes conversational “repairs” when the listener has not understood
- Plays cooperatively in groups of 2-3 children; chooses companions of own sex
- Suggests turns and begins to share, but is often bossy in play
4-5 years
- Knows/comprehends majority of location prepositions
- Correctly uses “what do…/does…/did…” questions
- Uses more complex pronouns (our, they, their)
- Speaks with inflection when describing event or action
- Uses possessive pronouns
- Combines 5-8 words in complex sentences
- Able to re-tell a long story accurately
- Understands complex descriptive concepts (i.e.: heavy/light, loud/soft)
- Uses several effective utterance to discuss emotions and feeling
- Plays in groups of 2-5; friendships become stronger
5-6 years
- Understands concepts of time (am/pm, yesterday/today)
- Uses all pronouns correctly and consistently
- Emerging use of adverbial word endings (slowLY, fastER)
- Syntax/grammar rules are followed majority of time
- Plans sequence of pretend events in play and uses props/language to develop a theme
- Has the majority of consonant sounds mastered and is intelligible to unfamiliar listeners without interpretation (MAY still substitute w/r)
- Can state similarities and differences of objects
Potential Red Flags in their development
- Decreased eye contact during interactions
- Decreased/absent response to sounds and voices
- Is not babbling by 9 months
- Does not/can not imitate sounds or simple words by 12 months
- Does not imitate simple gestures/actions by 12 months
- Does not point to/identify familiar objects by 15 months
- Demonstrates any “loss” of language/words
- Does not use 25 words consistently by 18 months
- Does not/can not imitate words regularly by 18 months
- Continues to use more gestures than words at 18 months
- Less than 100 words by 24 months
- No combinations of words into 2- and 3-word phrases by 24 months
- Not able to follow directions by 24 months
- Family members understand less than 50% at 24 months
- Is not consistently combining words into short sentences by 30 months
- Family members understand less than 85% at 36 months
- Unfamiliar listeners have difficulty understanding child at 42+ months
- Difficulty engaging with peers in pretend/imaginative play at 3-4 years
- Does not develop more complex grammatical concepts between 3-5 years
Contact Us
If you have any questions or would like to schedule an appointment, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.