Does my child need speech therapy?
Have questions?
We're here to make your child's speech therapy journey simple, supportive, and stress-free
All children develop speech and language skills at different times. We as speech language pathologists, however, become concerned when children are falling significantly below their age level for both understanding and talking.
Here are a few guidelines you can use to see if your children are developing speech and language skills appropriately:
7 months to 2 years old
Hearing & Understanding
Enjoys games like peak-a-boo and pat-a-cake
Turns and looks in the direction of sounds
Listens when spoken to
Recognizes words for common items like "cup", "shoe", "juice"
Begins to respond to simple requests ("come Here", "want more")
Talking
Babbling with both long and short groups of sounds "tata upup bibibibi"
Uses speech or non-crying sounds to get and keep attention
Imitates different speech sounds
Has 1 or 2 words ("bye, bye, dada, mama")
1 to 2 years old
Hearing & Understanding
Points to a few body parts
Follows 1 to 2 step directions and understands simple questions ("Roll the ball, "kiss the baby", "Go get your shoes")
Listens to simple stories, songs, and rhymes
Points to pictures in a book when named
Talking
Says more words every month
Uses some 1-2 word questions ("where kitty?", "go bye-bye"?, "what's that?")
Put 2 words together ("more cookie", "no juice", "mommy book")
Uses many different consonant sounds at the beginning of words
2 to 3 years old
Hearing & Understanding
Hears when you call from another room
Answers simple "who?", "what?", "where?", "why" questions
Follows 2 to 3 step directions
Talking
Has a word for almost everything
Uses 2-3 words to talk about and ask for things
Speech is understood by familiar listeners most of the time
Often asks for or directs attention to objects by naming them
3 to 4 years old
Hearing & Understanding
Understands differences in meaning ("go-stop", "in-on", "big-little", "up-down")
Follows 2 requests ("Get the book and put it on the table")
Understands action words ("jump, run, wash") and descriptive words ("big, wet, little")
Talking
Talks about activities completed earlier such as from school or a friends home
People outside the family understands the child's speech
Uses a lot of sentences that have 4 or more words
Usually talks easily without repeating syllables or words
4 to 5 years old
Hearing & Understanding
Pays attention to short stories and answers simple questions about it
Hears and understands most of what is said at home and in school
Understands spatial concepts (under, in back of, next to, in front of)
Makes inferences ("what will happen if.") from pictures and stories
Understands and can produce rhyming words
Can clap out multi-syllable words
Talking
Voice sounds clear like other children's
Uses sentences that give lots of details ("I like to read my books")
Tells stories that stick to topic
Communicates easily with other children and adults
Says most sounds correctly
Uses the same grammar as the rest of the family
How Does Therapy Work?
Therapy is done on a one-on-one setting with you involved. We bring in motivating play activities designed to encourage your children to communicate and teach them and you ways at home to encourage communication. Parents and caregivers are the key to success in achieving our short-term and long-term goals. We connect families with experienced pediatric speech-language pathologists committed to providing personalized care.
When Is Therapy Needed?
If your child is not reaching these milestones or if you have concerns regarding any of these milestones please contact our office and set up an appointment with our licensed speech-language pathologists. During the evaluation, our therapists will play with your child and talk to you about what your child is doing at home. We will only recommend therapy if we feel your child is significantly below their peers in at least one area.
Do you think your child might benefit from speech therapy?
Schedule a speech evaluation
Every child deserves to be heard and understood. If you’re concerned about your child’s speech or communication development, our experienced pediatric speech-language pathologists are here to help. Let’s take the first step toward helping your child communicate with greater confidence.