As a mom and a teacher, speech delays in children are one of the most worrisome traits found in a child.
My son was talking in complete sentences by the time he was one. My daughter came along and struggled to talk at the age of two. Friends would tell stories of how she probably did not talk because of big brother. I still worried and my concerns were verified at the age of three.
Here is the deal. Moms know best. Yes, it is cute the way your child pronounces certain words, but if you feel it is more of an issue then you should have it checked out. Getting your child tested is not a bad thing. It is a safe thing.
Because early speech development is essential for school success, most places offer free testing. So what do you have to lose? Also, talk to your pediatrician. He or she can refer you or doing the testing as well. There is no reason to worry when you can just get them tested.
Here are some milestones you should look out for with your own child.
At the age of two:
Can name objects common to her surroundings such as mom, dad, truck, cup, etc.
Is able to use two prepositions correctly such as in, on or under.
Combine two words in short sentences made up of a noun verb such as mommy sad?
Others can understand your child 60 percent of the time. This is where my daughter had the most issues. She switched letters up such as instead of grow she would say dow, so people never understood her.
Can say 150 to 200 words. I know it sounds like a lot, but think about all the three letter words they use.
Responds to commands such as "show me your nose."
At the age of three:
Use some plurals and past tenses (everything happened yesterday for my daughter)
Knows at least three prepositions
Can point to major parts of the body when prompted
Says three word sentences regularly such as I want juice.
Has a vocabulary of 900 to 1000 words
Others understand them 90 percent of the time.
Is able to give his/her gender, name and age. My daughter had the hardest time with people understanding her say girl, her name or her age. It was heartbreaking to hear people laugh at her.
At the age of four:
Knows names of familiar animals
Can name objects in books or pictures
Knows one or more colors.
Can repeat four digits when given slowly.
Can repeat words up to four syllables
Correctly pronounces most vowels and the consonants p,b,m,w,n easily
Participates in pretend play
At the age of five:
Knows common opposites like big and little or hard and soft.
Uses adjectives to describe objects
Can count to ten
Others can understand the child 100 percent of the time.
Repeats sentences up to nine words.
Correctly pronounces all vowel sounds and the consonants m,p,b,h,w,k,g,t,d,n,ng and y.
Speech is generally grammatically correct.
Like I said, I know what it is like to have a child struggling. The best thing you can do if you have any doubt is get him/her tested. The earlier the child gets help, the more successful the child.
My daughter's speech delay was affecting her socially. Teachers were unaware in preschool of just how smart she was because of her lack of speech. She had a difficult time making friends because they could not understand her talk and she was embarrassed to talk.
After a year in speech, she is a new child. She talks loudly, has a ton of friends and we are often complimented on how smart she is by her teachers. I share all this as advice. If you are worried, just get your child tested. It will be so much better in the long run.
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