Let’s talk about language development: infant to toddler. In 2023, the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) released updated communication milestones for the first five years of life. Communication milestones are goals or markers that a child is expected to achieve in a certain time frame or age. These milestones were created so that parents (and clinicians) could have guidelines to measure their children (or caseload) or provide areas that may require encouragement for continued development.
Be sure to read about the communication milestones and babbling in infants!
Language Development Infant
The first milestone of language development for 13-18 months is toddlers will look around when asked “where” questions (where’s daddy? Where’s your blanket?).
Toddlers will also follow simple, age-appropriate directions such as “give me the ball,” “come here,” or “show me your nose.” These straightforward directions are often paired with a gesture from the caregiver and answered by the toddler using a gesture, vocalization…or both.
Between 13 and 18 months; toddlers will point: to make requests, comment, or get information (gestures/vocabulary/communication). They will use gestures when they’re excited (like clapping or high-5) or being silly (sticking their tongue out and making funny faces).
Toddler Vocabulary Development
Toddlers understand and use words for common objects, actions, and people in their lives. At this age, they will also use a combination of long strings of sounds, syllables, and actual words with speech-like inflection. They may also identify one or more body parts.
A child’s vocabulary is one of the most important factors of early communication. However, before a child can label objects, there must have been exposure to the word/concept in some form.
Does your Toddler Use and Understand Words?
When it comes to speech therapy for toddlers’ evaluations, we have to look from the developmental perspective: what information can we gain about a toddler’s life experience and their exposure to vocabulary? t’s also important for us to do this when we are asking caregivers questions.
We have to look at the whole picture. If we ask, “Does your child point to items in a book when you name them?” and the answer is “no,” then we need to dive a little deeper [which, btw- the assessments don’t always do].
We follow up that question by finding out:
- Can the parent ask their toddler to “hand me the [object]” ?
- Can the toddler find an object or item during playtime?
- Does the toddler label the items while they’re playing? (even if it’s through word approximations or gestures)
Asking more questions clarifies what is going on. This helps us (and the parent/caregiver)better understand what items or objects toddlers may know.
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