Tracking your child’s hearing and communicative abilities during their first few years is essential when trying to catch potential concerns early on. Doing this allows for timely intervention and support. This checklist, based on guidelines from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), is designed to help you monitor your child’s progress and ensure they are meeting important developmental milestones.
In this blog, we will guide you through key indicators of healthy communication development for children ages 1-3 years old. By understanding and observing these milestones, you can answer important questions about your child’s progress.
1 to 2 Years (Yes/ No?)
- Knows a few parts of the body and can point to them when asked: Can your child identify and point to body parts?
- Follows simple commands like “Roll the ball” and understands simple questions like “Where’s your shoe?”: Does your child follow basic instructions and questions?
- Enjoys simple stories, songs, and rhymes: Do they show interest in stories and songs?
- Points to pictures when named in books: Can your child identify pictures in a book?
- Acquires new words on a regular basis: Is their vocabulary steadily growing?
- Uses some one- or two-word questions like “Where kitty?” or “Go bye-bye?”: Are they starting to ask simple questions?
- Puts two words together like “More cookie”: Are they beginning to form simple sentences?
- Uses many different consonant sounds at the beginning of words: Notice the variety of consonant sounds they use.
2 to 3 Years (Yes/ No?)
- Has a word for almost everything: Is your child able to name most objects they encounter?
- Uses two- or three-word phrases to talk about and ask for things: Are they using short phrases to communicate?
- Uses k, g, f, t, d, and n sounds: Listen for these specific consonant sounds.
- Speaks in a way that is understood by family members and friends: Is their speech clear enough for others to understand?
- Names objects to ask for them or to direct attention to them: Do they use words to request items or direct your attention?
By monitoring these milestones, you can effectively support your child’s communication development. Timely intervention and early detection are essential for ensuring they are on the right path to strong speech and language skills.
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.). Developmental milestones handouts. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. https://www.asha.org/public/developmental-milestones/handouts/
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-EMILY SMITH, Illinois State University, Senior Research and Marketing Intern
-NICOLE BUTLER, M.A., CCC-SLP/L (ASHA Certified and licensed Speech-Language Pathologist, Founder and Executive Director of Speech Within Reach.)
SPEECH WITHIN REACH provides in person and virtual telehealth speech therapy for children and adults. We are happy to support your speech therapy needs. Please feel free to reach out to us.