Communication Guide

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Pediatric Communication Guide

Is my child's speech on track?

The development of communication skills begins in infancy, before the emergence of the first word. Any speech or language problem is likely to have a significant effect on the child's social and academic skills and behavior. The earlier a child's speech and language problems are identified and treated, the less likely it is that problems will persist or get worse. Early speech and language intervention can help children be more successful with reading, writing, schoolwork, and interpersonal relationships.

This information represents, on average, the age by which most monolingual speaking children will accomplish the listed skills. Children typically do not master all items in a category until they reach the upper age in each age range. Just because your child has not accomplished one skill within an age range does not mean the child has a disorder. However, if you have answered no to the majority of items in an age range, seek the advice of an ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist or audiologist. Select your child's age below to see developmental milestones for their age group:

Speech vs. Language

How is language different from speech?

Language is made up of socially shared rules that include the following:

Speech is the verbal means of communicating. Speech consists of the following:

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Birth to 12 months: What should my child be able to do?

0 to 3 Months Speech Milestones

Hearing & Understanding

Startles to loud sounds
Quiets or smiles when spoken to
Seems to recognize your voice and quiets if crying
Increases or decreases sucking behavior in response to sound

Talking

Makes pleasure sounds (cooing, gooing)
Cries differently for different needs
Smiles when sees you

4 to 6 Months Speech Milestones

0 to 3 Months Speech Milestones

Hearing & Understanding

Moves eyes in direction of sounds
Responds to changes in tone of your voice
Notices toys that make sounds
Pays attention to music

Talking

Babbling sounds more speech-like with many different sounds, including p, b and m
Vocalizes excitement and displeasure
Makes gurgling sounds when left alone and when playing with you

7 to 12 Months Speech Milestones

Hearing & Understanding

Enjoys games like peekaboo and pat-a-cake
Turns and looks in direction of sounds
Listens when spoken to
Recognizes words for common items like "cup", "shoe," or "juice"
Begins to respond to requests (e.g. "Come here" or "Want more?")

Talking

Babbling has both long and short groups of sounds such as "tata upup bibibibi"
Uses speech or noncrying sounds to get and keep attention
Imitates different speech sounds
Has one or two words (bye-bye, dada, mama). although they may not be clear

What can I do to help?

7 to 12 Months Speech Milestones

Check your child's ability to hear, and pay attention to ear problems and infections, especially when they keep occurring.
Reinforce your baby's communication attempts by looking at him or her, speaking, and imitating his or her vocalizations.
Repeat his or her laughter and facial expressions.
Teach your baby to imitate actions, such as peekaboo, clapping, blowing kisses, pat-a-cake, itsy bitsy spider, and waving bye-bye. These games teach turn taking that is needed for conversation.
Talk while you are doing things, such as dressing, bathing, and feeding (e.g., "Mommy is washing Sam's hair"; "Sam is eating carrots"; "Oh, these carrots are good!").
Talk about where you are going, what you will do once you get there, and who and what you'll see (e.g., "Sam is going to Grandma's house. Grandma has a dog. Sam will pet the dog.").
Talk about colors (e.g., "Sam's hat is red").
Practice counting. Count toes and fingers, stairs when you go down them, etc.
Teach animal sounds (e.g., "A cow says 'moo'").

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Additional Information

This is a long form text area designed for your content that you can fill up with as many words as your heart desires. You can write articles, long mission statements, company policies, executive profiles, company awards/distinctions, office locations, shareholder reports, whitepapers, media mentions and other pieces of content that don’t fit into a shorter, more succinct space.

Articles – Good topics for articles include anything related to your company – recent changes to operations, the latest company softball game – or the industry you’re in. General business trends (think national and even international) are great article fodder, too.

Mission statements – You can tell a lot about a company by its mission statement. Don’t have one? Now might be a good time to create one and post it here. A good mission statement tells you what drives a company to do what it does.

Company policies – Are there company policies that are particularly important to your business? Perhaps your unlimited paternity/maternity leave policy has endeared you to employees across the company. This is a good place to talk about that.

Executive profiles – A company is only as strong as its executive leadership. This is a good place to show off who’s occupying the corner offices. Write a nice bio about each executive that includes what they do, how long they’ve been at it, and what got them to where they are.

Pediatric Communication Guide

Is my child's speech on track?

Speech vs. Language

Birth to 12 months: What should my child be able to do?

0 to 3 Months Speech Milestones

0 to 3 Months Speech Milestones

0 to 3 Months Speech Milestones

4 to 6 Months Speech Milestones

0 to 3 Months Speech Milestones

0 to 3 Months Speech Milestones

7 to 12 Months Speech Milestones

7 to 12 Months Speech Milestones

7 to 12 Months Speech Milestones

What can I do to help?

7 to 12 Months Speech Milestones

7 to 12 Months Speech Milestones

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Additional Information

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